UFH Program & Operations Manager, US Hub

Job Title: UFH Program & Operations Manager

Location: Trumbull R&D, CT

Work Level: 2B

Want to Change The World?
Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Beauty, Personal and Home Care products selling in over 190 countries and used by 3.7 billion consumers every day. Unilever has more than 400 brands used in homes around the world, including Dove, Sure, TRESemmé, Sunsilk, Vaseline, Comfort, Persil and Surf. As one of the world’s largest users of fragrances, we recognise that creating exceptional fragrances is at the heart of delivering extraordinary consumer experiences and driving desire at scale.

To achieve our ambition, Unilever Fragrance House (UFH) is undertaking a global fragrance transformation, leveraging expert inhouse fragrance teams to craft unmissably superior fragrances for our Personal Care, Beauty & Wellbeing and Home Care Business Groups.

Job Purpose

We have an exciting opportunity for a Program & Operations Manager to join the UFH US Hub, playing a pivotal role in bringing the next generation of fragrances to life for Unilever's global brands.

As the operational heartbeat of the US Hub, you will lead the successful delivery of fragrance innovation programmes, ensuring projects progress seamlessly from creation through to submission readiness. Working at the intersection of perfumery, science, innovation and operations, you will coordinate cross-functional teams, manage complex project portfolios, and ensure fragrance oils, applications and evaluations are delivered on time, in full, and to the highest quality standards.

This is a highly visible role that combines program leadership, operational excellence and people management. Partnering closely with Perfumers, Evaluators, R&D teams and Business Group stakeholders, you will drive prioritisation, remove bottlenecks, and create the conditions for teams to deliver exceptional fragrances that delight consumers across the Americas.

Beyond program delivery, you will play a key role in shaping the future capability of the US Hub. From leading laboratory operations and developing team capability, to driving digitalisation, data management and continuous improvement initiatives, you will help build a high-performing fragrance organisation that is equipped to support future growth. You will also oversee facilities, resource planning and laboratory readiness, ensuring the hub has the people, processes and infrastructure needed to succeed.

This role is ideal for a collaborative and hands-on leader who thrives in a fast-paced, innovation-driven environment and is passionate about turning ideas into consumer-ready fragrance experiences.

Main Responsibilities
• Lead and coordinate the program of projects and activities delivering to the fragrance creation program within Unilever R&D Port Sunlight ensuring deliverables are met on time and in full.
• Utilise project management tools and best practises to aid project delivery and efficiently update global stakeholders across Business Groups and the central UFH team.
• Utilise all digital tools and trackers giving strong clear inputs to communicate clearly progress and requirements to the UFH leadership team..
• clearly communicate project timelines and constraints to the CTI team; collaborate with the team to ensure OTIF delivery of samples for consumer testing.
• Demonstrate problem solving skills to handle issues presented while working with multiple Business Groups and Categories. Fully adopt new digital tools and data management approaches to speed project delivery, enhance risk-based decision making and deliver consumer insights.
• Develop cross functional project team culture and shared deliverables, magnifying the power of people to deliver effective results.
• Management responsibility for 2-3 direct reports; define their workplans and guide their professional and personal development.

Key Skills & Experience Required
We are seeking a candidate with strong organisation and communication skills who wants the opportunity to help shape the future of fragrance development in Unilever in this exciting start-up mode. The successful candidate should be curious, have excellent problem-solving skills and be able to work closely with teams from multiple cultures, business backgrounds and across time zones. Team working, a strong passion for fragrance and the ability to identify and implement improvements to ways-of-working are essential.

• Bachelor’s Degree or higher in a science or engineering field.
• Previous project management and experience of leading complex/global projects, with a proven track record of delivery in challenging circumstances.
• Product formulation and/or fragrance development experience.

• Understanding of fragrance pricing, raw material cost, along with the ability to calculate and speak about the impact of the cost per ton of product (CPT).
• Strong cross-functional leadership skills and ability to inspire, manage and develop teams.
• Ability to deliver through others in a cross-functional global network, where you do not have line management or category experience/relationships to rely on.
• Stakeholder management and delivering to senior leadership teams.
• Developed data management skills.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.

Pay: The pay range for this position is $103,000 to $154,400. Unilever takes into consideration a wide range of factors that are utilized in making compensation decisions including, but not limited to, skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, qualifications and education, and other business and organizational needs.

Bonus: This position is bonus eligible.

Long-Term Incentive (LTI): This position is LTI eligible.

Benefits: Unilever employees are eligible to participate in our benefits plan. Should the employee choose to participate, they can choose from a range of benefits to include, but is not limited to, health insurance (including prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage), retirement savings benefits, life insurance and disability benefits, parental leave, sick leave, paid vacation and holidays, as well as access to numerous voluntary benefits. Any coverages for health insurance and retirement benefits will be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans and associated governing plan documents.

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At Unilever, inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. We welcome applicants from all walks of life and are committed to creating an environment where everyone can thrive/succeed. All applicants will receive fair and respectful consideration, and we actively support the growth and development of every employee.

Unilever is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Persons with Disabilities.

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If you are an individual with a disability in need of assistance at any time during our recruitment process, please contact us at NA.Accommodations@unilever.com. Please note: This email is reserved for individuals with disabilities in need of assistance and is not a means of inquiry about positions or application statuses. The Protected Veterans or Individuals with Disabilities AAP narratives are available for inspection by any employee or applicant for employment Monday through Friday during normal business hours at establishment.

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