Associate Scientist, Scratch Cooking - Nutrition

Job description

Background and purpose:

Scratch Cooking is a fun, exciting, and competitive category within Unilever’s Nutrition Business Group which houses the iconic Knorr and Lipton Recipe Secrets brands. The team is driven by a powerful purpose, to provide accessible and affordable nutrition to the many Americans and Canadians.

The Scratch Cooking R&D team supports Unilever’s North American business by driving the growth agenda through product renovation, innovation, and smart product cost savings projects. The R&D team works closely with our business partners to help identify the key consumer insights, translate these consumer needs into product concepts, and ultimately develop boldly healthy and holistically superior products.

This role requires building strong partnerships with the marketing team while bridging that relationship to our global technical experts and supply chain. The candidate will combine technical capability, knowledge of consumer needs, and manufacturing excellence to deliver improvements to current products and bring future concepts to life. This role presents an exciting opportunity for someone passionate about food, product development, and the consumer goods industry. The product range covers side dishes, soups, sauces, gravies, and bouillons. The technical formats include dry powders, concentrated liquids, and pasty extrusion.

Who you are:

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You love to win and have fun doing it: You are passionate about product development, and you are customer/consumer focused. You are comfortable operating in a fast passed, multifaceted, and multi-cultural environment.

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Problem solver: The position requires the application of technical knowledge and scientific methodologies that include benchtop evaluations and experimentation. You are capable to identify necessary experts and work together to find root cause and solution.

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You are a dot connector: You are quick to see gaps be it in processes or systems and have good ideas on how to close them.

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You are a changemaker: You understand when there is a need for change in approach or process, and you know who to work with to make it happen. 

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You are a born leader: Pro-active self-direction with a high level of initiative and persistence and a very much hands-on approach to results delivery

What you’ll do:

Support projects:

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Work as a member of the R&D team supporting projects to deliver the R&D program and agenda, including innovation, renovation, quality improvement and cost savings.

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Support R&D project leaders in executing laboratory and pilot plant work, including product demonstration, analytical measurement, and documentation along with maintaining a safe and organized work environment.

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Demonstrate flexibility to manage priorities.

Develop products:

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Formulate products against simple project briefs, designing towards cost and nutritional targets.

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Uphold Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), prioritizing food and personal safety.

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Create basic design of experiments with support from project leads.

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Execute laboratory experiments and collaborate with R&D group on insights and learnings.

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Demonstrate basic appreciation of ingredients, formulation, and product design principles.

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Write specifications in the Product Lifecycle Management system and develop capability for creating technical information for label development.

Provide technical and product guidance

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Actively participate in cross functional project meetings representing the technical R&D team.

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With support, demonstrate root cause analysis and problem solving to new and existing products.

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Evaluate alternate materials and suppliers to build resilience and reduce portfolio complexity.

Establish and maintain internal and external working relationships

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Develop and maintain effective working relationships with R&D, supply chain, marketing teams, and key stakeholders.

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Communicate thoughts in a clear and concise approach, raising risk and issues in a timely manner.

What You Need To Succeed

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B.S. in Food Science or relevant scientific related field of study with 1-2 years of experience in R&D or Quality in a food manufacturing or laboratory environment is     preferred. A combination of work experience/Internship and education will be considered.

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Possess basic technical knowledge of ingredient functionality, processing, nutrition, and legislation in foods.

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Strong digital background in MS Office (Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, Excel),

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Specification system experience

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Effective verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills within cross-functional teams and with outside customers.

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Good project management, organizational skills, and quick learning will enable success in this role.

Pay : The pay range for this position is $53,200 to $79,700. 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, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability. 

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.