Formulation Scientist

Job Title: Formulation Scientist

Location: Leeds R&D

BACKGROUND

Unilever's Deodorants Category manages instantly recognisable and iconic brands such as Sure/Rexona, Lynx/Axe, and Dove from our state-of-the-art Research and Development site in Leeds, UK. We are entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers. We know our consumers, our markets and our competitors. We care for our world while driving current and future growth of a €5bn category.

These overriding principles enable the Deodorant Format development Team to develop and create novel products and breakthrough technologies that address real consumer problems in every corner of the globe, vital in driving the ongoing success of the category and vital in driving business growth and margin.

This job is based in the Format development team within the Deodorant Global Design Team in Leeds, UK, where the centre of excellence for sticks, aerosols and sprays, is basedYou will be working to deliver new emulsion and anhydrous formulations for our applicators from bench through to pilot scale, helping deliver innovations into the brands, as well as supporting the format deodorant strategy driving to unlock capacity and speed in everything we do.

The role is both office and lab-based working, with a significant amount of time expected to be in the laboratory.

JOB PURPOSE

• Business context
  • This role focuses on working within the Format Development team to cover all aspects of formulation development including testing of new deodorant Formulations and implementing new technologies for global/regional rollout by the innovation brand teams.
• Key Challenges of the role
  • Taking responsibility for planning and delivering the testing programme for projects ensuring all testing is completed in order to meet network timings.
  • Addressing formulation issues as they arise for example fragrance/ new ingredient interactions causing formulation instability and understanding the science behind these issues.
  • Working at a global level as a formulation contact, dealing with technical queries from other areas of the business such as; innovation teams, regions, safety and regulatory teams, Supply chain.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Be able to understand the functions of raw materials and their role within a formulation. Utilising product development experience to independently adapt and modify and develop new formulations as required; delivering into innovation projects. Liaising with key suppliers as necessary in order to resolve any formulation issues and actively seek information to gain knowledge.
• Be able to formulate in autonomy to deliver certain aspects of technical projects by planning and executing technical testing, interpret results, prepare reports and communicate results/recommendations to the team.
• Provide supporting documentation and prototypes for both internal and external testing and carry out relevant quality control testing, to ensure products are fit for market/ consumer testing. Design and implementation of new protocols/ laboratory testing techniques with guidance as necessary from senior functional experts .
• Effectively communicate with different functional areas of the business to ensure project timings are met. Attend and contribute to technical team meetings.
• Actively participate in departmental initiatives, processes and maintain high standards of laboratory housekeeping and safety. Keep laboratory records up to date.
• Provide training and technical support for colleagues.

ALL ABOUT YOU

• Graduate calibre - Degree level in Chemistry/ Cosmetic Science preferable,
• Desirable for the candidate to have some laboratory experience in formulation development gained in a FMCG or cosmetic environment
• Digital acumen

Functional Skills

• Formulation Chemistry - Understanding of ingredients; ability to modify and manipulate formulations.
• Evaluate and understand interactions between ingredients within formulation/process/pack
• Analytical capability – analyse and interpret data
• Design of experiments/protocol development
• Claims generation, definition, and substantiation
• Intellectual property and agreement understanding
• Olfactive assessment capability
• Consumer understanding

R&D and General Professional Skills

• Information Management - knowledge capture, reporting
• Working with external suppliers
• Basic Project Management
• Strategic Implementation - working on strategic activities.
• Health & safety regulations and processes
• Effective communication

NOTES

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2 billion consumers a day. Unilever has more than 400 brands found in homes around the world, including Dove, Tresemme, Lynx, Lifebuoy, Shea Moisture, Persil, Domestos, Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum, Marmite, The Vegetarian Butcher, Graze and Pot Noodle.

Faced with the challenge of climate change and the need for human development, we want to move towards a world where everyone can live well and within the natural limits of the planet. That’s why our purpose is ‘to make sustainable living commonplace’

What We Offer

Not only do we offer a competitive salary and pension scheme, we also offer an annual bonus, subsidised gym membership, a discounted staff shop and shares. You’ll have the opportunity to work directly with our renowned and exciting brands in a flexible and hybrid working environment.

Whilst the role is advertised on a full-time basis, we would be happy to discuss possible flexible working options and what this may look like for you. We are a key advocate of wellbeing and offer a variety of support for our people including hubs, programmes and development opportunities. We strive to achieve a family-friendly and inclusive workplace and to, above all, create possibilities for all.

Diversity at Unilever is about inclusion, embracing differences, creating possibilities, and growing together for better business performance. We want to push boundaries, and have the flexibility needed to keep adapting in an ever-changing, more dynamic world. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.

As part of your hiring journey, we are happy to support requests for reasonable adjustments, to improve your recruitment experience.

To find out more, including more information about our Employee Resource Groups, please click here.

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How is Unilever tackling this?

Many of Unilever’s recruitment sites publish a warning to candidates about recruitment fraud. The Cyber Security team also proactively scan for signs of people setting up fake Unilever sites and act to close them down.

What can I do?

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Unilever does not accept responsibility or liability for any candidates who are financially impacted by recruitment fraud. Your vigilance is key!