R&D Technical Product Development Leader, Wellbeing Collective

JOB DESCRIPTION OVERVIEW

The Technical Product Development Leader, Wellbeing R&D, will oversee product design and development for gummies and similar products to drive growth for the Wellbeing Collective, focusing on China and eventually other neighboring regional markets. This role will establish relationship with external development/commercialization partners, Raw material suppliers and coordinate R&D work to achieve project objectives. This role will closely work with WBC cross functional team such as Supply chain, Procurement, Marketing, SERs, Quality, Regulatory to meet key milestones and launch projects on time.

Serving as Technical Project Lead, this role will design effective, cost viable, sensorially superior and robust scalable formulas and lead commercialization with contract manufacturers.  This position will act as an R&D representative on cross-functional teams and participate in technical decision-making for these special projects.  

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Acts as a Technical Project Lead on Project teams and lead the product development related activities with broad technical understanding of other disciplines.

• Partner with Project Manager, Marketing, Regulatory, Claims, CTI, Packaging, Analytical,  Supply chain, Procurement, Quality

• Design project briefs and lock designs

• Define and estimate project resource requirements, budget requirement, target product/pack cost etc.

• Ensure flawless execution of all aspects of the product development.

• Proactively identify the technical risks, recommendations to mitigate risks and bring it to management.

• Ensure the project technical design, assessment and suggested path forward represents and covers all the requirements suggested by safety, regulatory, claims, analytical, and CTI experts.

• Work with Brand Managers and CTI to understand Brand Performance Standards (BPS) and translate the same into technical targets against which superior products can be designed (performance & attributes), developed and measured.

• Partners with Supply chain and quality to assist in technical assessments of contract manufacturing sites/testing labs.

• Ensure technical path, milestones and deliverables are communicated/tracked to/with external partners and internal team effectively.

• Build strong healthy relationship with external partners and their teams. Resolve any conflicts that arise between technical contract partner and internal WBC teams. Escalate to the manager timely if the challenges are unresolved.

• Ensure R&D protocols, reports, specs, dossier are built as per technical end to end guidance that has been established.

• Coach and Mentor junior members in the team.

• Maintains awareness of scientific literature to assist work progression and understanding. Trains self and others in new technology

• Assesses gaps in the technical processes and supports in establishing related SOPs and guidance documents.

KEY EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

We're looking for someone with:

• Strong R&D TPL experience (senior-level)

• Deep expertise in gummy formulation

• Based in China with Mandarin fluency to speak to the manufacturers in China

• Experience working on TPL projects beyond China, ideally with a regional or global lens

Details  

• Bachelor's degree required in science or engineering. Master's degree/PHD would be preferred. BS with 12+ years 2. Masters with 10+ years 3. PhD with 7+ years' experience in formulation development or technology development of which at least 3 years as Technical Project Lead.

• Excellent understanding of Product development Principles – formulation development for consumer-friendly ingestible dosage forms such as Powders, Gummies/ capsules, material understanding, product scale up, product costing, ingredient sources and GMP. (Dietary supplement experience would be preferred)

• Experience working with cross functional teams across geographies

• Ability to lead more complex portfolio of innovation/quality & Value Improvement Project (VIP) projects including multiple brands/regions/ technologies

• Technical leadership by exhibiting and fostering initiative, motivation, judgment, flexibility, and breadth

• Resource planning and budgeting

• Problem-solving ability using innovative thought and good scientific judgment

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, ability to work well with others, and ability to plan and execute work independently with minimal supervision. Able to interact effectively with the most senior levels of management both internally and externally

• Ability to lead projects with multiple external parties including contractors, research partners, manufacturing facilities, etc.

• Project Management skills and proven ability to handle multiple priorities in an ever-changing business environment.

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their 'Whole Self' to work and this includes you Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.

#LI-Remote