Home Care R&D Specialist, UK and Ireland

Job Title: Home Care R&D Specialist, UK and Ireland

Business Function: R&D, Europe

Location: Sunlight House

JOB PURPOSE

Home Care is a strategically important growth area for Unilever, supported by a strong portfolio of trusted brands including Persil, Comfort, Surf, Domestos and Cif. In the UK and Ireland, the Home Care business operates in a highly competitive and fast-moving environment, with a specific supply chain and third-party manufacturing network that requires effective local R&D partnership and technical stewardship.

The role holder is responsible for delivering the local R&D elements of the Home Care portfolio and programme for the UK and Irish markets. Working closely with local, regional and global R&D colleagues, as well as cross-functional business partners, the role provides high-quality technical input, insight and support to enable the successful implementation of innovations, renovations and business-critical activities.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Home Care R&D Specialist partners with cross-functional teams to provide comprehensive R&D support for UK and Ireland Home Care activities, ensuring the successful execution of local projects, innovations and renovations. Key responsibilities include:

• Lead the execution of compliance requirements for new and relaunched products in line with mandatory Unilever policies and relevant legislation, including artwork approval, product registrations and authority-facing documentation.

• Support the implementation of product launches, innovations and renovations across allocated categories and brands in the UK and Ireland, bringing technical excellence, rigour and category understanding.

• Influence and educate customers, consumers and business partners by translating technical product benefits and technologies into clear, compelling and consumer-relevant language.

• Develop and deliver customer and consumer-facing technical communication, including product demonstrations, technical presentations and support for PR or media activities where required.

• Work closely with R&D, Regulatory, Legal and Brand teams to provide expert input on claims, communication strategies and risk assessments.

• Ensure robust technical claim substantiation dossiers and supporting documentation to ensure external brand communications are appropriately evidenced.

• Contribute to the technical innovation agenda by identifying emerging technologies, new claim territories and competitive insights through structured market and competitor analysis.

• Provide technical and product expertise during issues, incidents or crisis management.

ALL ABOUT YOU

• Degree-level qualification in a science discipline, preferably Chemistry; A-level Chemistry or equivalent scientific grounding as a minimum.

• Proven experience working in a technical environment, ideally within R&D.

• Experience in Home Care, Personal Care or the wider FMCG industry would be advantageous.

• Willingness to travel within the UK and Europe when required, approximately 5% of the role.

KEY SKILLS REQUIRED

• Strong project management capability, with the ability to plan, prioritise and deliver multiple activities to agreed timelines.

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to build effective networks across local, regional and global teams.

• High attention to detail, particularly in relation to technical documentation, artwork, claims, compliance and product information.

• Highly organised, structured and systematic, with a logical approach to problem solving and decision making.

• Effective time management and resilience in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities.

• Ability to gather, interpret and synthesise technical information from multiple sources, translating it into clear, relevant language for customers, consumers and business partners.

• Comfortable working independently while also contributing effectively as part of cross-functional teams.

• Strong presentation and storytelling skills, with creativity and confidence in bringing complex science and product benefits to life.

• Proven ability to use AI and digital tools responsibly to improve productivity, support insight generation, streamline documentation and enhance the quality and speed of technical communication.

UNILEVER BEHAVIOURS

• Care Deeply: Evidenced by taking pride in product quality, consumer relevance and compliance; considering the needs of consumers, customers and colleagues; and building strong, trusted relationships across R&D, Supply Chain, Regulatory, Legal, Brand and Quality teams.

• Focus on What Counts: Evidenced by prioritising the activities that have the greatest impact on safe, compliant and successful market execution; using data and technical judgement to guide decisions; and keeping work focused on business-critical activities.

• Deliver with Excellence: Evidenced by producing accurate artwork, documentation, product registrations and claim substantiation; managing projects with rigour and attention to detail; and consistently delivering high-quality technical support to agreed timelines.

• Stay 3 Steps Ahead: Evidenced by anticipating risks and opportunities in claims, compliance, competitor activity and market trends; proactively identifying emerging technologies or consumer needs; and helping the business prepare for future launches, regulatory changes and category developments.  Anticipate opportunities, improve ways of working, accelerate insight generation and strengthen the quality of R&D delivery via the use of AI tools.

NOTES

What We Offer

Not only do we offer a competitive salary and pension scheme, we also offer an annual bonus, subsidised gym membership, a discounted staff shop and shares. You’ll have the opportunity to work directly with our renowned and exciting brands in a flexible and hybrid working environment.

Whilst the role is advertised on a full-time basis, we would be happy to discuss possible flexible working options and what this may look like for you. We are a key advocate of wellbeing and offer a variety of support for our people including hubs, programmes and development opportunities. We strive to achieve a family-friendly and inclusive workplace and to, above all, create possibilities for all.

Diversity at Unilever is about inclusion, embracing differences, creating possibilities and growing together for better business performance. We embrace diversity in our workforce. 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. We are also more than happy to provide reasonable adjustments during our application and interview process to enable you to be present your best self. To find out more, including about our Employee Resource Groups, please click here Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at Unilever | Unilever.

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