Emulsified Sauces Technologist Unilever Food Solutions (UFS)

UNILEVER is looking for Emulsified Sauces Technologist Unilever Food Solutions

Salary range: 44k-57k -based on candidate experience-

Location: Hive Wageningen

ABOUT UNILEVER FOOD SOLUTIONS 

Unilever Food Solutions is the 2nd largest Business Unit of Unilever, is one of the 3 Power brands of the Foods Business Group, and a global market leader in Food Service. We are an independent Global Business Unit that operates in over 76 countries, and employs ~4000 employees. We have a unique B2B business model focused on serving chefs and our purpose is to free them to love what they do. 

We at UFS have a bold and clear ambition and strategy in place for 2030 with a bold ambition on turnover and profitability, by being the best solution provider to our growing operator base. We plan to do this via a product first focus on superiority, by becoming the leader in AI powered Customer experience and by nurturing a Winning culture. We have had a history of delivering with excellence and resilient performance in the past few years. We also strive to stay 3 steps ahead in the industry. For example, our Future Menus Report identifies emerging culinary trends, making us a trendsetter for inspiring innovative solutions for chefs worldwide. 

We have a culture of caring deeply not just for our business but also for our people. We foster an entrepreneurial culture built on speed, simplicity, trust, and a deep hunger to grow. Our people thrive on their roles being empowered and end to end - across all functions. We also invest heavily in building future skills and leaders. Our People agenda of Accelerate-Grow-Thrive consistently helps us lead in employee engagement, with scores exceeding Unilever scores across all dimensions and being one of the most engaged teams at Unilever. 

Here, you will continuously learn, unlearn, and relearn, challenging yourself to accelerate your development in an end-to-end business and in end-to-end roles. If you're dreaming of contributing to Unilever’s 2nd largest Business unit, a fast-growing business, where you're empowered so you can play to win and thrive as part of One Team with One Goal, then come and join us! 

Unilever Food Solutions is the place where you can bring your purpose to life with the work that you do – creating a better business and a better world. If you are passionate about innovation and new technologies and want to work in a dynamic and diverse team, with a can-do, collective culture, and have the opportunity to develop yourself – then this role is just for you!
We are looking for a passionate R&D Technologist to lead the development and optimization of innovative emulsified food products for Food Service. The role is based in Hive, Wageningen, the Netherlands.

With this role, you will contribute to new technology development and implementation, and to innovation, via product design, formulation, and scale-up activities, working closely with cross-functional teams, to bring ideas from concept to commercialization. The R&D Technologist role requires a blend of technical expertise in emulsified foods formulation and processing, along with solid analytical and digital skills for fast and high-quality experimentation and strong communication skills.

Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to the development of new, breakthrough technology for emulsified foods, such as condiments and sauces
• Support the upscaling and implementation of such technologies in main plants, globally
• Be the global first point of contact for specific technology areas, supporting knowledge creation and troubleshooting
• Lead the creation and upscaling of new products and reformulations aligned with business and consumer needs
• Independently setup and execute lab experiments, prototype builds, and plant trials (pilot plant and factory scale), including data analysis and reporting
• Coordinate and perform analytical and sensory testing and data analysis to guide formulation decisions
• Lead key workstreams in the Food Solutions/emulsified foods programs
• Ensure compliance with food safety, quality, and regulatory requirements
• Closely collaborate with Global and Local Marketing, Supply Chain, and Operations teams

Requirements

• Professional education and proven experience: (HBO plus at least 10 years of relevant working experience OR Bachelor/Master plus at least 2 years of relevant working experience) in Food Science, Product Design, Food Engineering, Processing, or related areas.
• Working knowledge of recipe design principles for emulsion-based products and relevant processing technologies, including mixing, pasteurisation, emulsification and packaging.
• Understanding of product innovation and development processes.
• Have experience in developing design of experiments, conducting pilot and factory scale trials, setting up shelf life and stability tests and conducting analytical tests.
• Ability to review relevant regulations and conduct scientific and technical literature searches.
• Experience using relevant software, digital tools and data analysis platforms to support product development and experimentation.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead technical workstreams and collaborate effectively within global cross-functional project teams.
• Take initiative in supporting the R&D Platform Lead and lead key activities for transformation of R&D ways of working and ways of collaboration within and outside the organization
• Adopt agile ways of working to optimize impact.
• Ability to work effectively in a cross-functional and multicultural environment, with strong written and verbal communication skills in English.