Sustainable Packaging - Paper & Coatings Scientist

Job Title

Sustainable Packaging-Paper&Coatings Scientist

Port Sunlight Research Lab

We are looking for a creative, dedicated and ambitious individual with experience in coatings and/or paper engineering /science to join our team at Unilever’s One Packaging R&D Centre . The Centre enables and accelerates the creation of novel packaging solutions to help meet Unilever’s packaging ambitions and completely revolutionize our packaging with a particular focus on our flexibles portfolio . It is the place where future scientific leaders of the business are created.

We are a high-performing, diverse and inclusive team of dynamic entrepreneurial people with a strong scientific background, courage and curiosity, and passion for sustainability and delivery that will have a positive impact on the planet.

As part of our world‑class ‘Future Packaging Technologies’ team, you will play a key role in the flexibles packaging program, delivering new technologies and insights that will support the delivery of affordable superior paper‑based solutions across Unilever’s packaging portfolio. The key accountabilities for the role holder are as follows:

• Support the selection, application, and optimization of inks, coatings, and overprint varnishes on flexible substrates to meet performance and sustainability requirements.
• Assess and help interpret the physical, chemical, and surface properties of fiber based and film substrates to ensure compatibility with coatings and printing solutions.
• Contribute to coating and ink evaluation by applying established analytical and characterization approaches to assess adhesion, barrier behaviour, durability, and overall performance.
• Provide day‑to‑day technical support to the team, including sample preparation, test execution, data collection, and basic troubleshooting.
• Support scale‑up activities from lab to pilot trials by preparing materials, assisting with trial execution, resolving routine issues, and documenting processing conditions.
• Contribute to experimental design and project planning, helping to generate data‑based insights, hypotheses, and recommendations that advance program objectives and support claims or IP development.
• Maintain high‑quality documentation, contribute to SOP creation, ensure reliable testing practices, and help prepare data packages for internal reviews, sustainability claims, or IP filings.
• Engage with external partners and suppliers to gather information or samples and support the evaluation of new technologies, while fostering strong relationships across the internal R&D community.
• Plan and execute work with increasing autonomy, collaborating with program leaders to deliver activities aligned with project milestones.
• Work with digital experts and use digital tools to support material selection, data interpretation, and process optimisation.

We are looking for someone that shares our passion for innovation, applied material science and sustainability, and the drive to take our paper packaging portfolio to the next level. Our Packaging strategy is not just about understanding and developing new materials – it’s about making smart decisions on how, when, and where to use them. You will be part of a multi‑disciplinary project team ethos where everybody contributes to achieving the same goal.

• A higher education qualification in Materials Science, Polymer Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Packaging Science, Printing & Coating Technology, Paper Technology, or a closely related discipline
• Experience in industrially relevant materials development and/or characterisation.
• Working knowledge of coatings, inks, and overprint varnishes for fibre based and/or film substrates, with the ability to build deeper understanding of how application methods and substrate interactions influence performance, is highly desirable.
• Practical experience working with coatings, inks, or overprint varnishes in a laboratory environment, and familiarity with fundamental characterisation approaches used to assess performance, is highly desirable.
• Experience supporting scale‑up or pilot activities, including sample preparation,…