Customer Development Business Partner Digital Lead

Role : Customer Development Business Partner Digital Lead

Reporting Into : Karla Hrabar

Location: 100VE

Work Level: 2C

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE
The Customer Development (CD) Business Partner Lead acts as the strategic interface between the business and the CD Product Digital Organisation. The role drives the definition, prioritisation, and execution of digital transformation and insights initiatives that directly enable business growth.
This leader will translate customer development transformation needs into a cohesive digital roadmap, ensuring alignment with Unilever’s business strategy and portfolio priorities. They will partner closely with business analytics teams to turn data into actionable insights that help the organisation act faster, decide smarter, and grow stronger. This is a senior role, sitting on the Europe LT team and stakeholder Market Leadership teams, GMs and CSP.

WHAT WILL YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES BE
1. Strategic Partnership & Business Alignment
• Serve as the primary business partner to BG, BU and CD leadership for identifying Commercial digital transformation and analytics needs
• Build a deep understanding of the business strategy, customer development priorities, and market dynamics
• Align CD digital initiatives with strategic business goals and ensure focus on value creation and measurable impact
• Champion a portfolio-based approach to managing transformation initiatives—balancing strategic priorities, capacity, and return on investment
• Act as first point of contact / support for GDT in the focus market

2. Digital Product & Transformation Leadership
• Collaborate with the CD Product Digital Organisation to define, prioritise, and deliver solutions that address customer development challenges, with clarity on costs and ROI
• Translate business needs into clear digital requirements, ensuring product roadmaps deliver tangible business outcomes
• Ensures products receive feedback from market / country stakeholders and advocates for user centricity
• Drive alignment across business and technology teams on transformation priorities, success criteria, and adoption plans
• Oversees the integration of digital technologies into all areas of the business, improving operational efficiency and customer experience
• Ensure strong governance and performance tracking across the digital CD portfolio

3. Insights, Analytics, and Data-Driven Decision Making
• Partner with the Business Analytics team to leverage digital tools and data for real-time insights and decision support
• Define the business questions that analytics should solve and ensure that insights are actionable and linked to strategic outcomes
• Promote data-driven decision-making across customer development, embedding analytics into daily operations
• Drive continuous improvement through learning, iteration, and innovation in analytics and digital adoption

4. Change Management & Business Impact
• Lead engagement, communication, and capability-building efforts to ensure adoption of new tools and processes
• Measure and communicate the impact of digital initiatives on business performance
• Foster a culture of innovation, agility, and evidence-based decision-making across the customer development organisation
• Suggests opportunities for leverage of AI and Automation to drive productivity, growth or operational effectiveness

EXPERIENCES & QUALIFICATIONS
Necessary Experience & Qualifications
• In-market engagement/partnering
• Prior experience in a commercial role
• Tech or data analytics leadership
• Experience in driving E2E digital transformation that cuts across business units and products
• Able to land cross-BU prioritisation forum with the BU CDIOs for the region, to align on the plan
• Working experience in commercial, insight generation and actions to drive better alignment
• Experience in being part of the country leadership team, and preparing for Market / BU Leadership meetings

Preferred Experience & Qualifications
• Change Management experience
• Commercial experience
SKILLS – [Skills List]

• Digital acumen – experience leading digital (Data, AI, tech) programmes or products
• Business acumen – previous commercial roles
• Strong leadership, influencing and stakeholder management skills
• Program / plan management to ensure delivery of outcomes
• Excellent communication, collaboration and interpersonal skills

LEADERSHIP SKILLS
• Unilever Behaviors
o PASSION FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE: Takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results. Generates intensity and focus to motivate people to deliver results at speed.
o PERSONAL MASTERY: Sets high standards for themselves. Actively builds own wellbeing and resilience.
o TALENT CATALYST: Invests in people – coaches individuals and teams to realize their full potential. Creates an inclusive climate, empowering everyone to be at their best. Inspires powerful teamwork and collaboration, connecting people for better results.
o CONSUMER LOVE: Brings the voice of the consumer into everything we do, always.
o BUSINESS ACUMEN: Creates opportunities for profitable growth through the core and beyond.