R&D Associate

Job description

No matter who you are, or where in the world you are, the chances are that our products are a familiar part of your daily routine.
Every day, around the world, people reach for Unilever products. Our brands are trusted everywhere and, by listening to the people who buy them, we've grown into one of the world's most successful consumer goods companies. In fact, 150 million times a day, someone somewhere chooses a Unilever product.
Look in your fridge, or on the bathroom shelf, and you're bound to see one of our well-known brands. We create, market and distribute the products that people choose to feed their families and keep themselves and their homes clean and fresh.

Job Title: R&D Associate
Location : Mumbai

Unilever has a substantial Global Skin Cleansing business comprising of soap bars and shower gels. R&D team in Mumbai is responsible for a substantial part of this global business and its responsibilities span new product development, improving value equation of current products, working with cross category team to land innovations in market which win with consumers.

The current job description being discussed is for a R&D Associate reporting into a Product Development Manager

She (he) would be responsible for specific products, processes and technology development. The job needs continuous interaction with Brand Development, Consumer Marketing Insight, Consumer Technical Insights, Supply Chain, legal, regulatory & Supply Management teams.
The job involves intense cross functional engagement while articulating targets for Project teams and also meeting those in addition to building strong technical knowledge linked to consumer preference.

Deliverables

It is expected that the incumbent, during the course of her (his) work, will need to deliver the following:
· Understanding the consumer habits & needs as required by the Project team while articulating the needs of business
· Develop product solutions based on scientific understanding of formulation principles as needed by the business, articulated as an outcome of Project team work
· Develop processes to manufacture product solution developed
· Ensuring compliance to Internal Unilever protocols while developing product solutions with respect to commitment to safety, environment, claim support, specification management etc.

In addition to the above, it is expected that he(she) would contribute pro-actively in identifying & supporting Value improvement opportunities for Skin portfolio of products

Required Professional skills

· Background in Chemistry, Chemical Engg, Pharmacy, Or Related Science workstreams
· Process engineering skills
· People management skills
· Good Verbal/written Communication skills
· Dealing with people from multicultural backgrounds.
· Multi tasking ability

Experience
The candidate should have experience in
· Designing new product solutions for personal care & cleansing based on sound scientific understanding.
· Good appreciation of chemistry, chemical engineering/processing
· Preferably have worked on skin cleansing products before with good understanding of intricacies of different surfactants, soaps and combos along with scale up challenges.

Required key Competencies
· Is an active learner with strong technical knowledge base
· Ability to link theoretical to practical along with risk identification and management
· Good communication skills to work with cross functional team of different cultures/ nationalities
· Focused on delivery and ability to manage multiple projects and stakeholders