2026 Formulation Internship

Unilever•Trumbull, CT

30d•Onsite

About The Position

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Refreshments, Health & Wellness, and Home & Personal Care products with sales in more than 190 countries. In the United States, some of our iconic brands are: Axe, Degree, Dove, Dove Men+Care, Hellmann’s, Nexxus, Shea Moisture, TRESemmé, and Vaseline. All the preceding brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies. We are a purpose-led and future-fit organization developing our products for peoples’ lives today and for the changing environment tomorrow, aiming to make sustainable living commonplace. Unilever offers vast and exciting career paths within R&D. Creating new innovations, delivering consumer benefits, and enhancing our brands as a force for good – it’s all yours in Unilever R&D. As a formulation intern at Unilever, you will learn how we develop and commercialize new personal care formulations within skin care, skin cleansing, hair, or deodorant teams. You will create and deploy the latest technologies to deliver breakthrough cosmetic and health benefits, bringing innovations to life for our consumers. What You’ll Do With guidance from a manager and team of functional experts, summer interns will manage one major summer project on their own in a formulation role. This project will address a major technical challenge and opportunity for one of Unilever’s well-known hair, skin cleansing, or skin care brands. Interns will carry out the project within a brand formulation team, processing specialists, or within an R&D support function. Possible project topics include: Translating consumer and technical insights into prototype formulations that meet consumer and brand expectations Integrating leading skin or hair benefit agents while maintaining critical product attributes like sensory and cost by applying technologies sourced internally and from external suppliers. Scoping breakthrough technologies or resolving manufacturing quality issues in some of the largest consumer products in the world. In any project, interns will learn formulation science principles (such as surfactant science, polymer science, aquatic chemistry, chemical processing, emulsions and soft matter), conduct application testing, and be expected to apply them to the specific needs of the overall Unilever business. The work will be primarily on-site and involve extensive hands-on work in the laboratory or pilot-plant facilities. Interns can expect to prepare product formulations by systematically varying ingredients, chemical factors, or processing variables. They will perform their own characterization using rheology measurements, chemical analyses, and application tests. Interns will plan experiments and analyze their data using statistical and graphical tools. They will generate input and incorporate feedback from a cultivated network of technical experts within Unilever to enhance the delivery of their project. Who You Are You’re a born leader: You will lead your own project You’re a dot connector: You will solicit the input of technical experts, apply digital tools to the design of experiments, generate insights from your data, and provide recommendations that meet business objectives You’re a storyteller: You will present your project to senior management You’re a culture & change champion: You bring your own experiences and uniqueness to the team, which is valued in our inclusive work environment

Requirements

Undergraduate with sophomore or junior status based on Major in Chemical Engineering or other related major
Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Proven willingness and ability to learn new technical skills
Minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
Ability to conduct an experimental program to generate relevant, high-quality data with subsequent data analysis and interpretation
Ability to work under pressure in a fast-paced environment in order to meet project deadlines
Ability to work with others, communicate effectively, and contribute to cross-functional teams
Willingness to relocate to the Trumbull, CT area for the duration of the internship.

Responsibilities

Manage one major summer project on their own in a formulation role.
Carry out the project within a brand formulation team, processing specialists, or within an R&D support function.
Translate consumer and technical insights into prototype formulations that meet consumer and brand expectations
Integrate leading skin or hair benefit agents while maintaining critical product attributes like sensory and cost by applying technologies sourced internally and from external suppliers.
Scope breakthrough technologies or resolving manufacturing quality issues in some of the largest consumer products in the world.
Learn formulation science principles (such as surfactant science, polymer science, aquatic chemistry, chemical processing, emulsions and soft matter), conduct application testing, and be expected to apply them to the specific needs of the overall Unilever business.
Prepare product formulations by systematically varying ingredients, chemical factors, or processing variables.
Perform their own characterization using rheology measurements, chemical analyses, and application tests.
Plan experiments and analyze their data using statistical and graphical tools.
Generate input and incorporate feedback from a cultivated network of technical experts within Unilever to enhance the delivery of their project.
Lead your own project
Solicit the input of technical experts, apply digital tools to the design of experiments, generate insights from your data, and provide recommendations that meet business objectives
Present your project to senior management
Bring your own experiences and uniqueness to the team