Product Developer Technician

Job description

Job Title: Product Developer Technician
Salary: Up to £25,057 - £26,0623
Benefits: Pension, BUPA, Bonus and much more
Location: Colworth Science Park
Travel: 5-10%

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Unilever is the global company behind powerhouse brands such as Flora, Dove, Persil and PG Tips. We have the huge ambition of doubling in size and improving billions of lives through of Sustainable Living Plan. And big ideas like the Flora Pro.activ Heart Health campaign are driving our business. But to achieve this, we need more outstanding people. With over 35 brands in the UK covering foods, home, personal care and refreshments, the scope of activity and strength of expertise in Marketing is huge. Many of our brands have long-standing social missions. All offer fulfilling opportunities to gain valuable commercial insight and experience - working on great categories, taking on real challenges and making a lasting impact.

MAIN JOB PURPOSE:

Globally, the beverages category is dynamic, continually evolving and highly competitive. Unilever's vision is to work to create a better future every day with food and beverage brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. The GDC Beverages group within Refreshment is a provider of proprietary technology for Beverages, and as such is the key enabler for Unilever in achieving this ambition in the Refreshment category globally.

Lipton is one of Unilever's fastest growing global brands. The Lipton Ready To Drink (RTD) tea business is currently managed in over 60 markets through a Joint Venture with Pepsi which combines Unilever's strength in brand development and R&D with Pepsi's strengths in manufacturing, distribution and sales. The successful Pepsi Lipton (PL) Joint Venture manages the Lipton RTD tea business in all markets globally with the exception of Japan, the USA and Canada.

This vacancy is for a Product Developer within the Lipton Ice Tea development team.

This is a unique and challenging opportunity to work with two multinational companies, and also to join a dynamic team with an unquenchable thirst for drinks innovation that will be bringing vitality to life for consumers through novel drinks propositions.

JOB SUMMARY

The job holder (JH) will be a member of cross functional project teams (including PLI Supply Chain and Unilever Marketing and Pepsi International Marketing) providing Product Development capability.

The job holder (JH) will:-
• Be a member of project teams (including PLI Supply Chain and Unilever Marketing and Pepsi International Marketing) providing Product Development capability.
• Be the key product developer for multiple identified projects including innovation, renovation, productivity and SC related where the product is affected or is the focus
• Responsible for fully executing the product development brief for projects identified
• Responsibility to ensure that all product development core activities are delivered on time in full specific to the brief and project requirements
• Generate, update and communicate project timelines specific to product development activities to the core project team
• Be responsible for design, development and preparation of lab-scale and pilot plant-scale product prototypes for screening, team evaluations and consumer testing.
• Manage the shipment, import and liaison of prototypes to relevant locations, supporting with tasting sessions and collating feedback and recommendations for prototype improvement
• Responsibility to build and deliver the product specifications on time and cascade as required
• Liaise with other GDC's, third parties, external suppliers & experts for understanding on ingredients – taste and nutrition, and go-to-market processing as appropriate
• Be first point of contact for flavor houses and suppliers specific to the project needs
• Plan, take part in and report factory trials as well as attend relevant first productions as required
• Ensure all consumer safety and regulatory aspects are observed throughout activities (traceability, allergen management, microbiological clearance etc)
• The contact point for product questions for any formulations that he/she develops
• Responsible for ensuring that the selected formulations are submitted for product performance studies (taste and stability) over shelf life and results and recommendations cascades to the project teams.
• Provide products and recipe relevant key information as required for local markets, project team and for presentations as required
• Attend project meetings, market updates and relevant meetings that require progress updates for development activities
• Attend relevant conferences and training schemes as agreed with the line manager
• Responsible for maintaining a lab book and formal reporting procedures as required
• Will be required to have an awareness of: safe product design; patents; competitor products; commercial processes; and project management
• Be prepared to become expert in key technology or development area as appropriate

The job holder is expected to contribute to the success of the PLI through engagement with team and unit events and is expected to be a member of the product development core team and support other team individuals as required.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

Professional/Technical Skills and Qualifications
• Candidates need to have formal technical training and higher level (beyond school) qualifications.
• Foundation training/qualification in food hygiene desirable.

General Skills
• Previous development experience in Beverages would be highly desirable.
•Candidates should be able to demonstrate a flexible approach to a frequently changing work plan portfolio and the ability to plan and implement their work within challenging project timeframes.

Travel Requirement
• It is anticipated that candidates may be required to travel globally to attend project team meetings, consumer work and production trials. Frequency will vary, but is expected to average one trip per quarter throughout the year.
• Any travel requirements will be agreed through discussion with the individual.

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 Tuesday 18th April 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.