Job Overview

Product Development Technologist

JOB PURPOSE

Unilever Ice cream in Europe is a large and highly successful business.  The EU Ice Cream Cluster Design team is the driving force behind the creation and delivery of 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 are fully connected to countries and markets to meet the needs of C4G and land in the markets global mixes, regional and local-for-local projects.  The business reaches across all Ice Cream experiences in two broad platforms: Desserts – familiar in-home tubs, pints and monoportions as well as scooping OOH, and Impulse – global and local classics and kid’s favourites.

In this role, you will work as a variety of projects, developing new or improving existing products, landing key initiatives around sustainability, nutrition and cost saving while maintain the unique consumer appeal of our brands. Working as both a team member and TPL you will work closely with other R&D ice cream experts to ensure best product design as well as legal, nutritional and food safety compliance. You’ll also work in close partnership across internal functions (Marketing; Supply Chain; Procurement) as well as key external partners and suppliers (e.g. Third-Party Manufacturers and ingredients suppliers).

If you have a passion for creativity, problem solving and developing exciting and innovative products, this is the perfect opportunity to shape and deliver brilliant, sustainable, product experiences.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Use your creative talents to develop great product design
• To lead technical delivery (TPL) of regional projects on-time in full (OTIF), including: creative product concepts; formulation design and specification; laboratory and Pilot Plant prototypes; cost-, quality-assessments; ingredient list; legislation compliance and claims.
• Organize and manage tasting sessions for the project team, involving R&D colleagues and cross-functional partners
• Manage and lead supplier relationships in the development of new products/ change of materials, working closely with other functions such as Procurement
• Lead and manage pilot plant trials and prototype/product development to support project technical evaluation including Market Research      
• Undertake raw material & product stability trials, using a range of analytical methodologies and report the results back to the project team
• Organize and manage industrial trials in the relevant Sourcing Units/3PM
• Write and manage specifications and systems data for the products you work on.
• Work closely with the cross-functional brand team including Marketing, Supply Chain, Procurement, Finance and R&D
• Provide key updates for our Innovation Process Management and other relevant systems.

Key Interfaces

• EU Ice Cream team
• Marketing Team
• Supply Chain and Procurement Teams
• Local Deploy team across EU
• Supplier/partner organisations
• Technical specialists (CTI, Processing, Packaging, Formulation, Specs)
• Specialists in Unilever (Nutritionists, Finance, CMI, QA, SEAC, Patents and Regulatory)
• Cluster Design Director

ALL ABOUT YOU

Skills

• Passion for creative food product design and development
• Excellent communication and project management skills
• Attention to detail especially in experimentation, data recording and analysis
• Time management and priority setting
• Health & Safety

Experience

• Degree level qualification (or equivalent) and relevant experience
• Experience of working cross-functionally and with third parties
• Experience of leading delivery of projects from brief to market is desirable

WHAT WE OFFER

Not only do we offer a competitive salary, but also our pension scheme, an annual bonus, a free gym, a staff shop and shares. You’ll get the opportunity to work directly with our renowned and exciting brands in a flexible and agile environment. We strive to achieve a family-friendly culture and to, above all, create possibilities for all.

Diversity at Unilever is about inclusion, embracing differences, creating possibilities, and growing together in partnership 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.

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