Background & Purpose of the Job
We are developing our brands for people’s lives today and for the changing environment tomorrow – aiming to make sustainable living commonplace. Unilever offers vast and exciting career paths within R&D. Creating new innovations and enhancing our existing brand portfolio – it’s all yours in Unilever’s R&D product development function. A product developer is generally expected to conduct the following work activities as part of a cross functional project team: Successful participation and interaction on project teams. Assist with the preparation of a broad range of prototypes using a variety of resources to bring product concepts to life. Culinary scoping and development of products to meet a culinary and/or a product design brief. Work with novel raw materials to determine potential application in Unilever products. Assist with the assessment of technical feasibility from a product perspective and identification of product related issues such as unique ingredients as well as the effect of process on product quality attributes. Identification of formulation & ingredients, shelf life, potential suppliers. Demonstrate sound communication skills to present prototypes in product showings among several different functional groups and with suppliers
Who You Are & What You’ll Do
With guidance from a mentor and manager, product development summer interns will manage one major summer project on their own. In order to do this, summer interns are expected to assess the technical feasibility of potential formulations and identify formulation-related issues such as cost targets, stability or safety considerations. Other responsibilities include interacting with other groups within R&D (process engineering, consumer science, and packaging), translating consumer and/or technical insights into compelling creative demos, and investigating and resolving quality issues.
You’re a born leader: Demonstrate bias for action and ability to drive decision making on your project.
You’re a dot connector: You will design & conduct experiments, collect & analyze data, and provide technically solid recommendations as a result of that work
You’re a story teller: You will present your project and results to senior management
You’re a culture & change champion: You bring your own experiences and uniqueness to the team, which is valued in our inclusive work environment
What You’ll Need To Succeed
Undergrad with Junior status based on skills and coursework.
Coursework preferably in Food Science, Chemistry, Biology, Engineering and/or Culinary Arts.
Ability to execute a project and analyze research data/studies.
Ability to deliver data to support insights, techniques and technologies for improvements.
Ability to work as part a team (both your own team and cross-functionally) as well as to think/act independently
Ability to work independently on the bench and in the pilot plant
Strong presentations skills
Minimum GPA of 3.0
Willingness to relocate
Life at Unilever is a lot of fun – just like our application process! Check out what you'll experience when you apply for one of our internships or co-ops