You’re a born leader: Pro-active self-direction with a high level of initiative and persistence and a very hands-on approach to results delivery. You love to win and have fun doing it: You are passionate about product development and extremely customer/consumer focused. You are comfortable with multi-tasking and operating in a fast paced, multi-faceted, and multi-cultural environment. You’re a dot connector: You are able to manage complex relationships and solve complex problems You build strong... more details
Your Background & Purpose of the Job
Ice Cream is a fun, very innovative, competitive, and fast-paced category. Unilever’s Ice Cream Business Unit in North America looks after a strong portfolio of brands: Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Good Humor, Klondike, Magnum, Popsicle, Talenti and Yasso.
As a member of the Ice Cream Research & Development team, you will lead and coordinate the R&D activities to deliver the Ice Cream program, ranging from innovation, renovation, quality improvement and margin enhancement. You will lead the technical discussions in cross functional meetings and represent the R&D view for the project team. You will work in partnership with the business project leader and key cross functional team members, including Brand Development, Supply Chain and Finance to deliver the brand’s program and business objectives.
Who You Are & What You’ll Do
You’re a born leader: Pro-active self-direction with a high level of initiative and persistence and a very hands-on approach to results delivery.
You love to win and have fun doing it: You are passionate about product development and extremely customer/consumer focused. You are comfortable with multi-tasking and operating in a fast paced, multi-faceted, and multi-cultural environment
You’re a dot connector: You are able to manage complex relationships and solve complex problems You build strong relationships and influence with cross-functional teams, key stakeholders, and strategic vendor partners to enable progress.
You’re a paradox navigator: You leverage your technical knowledge and experience, awareness of culinary and product trends and consumer insights to deliver superior new products that meet the project and business deliverables.
You’re a changemaker: You can identify and address emerging issues as well as set and manage priorities and continuously improve processes and practices.
You’re a storyteller: You are the product ambassador for the brand, communicating internally and externally the product’s story in an experiential, insightful and impactful way.
What you’ll do:
Lead projects:
Lead and coordinate the R&D activities to deliver the brand’s program, ranging from innovation, renovation, quality improvement and margin enhancement.
Lead the technical discussions in cross functional meetings and represent the R&D view for the project team.
Conduct technical risk assessments and provide recommendations on risk mitigation plans
Develop products:
Define the technical project brief and targets against which products can be designed (performance and attributes), developed and measured. Translate the brand philosophy, culinary and consumer insights into superior new products
Design and execute test protocols for the various technical aspects of projects as required (e.g., prototype development and scale-up, shelf-life testing, analytical testing, etc.)
Lead the process of specification/label creation in SAP PLM from the request to the approved status; Be the material expert and lead creation of new specifications for new ingredients.
Organize and participate in plant trials while providing formulation adjustment recommendations as needed to support quality, cost savings and complexity reduction initiatives.
Provide technical and product guidance
Lead technical discussion in cross functional meetings and represent the technical views for the project team.
Assess feasibility of new ideas and troubleshoot activities where formulation knowledge is essential.
Lead / support technical investigations using root-cause analysis and problem-solving techniques as required for existing and new products.
Provide product expertise and insights into innovation and activation strategies. Be a product ambassador internally and externally, demonstrate awareness of local and regional trends, developments, customer insights and consumer needs/behavior.
Establish and maintain internal and external working relationships
Develop and maintain effective working relationships across R&D and non-R&D functions to support business initiatives.
Develop and maintain effective working relationships with key business and strategic vendor partners.
What You’ll Need To Succeed
Education / Experience
Bachelor of Science Degree in Food Science or equivalent degree.
4-6 years of experience in the food industry, preferably in product development and project management.
Technical / Project management
Ability to independently execute projects with moderate to high complexity and coordinate R&D activities.
Ability to develop, plan, conduct, and coordinate prototype development initiatives across multiple projects/tasks.
Fully operational in use of ingredients, formulation, process, and product design principles.
Fully operational in specification creation and approval and costing.
Ability to analyze and interpret complex data with guidance on final conclusions
Strong working knowledge of experimental design root cause analysis and problem-solving techniques
Good understanding of Supply Chain.
Communication
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to prepare comprehensive trial/lab reports and presentations, including recommendations and next steps
Ability to present information to both technical and non-technical audiences
What We Can Offer You
Culture for Growth | Top Notch Employee Health & Well Being Benefits | Every Voice Matters | Global Reach | Life at Unilever | Careers with Purpose | World Class Career Development Programs | Check Out Our Space | Focus On Sustainability
Pay: The pay range for this position is $84,400 to $126,600. Unilever takes into consideration a wide range of factors that are utilized in making compensation decisions including, but not limited to, skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, qualifications and education, and other business and organizational needs.
Bonus: This position is bonus eligible.
Long-Term Incentive (LTI): This position is LTI eligible.
Benefits: Unilever employees are eligible to participate in our benefits plan. Should the employee choose to participate, they can choose from a range of benefits to include, but is not limited to, health insurance (including prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage), retirement savings benefits, life insurance and disability benefits, parental leave, sick leave, paid vacation and holidays, as well as access to numerous voluntary benefits. Any coverages for health insurance and retirement benefits will be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans and associated governing plan documents.
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Unilever is an organization committed to diversity and inclusion to drive our business results and create a better future every day for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal law and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.
For more information about your Federal rights, please see Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal and Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision.
Employment is subject to verification of pre-screening tests, which may include drug screening, background check, credit check and DMV check.
If you are an individual with a disability in need of assistance at any time during our recruitment process, please contact us at NA.Accommodations@unilever.com. Please note: This email is reserved for individuals with disabilities in need of assistance and is not a means of inquiry about positions or application statuses. The Protected Veterans or Individuals with Disabilities AAP narratives are available for inspection by any employee or applicant for employment Monday through Friday during normal business hours at establishment.
