UFLP Research and Development UK 2024

Research and Development (R&D) Unilever Future Leader’s Programme (UFLP) - UK & Ireland.

About Unilever   

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2 billion consumers a day. Unilever has more than 400 brands found in homes around the world, including Dove, Lynx, Lifebuoy, Shea Moisture, Persil, Domestos, Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum, Marmite, The Vegetarian Butcher, Vaseline, Wall’s, and Pot Noodle.  

Faced with the challenge of climate change and the desire for human development, we want to move towards a world where everyone can live well and within the natural limits of the planet. That’s why our purpose is ‘to make sustainable living commonplace’.    

What we offer

Not only do we offer a competitive salary of £35,000 and a pension scheme, but we also offer an annual bonus, subsidised gym membership, a discounted staff shop and shares. You’ll have the opportunity to work directly with our renowned and exciting brands in a flexible and hybrid working environment.  

Diversity at Unilever is about championing inclusion, embracing differences, creating possibilities, and growing together for better business performance. To celebrate this, we have internal networks and communities created to raise awareness for a cause, which work to create change within the business. These networks include Proud, Empower, Enable and Unity and our communities include Thriving Parents, Carers and All Inclusion Club.

We give full and fair consideration to all applicants, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.  

We are a key advocate of wellbeing and offer a variety of support for our people including hubs, programmes, and development opportunities. We strive to achieve a family-friendly and inclusive workplace and to, above all, create possibilities for all.   

Do you require any adjustments in the application or assessment process?

If you do need any adjustments, please inform the Talent Acquisition team who will contact you to discuss the accessibility options available. E.g., If required extending time spent in any ‘timebound’ assessments/interviews.

*We also provide accessibility options such as magnifying glass, decrease/increase font size, change font & colour, screen ruler, screen mask for everyone who would require support.

Please contact the Talent Acquisition team at futurecareers.recruitment@unilever.com.

The role: Research and Development

For a business whose very purpose is to create a sustainable future, that future begins in Research & Development (R&D).

This is the origin of ideas for brands, products, packaging, manufacturing, and technology. Your work could impact millions across the world. Our people make a big impact every day on a local level, across Europe, and the globe.

What will I be doing? 

Every day you will be understanding what consumers want and need, developing the science and technology to bring new innovations to life. You’ll be helping to make our products more desirable, more inclusive, more efficacious, and kinder to the planet.

What do we look for?

• We require a strong technical qualification in chemical/biological/physical/engineering/food related science/maths/coding/computer science or similar discipline 
• Motivated, authentic, and ambitious future leaders who can apply their qualification expertise in a business context
• A forward thinking and passionate leader to contribute towards a cleaner, more sustainable future through exciting innovations.
• Visionaries that will fall in love with the problem, not the solution - we need leaders who are hungry to solve some of the industry’s biggest challenges (sustainability for instance). Impact at this scale takes time!
• Collaborative & inclusive individuals who are excited to work alongside an international network to create superior products for our consumers.

What will the programme involve?

Over three years and at least four placements, you will be inspired through a world-class development programme packed with a breadth of diverse experiences, challenges, and fun. You will build your personal leadership skills by working on live projects that offer you all the experience you need to thrive in your first leadership role. You will work with teams from different parts of our business, across 5 different business groups (Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Ice Cream and Nutrition).

At Unilever, we believe that first-hand experience is the fastest way to learn. The Unilever culture is inclusive, collaborative, and encourages innovative thinking. Our high support, high challenge environment will support you to achieve your potential, whilst giving you the chance to develop industry leading skills through shaping your own career path according to your interests, strengths, and aspirations. With a strong performance culture, challenging goals, and continuous feedback, we will support you to achieve your potential in an inclusive environment.

During the three-year programme you’ll have the opportunity to work across a range of R&D areas, collaborating with a plethora of experienced leaders and technical experts. You could be unlocking the next generation of blockbuster technologies in Science & Technology, running consumer studies for global scale launches, creating new formulation designs in our advanced labs & Pilot Plants, or working hand-in-hand with our marketers to delight our consumers. The opportunities are endless!

Creative minds that can balance both deep technical expertise and commercial astuteness.  

Location

Your placements will rotate across different sites in UK & Ireland: Leeds, Port Sunlight, Liverpool, Colworth, and London (for out of function).

You will have the opportunity to work in our Materials Innovation Factory at the University of Liverpool which houses one of the world's highest concentrations of automated and computer aided equipment to invent new ingredients formulated in new ways to deliver high level product performance.

Therefore, you need to be flexible about your home base during the programme to optimise the wealth of opportunities available across our business locations. You will be supported with all your relocations.

Is travel required? 10-25%.

Closing date

We will close for applications as soon as we receive enough applications for the business area. We, therefore, advise you to apply as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

If you have any questions about your application or if you require special arrangements/reasonable adjustments to be made to complete any part of the application process, please contact the Graduate Recruitment Team.

If you would like to discuss any mitigating circumstances before making an application, please also contact the team using the following contact details: Phone: 020 3650 2304 or e-mail: futurecareers.recruitment@unilever.com.