Product Development Scientist

Unilever • Trumbull, CT

1d

About The Position

The Product Development Scientist will play a pivotal role in supporting the creation of top-tier formulations to drive the growth ambitions of the Health & Wellbeing Collective, with a particular focus on new product development, entering new markets, and building a network of external technical partners and capabilities. The role will have cross functional interactions and coordination across Marketing, Supply chain, SEAC, Quality, Regulatory and external contract labs & raw material suppliers to ensure timely delivery of the objectives. The role will be required to provide technical support related to new product development and would cover a broad range of challenges – from designing consumer preferred robust formulas, to developing raw material and finished product spec, scaling up by leveraging external contract labs and collaborative manufacturers.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required in Food Science, Food Technology, Pharmacy, Chemistry, Nutrition Science and Biology.
• 5 years’ experience in formulation development or technology development (Dietary supplement, beverage/food product development with sweet Flavor experience would be preferred).
• Good understanding of Product development Principles – formulation development for consumer-friendly ingestible dosage forms such as Functional Powders, Mouth-dissolving films, Effervescent tablets etc., material understanding, product scale up, ingredient sources and GMP.
• Demonstrated aptitude for teamwork and collaborative problem-solving, and ability to plan and execute work independently with minimal supervision.
• Outstanding stakeholder management skills, enabling effective support for projects involving multiple external parties such as contractors, research partners, and raw material suppliers, while adeptly balancing and addressing the interests of diverse teams and partners.
• Strong analytical thinking, allowing for effective troubleshooting and data-driven decision-making.
• Strong digital literacy, proficient in MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
• Outstanding verbal and written communication abilities, fostering effective interactions with internal and external parties.
• Exceptional organizational and prioritization skills, enabling efficient handling of multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Proven agility and adaptability in responding to changing project requirements or unexpected challenges.
• Creativity and an innovative mindset for developing novel product concepts and improvements.
• Meticulous attention to detail to ensure accuracy in formulation, documentation, and compliance with standards.
• Resilience and perseverance when navigating project setbacks or extended development timelines.
• Proactive approach to continuous learning and professional development, staying abreast of industry trends and regulatory changes.
• Keen commercial awareness, understanding market trends and consumer needs to align product development with business objectives.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in the relevant fields would be preferred.
• Familiarity with Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead/support Formulation design work for innovations to deliver superior, design to value and consumer winning products.
• Work seamlessly with other R&D functions (packaging, Consumer Technical Insights, processing, regulatory teams) to ensure delivery on assigned projects.
• Ensuring statutory regulatory & legal compliances for products & process.
• Responsible for identifying and establishing appropriate ingredient and process technology for manufacturing products to specification at lab-scale and pilot-scale.
• Responsible for scaling up to factory with relevant transfer of technology documentation and training factory team.
• Responsible for development of specification, formulation, process, labelling and artwork, and Quality Assurance regimes to support / enforce these specs meet technical action standards.
• Provide support to conduct shelf-life studies to establish shelf-life of new products and/or intervene through formulation/recipes to enhance shelf-life.
• Use appropriate analytical techniques to characterize key attributes of the product.
• Appreciating and engaging with marketing team constantly for insights and translating them into product properties & performance.
• Anticipate assessment and minimization of environmental, safety, regulatory, PR and competitive challenges.

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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level