Job Title: Nutrition UKI Innovation Assistant – Maternity Cover Location: Kingston WL: 1C 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 Growth channels The Innovation team has the ability to lean in and contribute to all 5 of those areas. 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. RESPONSIBILITIES Embody the agile innovation approach and mindset, to help deliver Market Making innovation to market at speed. The successful candidate may be aligned to work with a particular category/vertical and would be expected to immerse themselves into it – gaining a good understanding of the drivers and drainers – to help inform themselves on how they can help to drive growth. In addition – gain a deep understanding of the relevant future trends and consumer habits. Champion competitive and entrepreneurial behaviour and mindset throughout the business, and translate it into targeted innovation, renovation & NRM activities that grow Unilever Nutrition’s share in market Take ownership, lead and project manage innovation/renovation/Net Revenue Realisation projects, working closely with the cross-functional squad to bring products to market OTIF. This will need excellent project management skills and strong relationship-forming with cross functional teams. Develop triple win mission statements for each project, holding yourself and the business accountable to delivering on that mission whilst also making agile adjustments to changing market & business dynamics Implement 12-18 month portfolio roadmap including product and format innovation and channel specific portfolio – in collaboration with the Brand Experience teams. This will not only help to ensure that we have a solid portfolio pipeline but also will help to lock in cross functional resource e.g. ; with the R&D teams They will lead the governance of the project – taking each one through the ‘ Innoflex ’ gate stage process to gain support and approval from both local and regional teams – meaning strong presentation skills are / or need to be built Manage innovation budget for the total team, and adopt a start-up mindset when planning consumer research and testing Support building an Innovation Acceleration team that is future focused To be a true leader for the business, using competitive analysis, consumer insight and research to ensure UKI Foods is winning against the competition and delivering on its full year growth targets ALL ABOUT YOU The ability to work confidently with multiple cross functional teams across geographies, with strong communication, presentation and stakeholders influencing abilities. 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 a desire to get stuck in and actually make things happen through their can-do attitude. 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 The right candidate will be strong at 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. In addition the right candidate will be highly motivated and capable of leaning in to support the team on wider portfolio tasks. They will also have a strong strategic understanding of the ‘triple win ’, understanding how to build strong ideas that benefit the consumer, customer and our business, to deliver initiatives with strong and compelling trade stories as well as strong consumer demand. 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. Recruitment Fraud Cyber criminals advertise fake job adverts with prestigious employers as a way of stealing information or even defrauding individuals out of money. In the most sophisticated cases, they will set up fake websites, which have a similar address to companies like Unilever. They even conduct fake telephone interviews and then offer candidates a role with the proviso they pay a fee for background checks or to cover work visa costs. These types of attacks are becoming more common as more people are looking for employment in the economic climate. How is Unilever tackling this? Many of Unilever’s recruitment sites publish a warning to candidates about recruitment fraud. The Cyber Security team also proactively scan for signs of people setting up fake Unilever sites and act to close them down. What can I do? If you become aware of potential recruitment fraud, spot fake Unilever recruitment adverts or fake LinkedIn profiles, report them via Una Live Chat. Unilever does not accept responsibility or liability for any candidates who are financially impacted by recruitment fraud. Your vigilance is key