Research & Development Industrial Placement 2024

You’ve learned a lot as a student already. Want to put it into practice at PepsiCo?

Our placement programmes are structured to give you the chance to make an impact on some of the world’s biggest brands. From day one, you’ll be working on projects that matter. You will shake things up, shape trends, and get guidance and development to help you discover your potential.

We are looking for enthusiastic undergraduates to join our R&D teams on a 12-month placement programme starting in July 2024 on a full-time basis.

Innovation takes centre stage at PepsiCo! That means our Global R&D team are at the heart of the action and are kept busy creating the products of the future, for our global consumers. In a fast-paced consumer environment, our research and development capability is crucial to provide a fresh twist to our favourite brands as well as creating new to the world healthy choices that we need to succeed in the market. Our research and development focusses on building a consumer-centric understanding, enabling us to design products for the latest consumer needs - whether nutrition, refreshment, or indulgence – driving our growth both now and in the future.

You’ll have lots of autonomy where your decisions will really make a difference to our business and in return, you’ll have the chance to develop your skills and experience in a fast paced, energetic environment.

Responsibilities

Within R&D, we're offering industrial placement opportunities in the following disciplines:

Agricultural Science - Agricultural Science Research Technician

• Preferred degrees in Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Plant Science, Agriculture or closely related disciplines.

Nutrition & Sport Sciences – Nutrition Sports Sciences Technician

• Preferred degrees in Nutrition, Dietetics, Sports and Exercise Science, Sport Nutrition or closely related disciplines.

Sensory & Consumer Sciences – Sensory & Consumer Experience Technician

• Preferred degrees in Food Science, Sensory, Psychology or closely related disciplines.

Packaging – Packaging Material Technician

• Preferred degrees in Packaging, Food Science, Product Design Engineering, Material Science or closely related disciplines.

Product Development – Product Development Technician

• Preferred degrees in Food Science or closely related disciplines i.e., Chemistry or Biology.

Process Development – Process Development Technician

• Preferred degrees in Food Science or closely related disciplines i.e., Chemical Engineering

Scroll down below to find specific details about each of our placement opportunities. 

Please note, when submitting your application, we will ask for your role preferences, and these will be taken into consideration wherever possible.

All our Research & Development opportunities are based out of Beaumont Park, Leicester.

Qualifications

What are we looking for?

• Students currently in their penultimate year of university studies, where the course includes the option of completing a sandwich placement before returning to study after the placement.
• An intellectual curiosity and a willingness to challenge accepted ways of doing things
• Eagerness to learn and grow your career and aspire to be our future leaders.
• Bring your new thinking and fresh ideas to our brands.
• You! At PepsiCo we bring ourselves to work and embrace diversity and inclusion. We believe our differences is what makes us special.

What else do you need to know?

Our placements start in July 2024 on a full-time basis and will last for 12 months, with a salary of £22,000.

Beaumont Park, Leicester is home to our Europe R&D hub (and your placement year!). This site hosts associates from R&D, Supply Chain and Consumer Relations. In addition to the office and meeting spaces, the site has state of the art pilot facilities, analytical labs and innovation kitchens

Other benefits

• Vibrant culture
• Development and mentoring
• 25 days annual leave plus 8 days bank holidays
• Discounted PepsiCo products
• Competitive pension scheme
• And a whole lot more…

“The opportunities that PepsiCo have offered me as part of my role have been tremendous. I have been involved in multiple projects and activities on top of my day-to-day role which keeps my placement super exciting. I have met some outstanding and friendly people who I know I will keep in touch with after my placement year. The culture here is so collaborative and supportive that I’m never afraid to ask questions or ask to learn new things.” Niyanee Porte

Our application process involves

• Online application
• Digital interview
• Virtual Assessment Centre's (January - subject to change).

Application Closing Date: Monday 20th November 2023

Our application window is scheduled to close on the above date, however, in the event of a large response we will close applications early. We would therefore encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo UK is home to some of the world's most loved food and drink products. Making every day favourites like Walkers, Quaker, Doritos, Pipers, and Monster Munch & Rockstar, to name a few! We have a fantastic reputation for developing and launching products that our consumers love. PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers around the world more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories. The company generated $70 billion in net revenue in 2020. We pride ourselves on being a great place to work and have recently been voted Top Employer for the 11th year in a row.

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with PepsiCo Positive (Pep+). Pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability at the centre of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.

We are an equal opportunity employer and comply with the Equality Act 2010, we value diversity at our company; it is an essential part of our success. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, pregnancy or maternity, marital/civil partnerships, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, gender or gender reassignment, disability or race including; colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin.

R&D Placement - Role Overviews

During your application you'll be asked to state your placement preferences', you'll find out more about each opportunity below;

Agricultural Sciences

Our Agricultural Science team is a core function delivering research and development to support PepsiCo’s billion dollar global food brands including Walkers and Quaker Oats. You will be supporting a team of scientists to drive world-class research, development and innovation to discover and implement technologies and practices that deliver for both people and the planet.

What you will be doing:

• Support project managers with field and storage trial planning, execution, data collection and sample analysis.
• Interpret and report experimental results – make recommendations based on observations, data analysis and consultation with subject matter experts.
• Liaise with technical experts and external vendors/contractors to deliver key aspects of work streams.
• Produce clear and concise summaries and reports, addressing the challenges/questions in the working brief, and presenting to line manager and colleagues as required.
• Utilise the PepsiCo network of expert contacts to build own knowledge and understanding.
• Create innovative solutions to technically complex issues to meet project objectives.

Need for driving license.

Nutrition & Sports Sciences

This is a hybrid role between our Nutrition Sciences and our Gatorade Sports Science Institute teams.

Our Nutrition Sciences Team is responsible for developing and implementing the nutrition sciences strategy across the broad geography of Europe. This role is pivotal in supporting the work of the team, taking ownership of projects, expanding your knowledge whilst translating that knowledge into business relevant action and gaining invaluable experience of working as a nutritionist in a global food company. PepsiCo’s portfolio stretches across a wide range of food and beverage products, encompassing every possible nutritional opportunity and challenge.  

What you will be doing: 

• Supporting the development of technical nutrition documentation.
• Conduct and evaluate research to support innovation and brand activation.
• Track and monitor on pack data and assist with the assessment of progress against human sustainability targets.
• Developing a log and commentary on media reports relevant to our portfolio and nutrition science.
• Contribute to nutrition education and health & wellness activities.

Working in our GSSI team, your role will be to support GSSI international in working with the best athletes and sports teams in the world. It’s truly an amazing opportunity.  

What you will be doing: 

• Service; you will be trained on GSSI standard operating procedures and accompany existing GSSI staff in the collection of data to inform personalised sports nutrition options. You will be required to complete the required paperwork and data entry into the GSSI global database, as well as assist in the testing process itself.
• Research; you will be encouraged to analyse the data collected and assist in report and manuscript preparations. 
• Education; you will have the opportunity to attend the largest sports science conference in Europe and selected GSSI sponsored events (and, depending on the quality of the work completed, submit an abstract for presentation at one such event). 
• Innovation; you will work on new Gatorade technologies and sports nutrition products to gain insights for future development.

Sensory and Consumer Sciences 

This position is within the Sensory and Consumer Experience team, which is a function that delivers sensory and consumer insights to guide product development for all teams/projects within PepsiCo R&D and across our entire portfolio of brands.

As a vital member of our team, you will play a crucial role in executing consumer research, according to PepsiCo values and protocols, and with a strict scientific approach to gain better understanding of human behaviours and to help develop products that our consumers love. You’ll have the chance to grow your research skills and experience in a fast paced, energetic environment whilst driving valuable business decisions.

What you will be doing: 

• Supporting Sensory and Consumer Experience Scientists in all aspects of consumer product testing, from research design, execution, data capture, analysis, interpretation, and reporting.
• Liaise with Product Developers, distilling large quantities of information to understand key aims and objectives to define learning plans for product testing.
• Become familiar with global protocols within the Sensory and Consumer Experience team to understand key drivers of testing designs, timelines, requirements etc.
• Communicate (written and verbal) project updates and results to key cross functional project stakeholders (including broader R&D functions, Marketing, Insights and Commercialisation colleagues).
• Develop strong relationships with key external consumer testing vendors to ensure flawless execution of tests.
• Facilitate consumer interactions to grow consumer and human centricity in PepsiCo personnel.

Packaging

In your role you will support the Packaging team with creating innovative packaging designs for the Europe Foods portfolio. This includes hands on experience in organisation, execution and analysis.

What you will be doing:

• Creative & sustainable packaging development within R&D
• Supporting and leading variety of Packaging Development activities including development process, trial organisation and execution, analysis and reporting results to peers and line management.
• Working with product insights and analytical teams to measure packaging attributes.
• Packaging prototyping and preparation.
• Other activities will include arranging and conducting packaging tests and analysis, administration, submitting samples for laboratory analysis and reporting back to key members of the project teams.

Product Development

Within the R&D Foods Products Teams you will be supporting product innovation, productivity and/or continuity projects. You will work alongside scientists on creative product development in R&D development kitchens, process labs and manufacturing plants. You will have lots of autonomy where your work will directly impact current products and future innovation within our business.

What you will be doing:

• Hands on product development, including planning and executing kitchen, pilot and factory scale trials
• Working with product insights and analytical teams to measure product attributes
• Liaising with teams, technical experts, and contractors globally as well as using literature searches to deliver key aspects of work streams.
• Building fundamental scientific insights under-pinning product development.
• Other activities will include arranging product testing programmes, sample shipment, administration, submitting samples for laboratory analysis, writing up results and reporting back to key members of the project teams.

Process Development

Within the R&D Foods Global Process Engineering team you will be involved in identifying, exploring and evaluating new technologies as well as improving the design performance and efficiency of existing technologies for PepsiCo. The main aspects of the role involves managing work streams in technology evaluation projects, which means conducting experiments to build scientific understanding, and manufacturing product prototypes to illustrate possibilities and progress.

What you will be doing:

• Leading and executing your own experimental studies at both bench and pilot scale to build insights to support development of new technologies.
• Owning and managing project activity, program and budget and connections with external and internal stakeholders.
• Sustain an organized environment in the pilot plant during periods of high activity, including working with pilot plant team to ensure a seamless supply of raw materials and services.
• Participate in safety assessment aspects of projects.
• Analyse and interpret key data from existing operation plants to understand current performance and potential for improvements.
• Support plant testing of new technology developments working with the team to evaluate performance.
• Support the knowledge capture and transfer of best practice between the full scale production lines across the business globally.