Ice Cream Assistant Product Development Manager

Unilever is currently hiring for Ice Cream Assistant Product Development Manager

ABOUT UNILEVER

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world. 

At Unilever, your career will be a unique journey, grounded in our inclusive, collaborative, and flexible working environment. We don’t believe in the ‘one size fits all’ approach and instead we will equip you with the tools you need to shape your own future.

Our Vision: Life tastes better with Ice Cream

As the largest ice cream company in the world, we have over 100 years of experience in delivering smiles, and we plan to continue this for many more years to come, with our people and planet first.

We have 35 brands, including 3 one billion Euro brands (Magnum, Wall’s, Ben & Jerry’s), in over 60 countries. All driven to spread happiness through indulgent yet responsibly made and marketed products. We have a well-developed strategy to deliver growth and value creation which is clear on our where to play and how to win.

JOB PURPOSE

The Ice Cream R&D team embrace agile innovation and are fully connected to countries and markets to land global, regional and local projects in the markets. Ice cream business in METSA is large and highly successful. The business reaches across all Ice Cream experiences in two broad platforms: In Home – familiar in-home tubs, pints and monoportions as well as scooping Out of Home, and Impulse – global and local classics and kid’s favorites, and the regional Ice Cream R&D team design reflects this.

The Ice Cream Regional Design Center (RDC) located in Sarigazi/Istanbul is the driving force behind the creation and delivery of benefit-led, innovative ice cream products across our world-renowned global (e.g. Magnum, Cornetto, Twister), premium local (e.g. Carte D’or, Maras) and regional (e.g. Vienetta) brands. The team embrace agile innovation and are fully connected to country teams to land innovation and renovation projects in the markets. The team is closely connected to local marketing and customer development teams and support their relationships with regulatory authorities, customers (e.g. by developing compelling selling stories that drive sales of our products) and consumers.

The business reaches across all ice cream experiences under two broad platforms: In Home and Food Service (in-home tubs, log and pints and out of home experiences such as scooping non portioned and mono portions) and Impulse which includes global and local stick, cup, cone formats under Kids, Snacking, Cone and premium ranges.

• In this role you will be the R&D first point of contact on an area of the region, and you will lead projects in close partnership across functions (Marketing; Supply Chain; Procurement) as well as key (external) partners and suppliers (e.g. 3PM, Flavor and Ingredients suppliers).
• You will manage a portfolio of projects across innovation, quality, complexity and cost reduction and fully embrace relevant flavor, nutrition and sustainability trends. You will bring your passion for ice cream, and enthusiasm to know consumer and customer needs and trends and use this to shape and deliver brilliant, sustainable, product experiences.
• This role presents an exciting opportunity for someone who is passionate about new product development to play a key role in supporting the Regional R&D team through identifying opportunities to better meet consumer needs and drive profitable growth for Ice Cream business. 
• If you have the vision and creativity to shape impactful research, the ability to translate insights into opportunities for new products and compelling claims, coupled with a strong bias for action – this is a role for you.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Technical Management and product development of Ice Cream innovation projects to deliver ambitious Growth Agenda with highest delivered quality, OTIF against all project brief requirements by demonstrating management skills as Technical Project Leader,
• Maintain effective and timely communication of project status with regional/ global partners.
• Assessment of new technologies and technical opportunities with latest developments in the relevant area.
• Follow and understand trends on market regarding new product and technologies
• Partnering with Marketing and SC to establish Technology and Innovation for relevant portfolio,
• Leading the regional R&D activities related to the cost-effective implementation of Innovation, Renovation, Line Extension and/or Cost Optimizations projects under this position area of responsibility, in line with business, consumer needs and regulations.
• Responsible for integrity of specifications and formulations in specification management system.  Provision of specification for every product in market and ensure that all new, or rejuvenated products have & match agreed specs.
• Generates ideas by investigating new and alternative materials, processes, equipment. Follow and understand trends in market regarding new products and technologies.
• Ensures effective interface with Ice Cream factories in driving implementation of new products and processes,
• Manage supplier relationships working closely with other functions such as Procurement.
• In close co-ordination with the Processing and supply chain teams, develop manufacturing processes to scale the product manufacture from lab to pilot to main plant.
• Plan, coordinate & execute lab, and pilot plant work. Delivering data management tasks to the team for recipe and artwork label creation.
• Organize and manage industrial trials and all technical risk assessment studies in projects for all sourcing units including 3PM.
• Support the creation of innovation and renovation selling stories.
• Ensure the compliance of the work to the Company Code of Business Principles and all SHEQA policies, including the support of product claims, risk management as well as Capture all regional CTI needs to guarantee they are reflected in global projects.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS:

• Regional Marketing Team
• Supply Chain (factories, planning, quality, etc.) and Procurement Teams
• R&D team across globe
• Supplier/partner organizations
• Technical R&D specialists (CTI, Processing, Packaging, Formulation, Nutritionist, Digital & Data)
• Business Partners (Finance, CMI, Quality, SEAC, Patents and Regulatory)

SKILL/EXPERIENCE:

• University degree in Food Engineering and/or Chemical Engineering
• Experience in R&D and project management is preffered
• Fluent in English
• Very good knowledge of MS Office
• Preferably no military obligation for male candidates
• Must have very good communication skills and strong commitment to work closely with the teams
• Ability to effectively co-operate within multi-disciplinary teams on local and regional
• Working knowledge of Food Legislation, Quality Assurance, issues management/crisis preparedness
• Knowledge of product design processes and principles
• Knowledge of food manufacturing process & environments
• Excellent communication and project management skills
• Understanding claims and risk management
• Passion for creative food product design and development
• Attention to detail especially in experimentation, data recording and analysis.

LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOURS:

• Personal Mastery
• Agility
• Passion for performance
• Consumer love
• Talent catalyst

Unilever embraces diversity and encourages applicants from all walks of life! This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. 

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.