Leaders Programme - Research & Development NL

Position: Unilever Future Leaders Programme - Research & Development NL
Unilever Future Leaders Programme (UFLP) – Research & Development – Netherlands
Our Future Leaders Programme will ignite the leader in you. This unique programme is designed to develop Unilever’s Future Leaders (UFL) by providing challenging and purposeful opportunities that accelerate their readiness to take on business leadership roles.

The Unilever Future Leaders Programme, or as we call it “UFLP”, is a 3-year traineeship programme that gives you the opportunity to develop yourself into an experienced future‑fit professional. Bring your enthusiasm, curiosity and innovative ideas to the table and start your learning journey at Unilever as a UFLP.

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world’s largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) businesses. We reach 3.4 billion consumers a day and we have 128,000 employees globally.

What will you be doing as a Research & Development UFLP?

By joining the Unilever Future Leaders Research and Development Programme, we want to show you how in a business whose purpose is to make sustainable living commonplace and create a brighter future, that future begins in R&D. And we are delivering this future in our Foods business through the recent bold new ‘Future Foods’ ambition Unilever set itself:

Deliver fewer, bigger, science-powered innovations  that are  globally scalable  to drive real impact across our Foods portfolio.

Improve nutrition and sustainability  by upgrading recipes, reducing waste, and lowering our environmental footprint.

Build  a  Future-fit R&D Model , driven by  pioneering people  and powered by cutting edge  Digital and AI technology .

R&D forms an integrated part and enabler in achieving this ambition. To this extent Unilever invested in the new Foods Innovation Center – called ‘Hive’ – located at the ‘Silicon Valley of Food’ at Wageningen the Netherlands, to help formulate the next generation of food including meat and dairy alternatives – using criteria such as affordability, sustainability, and taste. Since 2019 ‘Hive’ is the hotbed of ideas for brands, products, packaging, manufacturing, and technology innovation.

As an R&D UFL you participate in and lead global innovations for our famous Foods brands. You develop products from concept ideas to full-scale production – with a heavy emphasis on feasibility and understanding consumer needs. You develop technologies and science for specific food products to make them healthier, more appealing, more efficient, and more environmentally friendly. You make sure that our products are able to run in the production lines of our factories.

On top of that, you work together with more than 35 different nationalities in a highly educative environment.

Unilever R&D is on a journey of transforming our organization to adopt agile ways of working, through tools, practices, and principles – as well as a flexible mindset and culture. Using agile methodologies enable us to continuously plan and prioritize and collaborate across teams/squads and functions.

You are part of the Innovation Ecosystem in which you could be working with one of our technology partners, driving the delivery of a Global Programme or working with universities, scientific institutions, start-ups, and industry innovators to solve business challenges.

The limitless opportunities at Unilever create fully engaging innovative entrepreneurship. Our people have and take the opportunity to make a big impact every day. The Unilever Future Leaders Programme R&D is about having a big impact, right from the start. Unilever has a culture where growth means positive change, impact, and influence as well as market share.

What do we look for?

If you are ambitious, determined, and excited by the most recent technological developments in food and making the global food system healthier and more sustainable whilst liking to think strategically about how their value could be harnessed on a global scale, then this is the career path for you.

Ask yourself the following questions:
And if you can answer these affirmatively, we are looking for you!

Are you currently conducting a master’s degree in areas such as Chemical Engineering, Applied Physics, Life Science &…