Personal Care Philippines Activation Research & Development Lead

Personal Care (PC) business in Greater Asia is a large, profitable, growing market and thus represents a significant growth opportunity in Unilever. We have an ambition to generate over €150M incremental turn-over in the next 3 years and we are accretive to overall PC Business Group (BG). We have a diverse geographical footprint spanning markets like Vietnam, Philippines, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. We see a clear opportunity to grow our core PC brands through market-making (driving penetration & consumption), premiumization (upgradation), and drive competitiveness across channels.

The scope will be Philippines, one of the biggest markets for Personal Care in Greater Asia (GA).  PC PH has a solid portfolio of leading/competitive brands like Rexona, Dove, Closeup and Axe.  It’s the fastest growing country in GA, profitable and accretive to PC GA and Global business.

The PC Activation R&D Lead role is a key position as it will be the main R&D leading projects from product lock, implementation in customers, to activating the science & technology of products with key audiences. It supports the PC Country R&D Lead to deliver growth ambition for the market through superior products with winning and impactful activation.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

• Support the PC Country R&D Lead for the on-time and in-full delivery of the R&D program, ensuring relevant product technology and performance deployment. Programs will encompass innovation, product superiority and brand-led growth activities.
• Lead the product activation workstream for innovation (including Y2) and brand-led growth (BLG) activities. Adapt global activation assets to local market needs. Partner with Brand, CSP (Customer Strategy & Planning) and Digital Marketing Media team to customize science communications and product assets to local requirements -including adapting to the social environment.
• Work closely with marketing to design comprehensive technical activation plans for different touchpoints (customers, shoppers, consumers, influencers, authorities & experts). Create science content that aligns with marketing strategies, including demos, claims and product stories/ visuals. Ensure that the content is scientifically accurate and engaging for the target audience. Likewise, effectively communicate science contents in an accessible and engaging manner.
• Lead assessment of activation impact and identify improvement opportunities using available tools and mechanisms to amplify further impact (e.g. input into post-launch evaluations). Share actively success stories and best practices for learnings.
• Support R&D Capability Building particularly on developing Social First capabilities – merging science communications with culture and consumer cohorts to develop future fit R&D Science communications, relevant to today and tomorrow’s consumers.
• Local claim support development, risk assessment and clearances: Engages with Brand, CTI, and local claims forum to ensure claims are supportable and compliant to local Regulatory (FDA) and Advertising Standards Council requirements.
• Be flexible and open to pivot to other R&D roles, e.g. Technical Project Lead, as required by evolving business priorities and as aligned with the line manager. As Technical Project Leader, lead the technical workstream for projects partnering with the Marketing & Supply Chain, lead to ensure risk management is in place, products are compliant to internal and external requirements, and key network milestones identified and delivered on-time and in-full. Lead product mix development and/or deployment for markets in scope depending on the type of projects.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

• Minimum graduate degree in science or technology courses
• Minimum fluency in English for communication (reading, writing, speaking). Confidence and passion in talking about product science & technology in an engaging manner is a must.
• Preferably with experience in a fast-moving consumer goods FMCG industry
• Preferably with PC R&D experience in Southeast Asian markets
• Preferably with broad range of R&D experience across different functions (formulation, claim, CTI (Consumer Technical Insights), technical project management)
• Preferably with proven track record of leading projects & teams and delivering with speed at a consistently high standard
• Preferably with consistent exposure and engagement with business teams

Unilever embraces diversity and encourages applicates 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.