Oral Microbiology Research Scientist

Job description

JOB TITLE: ORAL MICROBIOLOGY LEAD SCIENTIST
SALARY: COMPETITIVE
BENEFITS : UNILEVER PENSION SCHEME, PRIVATE HEALTHCARE.
LOCATION: PORT SUNLIGHT, WIRRAL, NORTH WEST UK.
TRAVEL: 10%
TERMS: LOCAL

ABOUT THE ROLE:

Unilever's purpose is to make sustainable living commonplace. We work to create a better future every day, with brands and services that help people feel good, look good, and get more out of life. Our vision is to double the size of the business, whilst reducing our environmental footprint and increasing our positive social impact.

We are recruiting for a lead scientist with Oral Microbiology expertise to play a pivotal role in delivering our ambition in new and disruptive consumer health benefits for Personal and Oral Care .
The successful applicant will be responsible for identifying and applying new microbiology and microbiomics tools for the business, with strong project and science leadership and external scientific communication components. The job holder will be responsible for defining and leading the Oral Care microbiology work programme to deliver new insights and technologies for our product innovation portfolio. A key responsibility is to develop novel techniques in microbiology to advance our microbiology capability for Oral and Personal Care across our global R&D sites.

This exciting role affords an excellent opportunity for a highly skilled and motivated individual to shape and lead our oral care microbiology science base whilst strengthening our programme with the wider academic community via collaborations with leading external centres of microbiology and oral/dental health excellence.

EXPERIENCE, SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS

ESSENTIAL
· Minimum of a PhD in Microbiology or a closely related discipline with specialist knowledge of oral microbiology
· Proven science and technology expertise in applied oral microbiology, particularly in molecular microbiological techniques and complex biofilms.
· Proven experience in leading technical work programmes and people within innovation projects, preferably within a FMCG or medical or pharmaceutical environment
· Experience of successfully leading academic and/or commercial partnerships
· Excellent verbal and written communication skills with ability to translate complex scientific information for non-expert audiences.
· Flexibility and adaptability, experience of working in different contexts and roles within a diverse and global team
· Proven scientific publication record


DESIRABLE
· Experience of one or more of molecular biology, microbial physiology, biochemistry, microbial metabolomics, complex biofilms, bioinformatics or metabolic modelling
· Knowledge of salivary biology
· Knowledge of oral care consumer products and their in vitro or clinical assessment
· Knowledge and prior experience of working within a quality framework (for example, ISO 9001 and 13485)
SKILLS
· Project and portfolio management with strong delivery focus
· Knowledge of innovation process and programmes
· Leadership of people & diverse teams
· Developing and maintaining internal and external networks
· Stakeholder influencing
· Strong verbal and written communication skills

Key Standards of Leadership:

· Growth Mindset
· Bias For Action
· Accountability and Responsibility
· Building Talents & Teams
· Consumer & Customer Focus
COMPANY OVERVIEW

Unilever is a global Fast-Moving Consumer Goods company in the UK and Ireland. We are already on target to achieve our huge ambition to double the size of our business globally whilst reducing our environmental impact. We are growing our business and also doing what is right for our consumers, community and environment. We are developing brands for people's lives today and for the changing environment tomorrow - making sustainable living commonplace.

Working at Unilever means that you get to take part in this exciting journey and work with amazing people who are really passionate about our large portfolio of famous brands. We want to improve billions of lives and you too can join us in making a sustainable difference.


HOW TO APPLY

Hear stories from our Unilever Makers and understand how you can start your own Unilever career at: http://www.unilever.co.uk/careers-jobs/professionals/.

Or to apply now, click on “Apply to this job”. All candidate applications are reviewed in accordance with the criteria outlined for the job role. Please note that the closing date for the receipt of applications is 1st February 2017.

Candidates who have applied online can track their application through the candidate tracking link or, if you have any additional queries, you may contact the Recruitment hotline number on 0800 0284390.