Job Title : Senior Agile Innovation & Graze Lead - Maternity Cover Work Level: 2A Location: Kingston Reporting to: Nutrition Senior Brand Innovation Manager JOB PURPOSE Unilever is home to some of the UK’s biggest and most-loved brands, all of which help people look good, feel good and get more out of life every day. We have an Assistant Brand Innovation Manager role available in our Foods division with the potential to work across our portfolio of Cooking Aids, Mini Meals & Local Jewel brands. In Foods we pride ourselves on being a fantastic part of the business to work not only with some of the best known brands in the country but a thriving culture. It is our goal in both Foods, and within the Innovation team, to excel in the following areas Unmissably Superior Brands Social first demand creation Multi-year scalable innovation Premiumisation G rowth channels The Innovation team has the ability to lean in and contribute to all 5 of those areas. Graze very recently integrated into the Foods ‘family’ in September of 2024, bringing a whole new and exciting portfolio of products to our portfolio. The idea of Graze started in 2005 with the first Direct to Consumer box landing in 2008. Since then Graze has evolved into a 40m brand that you can find in ‘on the go’ and ‘take home’ formats in all major retailers – offering products including ‘Oat Boosts’, grazing punnets and of course Marmite Nuts. The brand has been full integrated within marketing meaning that we now have several Graze dedicated colleagues across Shopper, Brand Experience and Innovation. Key objectives of the marketing team overall are as follows: To assist in delivering sustainable growth of the UKI Foods brands through building brilliant brand experiences and delivering portfolio and channel transformation. Brand Experience This part of the team is focused typically on a single brand, building a depth of understanding of it and its consumers that allows the creation of world class brand experiences, facilitated through data and precision marketing. The subsequent brand equity growth will be measured via key brand health metrics and P&L delivery. Category Strategy and Innovation Acceleration This part of the team focusses on building knowledge of the categories and Verticals (Cooking Aids, Condiments and Mini Meals) we play in, understanding of future food trends and developing in - depth insight into consumer pain - points. This insight is then harnessed to identify strategic projects that deliver a triple-win for consumers, customers & for Unilever, by delivering a combination of innovation, renovation and NRM initiatives. Through a deep understanding of the innovation process and an ability to efficiently project manage initiatives through the Unilever network, the KPI’s for this role are based on delivering a better and faster project funnel which will contribute to the targeted 3% USG growth of Foods, Net Revenue Realisation, project value and the delivery of the Nutrition roadmap on-time and in-full. THE ROLE This role is an incredibly exciting role within the Innovation team – offering the successful candidate the chance to lead the direction of the Graze brand for a portion of their time, as well as being an agile senior innovation lead – supporting th e Innovation Team Manager by taking on some of the more chunky, or brand/vertical agnostic projects. This person will help to deliver the 2025 team vision set to be more agile, more market making and more forward thinking. Thus driving more incremental growth to the wider foods team. The portion of time spent on each will vary from 50/50 to sometimes 30/70 – so the individual must be able to be agile and manage their time well. The role will give fantastic exposure to the wider Foods team, as well as their Graze focused colleagues & Nature Delivered. In addition the role manages a wonderful 1C who is focused fully on delivering Graze projects, so opens up plenty of coaching and development opportunities. RESPONSIBILITIES Own the innovation strategy for graze, working closely with the brand and CS&P teams to identify category growth opportunities that meet our overall strategic priorities. You will play a key role in working with and supporting the Graze Innovation Assistant and brand teams during project governance, helping to gain approval and progress on proposed projects To ensure that the Graze Innovation Roadmap projects are delivered quickly and to high standards, and to ensure that they at least meet the commercial objectives set to drive the growth of the total Graze brand. The roadmap will need continuous focus with the wider XF team to ensure that we are always looking 12-18m ahead at least – futureproofing our core business and identifying hunting grounds that will drive category growth and a triple win Be an agile resource for the Senior Innovation team manager, helping to accelerate progress for the team across some key areas including; Tapping into future trends and new hunting grounds to drive category growth for UL and our customers, Brand and Vertical agnostic projects which enable greater partnership with key customers – for example how we can drive growth of ‘World Foods’ by tapping into our global product portfolio. The key focus areas for this part of the role will be set likely on a quarterly basis so a willingness to learn, being comfortable with being uncomfortable and agile are key Support with upskilling the team across a range of both hard and soft skills and identifying areas where we can optimise our ways of working with both the local and the regional teams Deliver key projects (both for Graze and for the wider Foods team) : Lead in the delivery of key projects, using agile principles to ensure that the biggest bets are fully delivered. You will lead, collaborate with and influence local stakeholders to unlock the resources needed to bring the roadmap to life OTIF. Own Net Revenue Realisation Innovation/Renovation projects: You will work closely with the NRM Nutrition lead to deliver the growth initiatives that are NRR and margin-accretive, fuelling the business’ growth ambitions year after year Line Manager to the graze Assistant Innovation Manager. Take on key champion roles for total Foods team e.g. Get on the Frontline champion, Nutrition Energiser Day champion ALL ABOUT YOU The ideal candidate would have a passion for Foods and have experience in at least working in Foods or in Innovation They will have their finger on the pulse of consumer and foods trends and be able to bring these into the day-to-day work of the innovation team. Forward thinking and able to recognise opportunities not just for next year but next 3-5 years. The ability to communicate and work confidently with cross functional teams across geographies as well as different levels within the business is key. The successful candidate will need strong influencing abilities and able to tailor approach and style to a range formal to informal forums – and be able to bring them on a journey A successful candidate must have strong project management skills, high numeracy and data analysis for insight development. Strong project management a nd organisation skill s are key for this specific role They will have a passion for brands, be able to demonstrate the Unilever Standards of Leadership and champion the consumer, shopper and customer in everything they do. A sense of curiosity is key in understanding the people we serve at a deeper level A successful candidate will be able to demonstrate their deep sense of creativity and logic, ambition, organisational and analytical skills, a head for figures and great instincts, along with the ability to tailor their approach dependent on the project. Sometimes you will need to get stuck in and get things done, others you will need to be able to drive performance and action through colleagues Resilience, team orientation, ability to navigate through ambiguous and complex situations and taking initiatives are key Being ambitious to learn as well as a real proactivity in their own development - learning as much as they can about Unilever and Marketing as a function as well as bringing new start up ways of thinking and behaving – as well as being a key member of the Foods team who is happy to support others in Innovation ways of working The right candidate excel at quickly building relationships, both in person and remotely, and demonstrate strength at motivating and influencing others to deliver their projects to a high standard and at pace NOTES About Unilever Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2 billion consumers a day. Unilever has more than 400 brands found in homes around the world, including Dove, Tresemme, Lynx, Lifebuoy, Shea Moisture, Persil, Domestos, Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum, Marmite, The Vegetarian Butcher, Graze and Pot Noodle. Faced with the challenge of climate change and the need for human development, we want to move towards a world where everyone can live well and within the natural limits of the planet. That’s why our purpose is ‘to make sustainable living commonplace’ 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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