2026 Consumer Technical Insights Co-op

Unilever•Trumbull, CT

6d•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 Consumer Technical Insights intern at Unilever, you will learn how we translate our skin care, skin cleansing, hair, or deodorant formulations into products that consumers want to buy. You will come to understand how we combine our deep consumer insights with groundbreaking 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 Consumer Technical Insights R&D role. This project will address a major consumer, sensory or claims challenge and opportunity to work on one (or many) of Unilever’s skin care brands. Interns will carry out the project within a team of scientists that support regional or global Unilever business groups. Possible project topics include: Generating Insights to Drive Innovation - Use consumer and sensory research to uncover insights, monitor trends, and inform new product development. Developing Claims & Communication - Create compelling claims, demos, and R&D communications that bring products to life across global markets. Design Research & Leverage Digital Tools - Plan and execute consumer/sensory studies, explore new methods, and support digital initiatives with data science teams. In any project, interns will learn to apply consumer and sensory data, as other R&D data and digital tools to unlock the unique challenges of consumer product development spanning consumer preference, product design, and manufacturing. The work will involve the application of consumer research, analytics and storytelling to convey the impact of new innovations and insights to the overall Unilever business. There will be an appreciable on-site component that may extend into working in sensory and chemistry laboratories. Interns can expect to learn the specific programs or tools needed to execute their research program. Interns will be given access to numerous data streams and methodologies and develop ways of working to generate insights from the data. Interns will plan approaches, execute research studies and analyze their data with team support. Interns will generate a report 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 Consumer Technical Insights R&D role.
Carry out the project within a team of scientists that support regional or global Unilever business groups.
Apply consumer and sensory data, as other R&D data and digital tools to unlock the unique challenges of consumer product development spanning consumer preference, product design, and manufacturing.
Apply consumer research, analytics and storytelling to convey the impact of new innovations and insights to the overall Unilever business.
Plan approaches, execute research studies and analyze their data with team support.
Generate a report and incorporate feedback from a cultivated network of technical experts within Unilever to enhance the delivery of their project.