Senior Product Developer

Please Note: The deadline for applying is 23.59 the day before the job posting end date.

Job Title: Senior Product Developer

Location: Colworth Science Park

Work-Level: 1D

 
JOB PURPOSE 

Unilever Ice cream business in Europe is large and highly successful.  The EU Ice Cream Research Development and Innovation (RD&I) team is the driving force behind the creation and delivery of benefit-led, innovative ice cream products across our world-renowned global (e.g. Magnum, Carte d’Or, Cornetto, Walls), premium (e.g. B&J, GROM) and regional (e.g. Cremissimo, Ingman, Evga, Cucciolone) brands.  The team embrace agile innovation and are fully connected to countries and markets to land global, regional, and local projects in the markets.

The business reaches across all Ice Cream experiences from familiar in-home tubs, pints and mono portions and out of home scooping to global and local classics and kid’s favourites.

In this role you will be the R&D first point of contact in an area of the portfolio.  You will lead projects in close partnership across functions (Marketing; Supply Chain; Procurement) as well as key (external) partners and suppliers (e.g. 3PM, Flavour and Ingredients suppliers).  You will manage a portfolio of projects across innovation, quality, complexity and cost reduction.  And will use your understanding of consumer and customer needs to shape and deliver brilliant, sustainable, product experiences.

RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Plan, organise and execute a variety of project types as assigned under guidance from line manager, working closely with R&D experts from a variety of fields.
• Work closely with marketing teams in global, European and local country teams to define projects scope at start of projects.
• Use your creative talents to develop great products.
• Lead technical delivery of projects.  This includes diverse topics such as product concept development; formulation design; lab and pilot plant prototypes; cost calculation; specifications; quality assessments; legislation compliance checks and claims assessments.
• Manage supplier relationships working closely with other functions such as Procurement.
• Lead and manage pilot plant and factory trials for prototype/product development.
• Write and manage specifications and systems data for the products you work on.
• Provide key updates for our Innovation Process Management and other relevant systems
• Develop selling stories and supporting Customer Development teams with sell-in meetings.
• Provide support and training for more junior members of the team.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

• European & local country Marketing Team
• Global & European Supply Chain (factories, planning, quality, etc.) and Procurement Teams
• Supplier/partner organisations
• Technical R&D specialists (CTI, Processing, Packaging, Formulation, Nutritionist, Digital & Data)
• Other functional representatives including Finance, Legal, CMI and Quality

ALL ABOUT YOU 

• Degree level qualification (or equivalent) and / or relevant experience in a technical discipline preferably in food technology or development.
• Experience of working cross-functionally and with third parties
• Experience of leading projects from brief to delivering in-market
• Passion for creative food product design and development
• Excellent communication and project management skills
• Attention to detail especially with experimentation, data recording and analysis
• Time management and priority setting
• Health & Safety
• European language skills are highly desirable

LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOURS

• Purposeful impact
• Personal mastery
• Consumer love
• Agility
• Passion for high performance

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS

• Occasional short business-trips within Europe may be required.

NOTES

Please apply via this portal as e-mail applications may not be processed and include your Future Fit Plan if possible.

By applying for this vacancy, you are confirming that you have made your Line Manager aware of your application and that you are at a point in your career with Unilever where it is appropriate for you to be applying for other positions.   

Should you require additional information or reasonable adjustments to allow you to present your best self during this process, please contact your Talent Partner Ian Miles on [email protected]  

What we offer

Whilst the role is advertised on a full-time basis, we would be happy to discuss possible flexible working options and what this may look like for you. We strive to achieve a family-friendly and inclusive workplace and to, above all, create possibilities for all. 

Diversity at Unilever is about inclusion, embracing differences, creating possibilities and growing together for better business performance. We embrace diversity in our workforce. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. We are also more than happy to provide reasonable adjustments during our application and interview process to enable you to be present your best self. To find out more, including about our Employee Resource Groups, please click here Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (unilever.com).

Relocation to the UK 

Please be aware if you are applying for this role from outside the UK, if successful, your application will be treated as a self-initiated Change Location Outside of Country (CLOC) transfer. This means any relocation costs must be self-funded with the potential to reclaim some specific pre-approved expenses up to £5,000. Please speak to your Talent Partner if you have any questions.