Ice Cream Senior Scientist

Senior Scientist – Ice Cream R&D North America

Location: Englewood Cliffs, NJ

Terms & Conditions: Full time, relocation not supported

If you are in the Ice Cream business or consider choosing to work for the TMICC Ice Cream business, you will work for the Global, leading Ice Cream player with €7.9bn Turn Over in 2023. The Ice Cream business is operating in a highly attractive category, as we are part of the 1 trillion snacking and refreshment industry, growing consistently at high pace. We have strong brands equities: 5 of top 10 selling brands including Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s. We are investing to unlock the full growth potential of Ice Cream as a standalone entity, once we separate from Unilever, which is planned to happen by the end of 2025.

Ice Cream has distinct characteristics from TMICC’s other operating businesses and the growth potential of Ice Cream will be better delivered under a different ownership structure. As Ice Cream company we are committed to developing and nurturing talent within our Ice Cream company. You will have ample options for career growth and exploration, allowing you for you to explore roles and opportunities across the new organization. Your career development will be a priority for us, and we are dedicated to supporting your growth journey within the new company. We hope that you will want to build the new chapter of our Ice Cream history together with us.

ABOUT ICE CREAM: Life Tastes Better with Ice Cream

TMICC Ice Cream is the largest global Ice Cream Company in the world, with over 100 years of experience delivering a diverse range of indulgent, yet responsible, craft food experiences and treats delighting consumers. Committed to innovation, quality, and sustainability we have 35 brands, including 3 one billion Euro brands (Magnum, Wall’s, Ben & Jerry’s), a strong presence in over 60 countries, generating annual revenue of over $8 billion. All brands are driven to transform moments into memories through indulgent yet responsibly made and marketed products. We have a well-developed strategy to deliver growth and value creation which is clear on where to play and how to win.

We turn the ordinary into the extraordinary by designing unique and innovative Ice Cream experiences that make life taste better, creating joyful experiences. In our Ice Cream business, we’re crafting the future through innovation and imaginative minds, creating unique products. We spark moments of happiness for people and within the communities where we operate. However, it is not as simple as it may seem. As Ice Cream makers we are serious about happiness. With warm hearts, we create the coolest products.

Background & Purpose of the Job
Ice Cream is a fun, very innovative, competitive, and fast-paced category. Unilever’s Ice Cream Business Unit in North America looks after a strong portfolio of brands: Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Good Humor, Klondike, Magnum, Popsicle, Talenti and Yasso.

As a member of the Ice Cream R&D team, you will lead and coordinate the R&D activities to deliver the Ice Cream program, ranging from innovation, renovation, quality improvement and margin enhancement. You will lead the technical discussions in cross functional meetings and represent the R&D view for the project team. You will work in partnership with the business project leader and key cross functional team members, including Brand Development, Supply Chain and Finance to deliver the brand’s program and business objectives.

Who You Are & What You’ll Do
You’re a born leader: Pro-active self-direction with a high level of initiative and persistence and a very hands-on approach to results delivery.

You love to win and have fun doing it: You are passionate about product development, and you are customer/consumer focused. You are comfortable with multi-tasking and operating in a fast paced, multi-faceted, and multi-cultural

environment.

What You’ll Do:

Lead Projects:
- Lead and coordinate the R&D activities to deliver the brand’s program, ranging from innovation, renovation, quality improvement and margin enhancement.
- Lead the technical discussions in cross functional meetings and represent the R&D view for the project team.
- Conduct technical risk assessments and provide recommendations on risk mitigation plans

Develop Products:
- Define the technical project brief and targets against which products can be designed (performance and attributes), developed and measured. Translate the brand philosophy, culinary and consumer insights into superior new products
- Design and execute test protocols for the various technical aspects of projects as required (e.g., prototype development and scale-up, shelf-life testing, analytical testing, etc.)
- Lead the process of specification/label creation in SAP PLM from the request to the approved status; Be the material expert and lead creation of new specifications for new ingredients.
- Organize and participate in plant trials while providing formulation adjustment recommendations as needed to support quality, cost savings and complexity reduction initiatives.

Provide Technical and Product Guidance:
- Lead technical discussion in cross functional meetings and represent the technical views for the project team.
- Assess feasibility of new ideas and troubleshoot activities where formulation knowledge is essential.
- Lead / support technical investigations using root-cause analysis and problem-solving techniques as required for existing and new products.
- Provide product expertise and insights into innovation and activation strategies. Be a product ambassador internally and externally, demonstrate awareness of local and regional trends, developments, customer insights and consumer needs/behavior.

Works in a Creative and Agile Way to Deliver Multiple Projects Quickly:
- Actively participate in cross-functional meetings to deliver various projects in accelerated timelines

Establish and Maintain Internal and External Working Relationships:
- Develop and maintain effective working relationships across R&D, Marketing, Supply Chain, Customers and Key stakeholders to support business initiatives.
- Develop and maintain effective working relationships with key business and strategic vendor partners.

What You’ll Need To Succeed:
A deep passion for product design and creative product development

Education/Experience:
- Bachelor of Science Degree in Food Science or equivalent degree.
- 5-7 years of experience in the food industry, preferably in product development and project management

Technical/ Project Management:

- Ability to independently execute tasks and projects with moderate to high complexity and coordinate R&D activities.
- Ability to develop, plan, conduct, and coordinate prototype development initiatives across multiple projects/tasks.
- Fully operational in use of ingredients, formulation, process, and product design principles.
- Fully operational in specification creation and approval and costing.
- Ability to analyze and interpret data with guidance on final conclusions.
- Strong working knowledge of experimental design, root cause analysis and problem-solving techniques
- Good understanding of Supply Chain.

Communication:
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Ability to prepare comprehensive trial/lab reports and presentation, including recommendations and next steps
- Ability to present information to both technical and non-technical audiences.

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