BU Innovation Quality Specialist

Unilever; Huddersfield; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading consumer goods company seeks a BU Innovation Quality Specialist in Huddersfield. The role involves driving quality strategy, ensuring product compliance, and collaborating across functions to enhance consumer experience and product safety. Ideal candidates will have strong analytical and communication skills along with a relevant technical degree. This position offers competitive salary, flexibility in work arrangements, and the opportunity to work with renowned brands.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Annual bonus

Free gym access

Discounted staff shop

Share options

Qualifications

• Strong consumer understanding and ability to bring insights and influence team decisions.
• Understanding of global and operational business strategy challenges.
• Cross-functional partnership ideally with R&D, Marketing, and Supply Chain.
• Track record of delivering quality performance improvements in multiple sites.

Responsibilities

• Support governance to ensure product compliance in innovation process.
• Collaborate with teams and suppliers for superior quality.
• Participate in quality strategy and transformation programs.

Skills

Consumer understanding

Analytical skills

Problem-solving abilities

Communication skills

Quality management expertise

Education

Technical related degree or university degree

Job description

Overview

Job Title: BU Innovation Quality Specialist

Business Function: Quality – Supply Chain

Location: Leeds - UK

Job Purpose

Quality is a key driver of competitive advantage in the Personal Care and Beauty and Wellbeing business. The BU Quality Innovation Specialist plays a crucial role supporting the business partner in delivering growth via innovation. The role drives a culture of consumer obsession, learning from insights and driving superior products. The role demands business strategy, prioritising design cells and cross-functional collaboration to ensure products deliver the best consumer experience. This role champions product safety and superior quality, leading teams with passion and precision to uphold the highest standards.

The Quality specialist will support and lead respective category Quality for products PC & BW in Europe with a turnover of >2.5 billion Euros. The role will be responsible for deploying and leading where required Quality strategy, governance and goals that directly impact marketplace success, our credibility with customers, consumer safety and on-shelf quality of our products in the marketplace. This in turn impacts Unilever reputation and brand equity in ensuring quality for making brands unmissable and superior.

The role will predominantly focus on the Deodorant category; however, it will partner with the BU Quality Organization team and categories (Skin Cleansing, Oral Care, Hair Care or Skin Care).

Because here, we don’t just hire for jobs. We invite you to be part of something bigger.

Responsibilities

• Supporting governance to compliance of the products by design and delivery as part of innovation process
• Partnering R&D, Brand, SC and factories to bring consumer insights for innovations, follow process to enable risk mitigation, safe product with early product quality standards.
• Support or Lead as responsible for Superior quality for innovation through continuously evolving with the business expectations.
• Works as part of BU quality team to make sure suppliers, CM, Manufacturing is geared up and able to develop capability inline with innovation and changes being made.
• Member of the Europe PC & BW Quality Team, represent BU team as required in innovation and change projects.
• Deliver BU quality innovation KPI, measures and delivers improvements
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, suppliers, and external stakeholders to deliver safe and superior quality First Time Right
• Work with the innovations and operations team on consumer complaints, insights and feedback for business UBS conversations.
• Raises the risk in technical steercom or IB to make informed decisions with the business team
• Stay informed about industry trends, emerging technologies, and regulatory changes to ensure the company remains compliant and competitive in the market.
• Support BU teams to enable them to develop and implement the Quality Management System (QMS) linked to land innovations first time right which are compliant and safe.
• Support in developing new capabilities as well as improvements in current/new manufacturing site to land innovations and big 5s changes.
• Maintain an effective Change Management system to ensure business changes are effectively landed first time right
• Deploy a digital Quality transformation program
• Support in the BU E2E Culture Quality Transformation Program
• Be the voice of quality in cross functional team and influence to make right choices for consumers even if it means challenging the norms and developing new standards/methods across functions to land safe and superior products

All About You

• Strong consumer understanding and ability to bring in insights and influence team making right choices to win competitively.
• Understanding of global and operational business strategy and challenges;
• Cross functional partnership in a project or programme, ideally with R&D, Marketing and Supply Chain
• Analytical skills: Utilizing data analysis tools to monitor quality metrics, identify trends, and implement corrective actions to improve overall product quality.
• Communication skills: Collaborating with cross-functional teams, suppliers, and regulatory agencies to learn and develop new platforms for innovations as needed and drive the change.
• Problem-solving abilities: Investigating consumer complaints, and implementing change for 5s, innovations and any transformation program
• Experience in virtual teamwork.
• Quality management expertise: Developing and implementing quality control procedures, conducting audits, and managing quality assurance programs to maintain product safety and consistency to launch new innovations and change in market.
• Track record of delivering quality performance improvement within multiple large to small manufacturing sites;
• Clear understanding and ability to assess and act upon product safety, quality, efficacy, and compliance risks;
• Proactive approach: Anticipating potential quality issues, implementing preventive measures, and continuously seeking opportunities for improvement.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proven experience in Consumer goods industry
• Technical related degree or university degree preferable

Additional Information

Office based with Unilever hybrid/remote work policies.

Role includes travel to suppliers, manufacturing sites and meetings in Europe (around 15 to 20% travel)

What We Offer

Not only do we offer a competitive salary and pension scheme, we also offer an annual bonus, free gym, 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, click here: Equity, Diversity & Inclusion.

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