UNILEVER IN THE NETHERLANDS IS LOOKING FOR A FOOD SCIENTIST/RHEOLOGIST

LOCATION Wageningen, The Netherlands  – local conditions apply

Full-time

For the recruitment of this position, we would like to emphasize that local conditions apply to the position and for this vacancy in principle we will first consider candidates based in the Netherlands. If you are based outside of the Netherlands and you are interested to apply, please feel free to do so but we can only take your application on if a decision is made to also recruit outside of the Netherlands.

Salary:  44 K – 65 K gross per year depending on background and experience.

ABOUT UNILEVER

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home Care, Personal Care and Refreshment products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 3.4 billion consumers a day. It has 128,000 employees. Over half (58%) of the company’s footprint is in developing and emerging markets. Unilever has more than 400 brands found in homes around the world, including Knorr, Dove, Hellmann's , Wall’s, Ben & Jerry's, Marmite, Unox, Magnum and The Vegetarian Butcher. 

Welcome to R&D, Unilever’s ideas factory. Our purpose is to build brands through benefit-led innovation, unlocked through science and technology. Unilever R&D has built the Hive, a new Global Foods Innovation Centre in Wageningen, the Netherlands. In this way Unilever creates critical mass in expertise areas to ensure that our new technologies ultimately bring breakthrough innovations to the markets that are good for People and Planet. In addition, we aim to evolve our R&D sites into innovation ecosystems to leverage the knowledge and expertise of external partners.

We currently have a vacant position of Technician in Formulation & Rheology/Texture. The vacancy we are recruiting for is within the Product & Process Science department in the global Science & Technology organization, in the Hive.

OUR TEAM

The Science & Technology (S&T) team in the Nutrition Business group of Unilever is an agile team of enthusiastic world-class scientists with a clear purpose:

We are indispensable partners in Nutrition who deliver competitiveness through science and technology

We unlock the world’s ecosystem to solve problems for today and create inspiring opportunities for tomorrow

We build on each other’s strengths to magnify our impact

We combine key capabilities across the end-to-end spectrum of food science, biotechnology & engineering with unique knowledge on flavour & formulation sciences, all underpinned by digital modelling capabilities, to deliver differentiating innovations to market that meet consumer needs every day.  

The S&T team has a passion for continuous learning, works according to agile principles with a strong can-do mindset.

MAIN JOB PURPOSE:

As Food Scientist/Rheologist you will be responsible to build and maintain the measurement capabilities in the area of products characterisation and you will help to find correlations between rheological/texture parameters and sample microstructures that can be related to perceivable characteristics of a given food product. You will work in cross functional teams and in addition to rheological/texture characterisation of products you are also expected to support your project team in sample formulation and preparation. The design, execution, interpretation and reporting of these R&D activities will be done in innovation teams, working according to agile principles.

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Maintain rheological instruments including trouble shooting, manage regular service and calibration by instrument suppliers, work with the IT department to roll out new measurement software, manage repair and replacement of old or damaged instruments and accessories.

Manage rheology user group and provide training for new users.

Develop new rheological methods to extend our measurement capabilities and support project teams to interpret complex rheological/texture data.

Support sample preparation including unit operations like mixing, emulsification, and homogenization. You will then correlate these results in models to link ingredient characteristics with desired product properties.

Execute measurements and experiments, collect and report the results and conclusions

ALL ABOUT YOU

Education: a least MSc, or BSc with experience, in related fields, like Food Science & Technology, Process Engineering.

Specialisation in mechanical characterisation of liquid and soft materials (e.g. rheology, texture)

3+ years of relevant work experience in Food Industry or similar area is preferred

Technical mindset applied to solutions, entrepreneurial mindset & ambition to continuously learn and improve

Planning and organization skills

Ability to work in a multi-functional, multi-cultural environment, with good communication skills in English and in (virtual) teams

WHAT IS IN IT FOR YOU?

Unilever is the place where you can be yourself and bring your purpose to life with the work that you do – creating a better business and a better world. We offer an exciting & dynamic work environment where you can make things happen. Furthermore, we offer some great reward and benefits!

Attractive total remuneration package; excellent company pension, bonus, share scheme.

Flexible cross-disciplinary career opportunities and a wealth of training opportunities & wellbeing resources whenever and wherever.

Plenty of company-paid holidays to further ensure your work-life balance is maintained.

We encourage an inclusive culture, which comes to life with interchangeable public holidays, paid paternity leave of 6 weeks and our transgender policy. Informal culture and being the first one trying our new products. 

My Fitness Plan (reduction on your Fitness Subscription).

Home work allowance

Company laptop and mobile phone

Green Mobility Policy.   

EXCITED?

Join Unilever and our team! To apply, you must do so online. Please do not forget to upload your CV and a motivation letter.  Your application will be reviewed against our requirements and we will be in touch shortly after the closing date to provide you with an update on the status of your application.

Looking forward to meeting you! 

Please note this is a Direct Search led by Unilever. Applications from agencies will not be accepted, nor will fees be paid for unsolicited CVs.

Equal Opportunity Employer: Unilever is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, disability, age, parenthood, pregnancy or any other basis protected by applicable law, and will not be discriminated against. 

By highlighting the gender diversity at the workplace, Unilever encourages women equally men to apply. If you look for a job after a long career break or after any type of leave, do not hesitate to apply.

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