Leadership Development Director

Unilever; Hull and East Yorkshire; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading consumer goods company is seeking a Head of Leadership Development to influence leadership practices and drive a culture of performance. The role involves collaborating with senior leaders, managing the iconic leadership training center, and delivering strategic leadership development initiatives. Ideal candidates will possess a background in behavioral sciences or psychology, with experience in leadership solutions and project management. This position allows for immense impact on organizational culture and performance.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Annual bonus

Subsidised gym membership

Discounted staff shop

Shares

Qualifications

• Experience of shaping leadership development in a multinational organization.
• Successful implementation of innovative learning approaches.
• Experience with designing and/or implementing leadership assessments.

Responsibilities

• Shaping the Leadership Development strategic agenda aligned to the company strategy.
• Collaborating with key stakeholders to deliver the Leadership Development Curriculum.
• Driving a culture of performance and care within the organization.

Skills

Leadership development

Influencing skills

Project management

Behavioral sciences

Education

Postgraduate qualifications in behavioral sciences or psychology

Job description

Job Title: Head of Leadership Development
Location: London: 100VE & Four Acres

About Unilever

Established over 100 years ago, Unilever is one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies. We are known for our great brands and our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. Unilever products include baby food, beauty products, bottled water, breakfast cereals, cleaning agents, condiments, energy drinks, healthcare and hygiene products, ice cream, instant coffee, pet food, pharmaceuticals, soft drinks, tea, and toothpaste. It is the largest producer of soap in the world, and its products are available in over 190 countries. Unilever's largest brands include Axe (Lynx), Dove, Hellmann's, Knorr, Lifebuoy, Lux, Omo (Persil), Rexona, Sunlight and Sunsilk. The company is organized into four business groups: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care and Nutrition. It has research and development facilities in China, India, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Unilever has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and a secondary listing on the Euronext Amsterdam, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index and the AEX index.

Business Context

This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of leadership in a progressive company and make an impact in a company that touches billions of lives every day. Unilever is a unique business. With the purpose to “make sustainable living commonplace”, every day more than 2.5 billion people touch one of our products. That uniqueness is based on our people, and particularly on our leaders of teams large and small across the organization and around the world. That deep, purpose‑driven leadership doesn’t happen by chance. It is the result of a proven system of developing leaders, which has c. In our present time. Our Play to Win People Strategy calls on us to restore discipline in talent management to ensure we are uncompromising on talent; to modernize our leadership development offerings and to dial up the performance edge in our culture.

Job Purpose

As Head of Leadership Development, you’ll partner directly with senior business leaders, HR leaders and industry experts worldwide to unlock a systemic approach to building leaders in the organization and to influencing our culture and performance edge. You will also be responsible for managing our iconic leadership training center, where our heritage and history come together with creating future ready competencies and skills.

We are looking at HR professionals with expertise in the learning and leadership development space, preferably with a background in behavioral sciences or psychology. We will be looking for passion for growing others, track‑record of delivering leadership solutions with business impact, and the ability to partner with senior business leaders and to influence the development of senior leaders through well‑crafted feedback and business acumen. This is a leadership role with global exposure – an opportunity to build and leverage a strong internal and external network. This is an exciting leadership role working as part of the Talent & Leadership Development team, and it reports to the Global Head of Talent & Leadership Development for Unilever.

Responsibilities

It is an exciting time to be part of the Unilever Talent and Leadership development team. You will play a key leadership role to partner the Unilever HR Leadership Team (HRLT) and key Business stakeholders in driving a culture of performance & care.

• Shaping the Leadership Development strategic agenda aligned to the Unilever Strategy.
• Collaborate with the Talent & Leadership Development and the wider learning team to prioritize, target, design, and deliver the Leadership Development Curriculum and strategic project portfolio aligned to the strategy.
• Be an architect of the Unilever culture, by scientifically linking leadership development and behaviors to sharpening the company’s performance edge.
• Support the roll out of the newly built Unilever Behaviors across the organization with a clear understanding of what this will mean for employees. Ensure the behaviors are embedded in other interventions as appropriate to support long‑term change.
• Support excellence in talent management through best practices of leadership and potential assessments.
• Work with established internal or external partners and the data science cell for Unilever to build robust success profiles and assessments which develop our top 2000 leaders.
• Support internal or external consultants to implement a strong framework for assessments of our leadership and our behaviors.
• Work closely with the Talent team to be able to build an integrated career and development story through the employee journey that is well supported though leadership development interventions.

Lead the design and delivery of specific Leadership Development interventions that drive measurable business results:

• Shape and deliver a cutting‑edge leadership curriculum aligned with Unilever’s strategy and embed new behaviors and drive lasting cultural transformation.
• Build and leverage powerful internal and external networks to keep Unilever at the forefront of leadership development.
• Identify and structure learning needs, working with business stakeholders (global functions, categories, and market teams), identifying and analyzing relevant business performance and employee data (qualitative and quantitative).
• Develop and evaluate the business case, including both design and delivery options.
• Design program content in collaboration with internal Subject Matter Experts and external partners.

Lead the evolution of our iconic Four Acres Leadership Retreat, where Unilever’s history meets the future of leadership. You’ll have the opportunity to innovate, experiment with new technologies, and create learning experiences that set industry standards. For 70 years, Four Acres has been the home for Leadership Development and the great conversations that have shaped and steered Unilever. Widely regarded as a world‑class learning venue, it is held in high regard by Unilever employees, alumni, and external partners.

• We have two Four Acres sites, one in Kingston (UK), and one in Singapore. Our vision is to establish both as beacons of Leadership for Purpose and Performance.
• Our Global Four Acres Business Manager (based in the UK oversees the site strategy, operations, Capex, and P&L). We expect you to work closely with the Global Four Acres Business Manager (via a dotted reporting line) to implement Global Leadership Development and Four Acres strategy in the region, and support underlying day‑to‑day site operations.
• Manage budget for site management and ensure sites are kept in great order to host excellent sessions.
• Host internal and external leadership development events on site, coordinating with internal business stakeholders, Unilever Workplace Services, and third parties.
• Build external networks, explore leadership development opportunities, and develop business for the site (including virtual opportunities in collaboration with Four Acres).
• Evaluate the individual and business impact of leadership interventions and proactively adapt content or delivery to deliver highest impact at most appropriate effort, time commitment, and cost.
• Leverage existing and experiment with new technologies to optimize learning and impact.
• Proactively collaborate with Talent, People growth & development partners, Org Analytics, and other relevant teams to prioritize effort and optimize impact.
• Seek and connect external insights and approaches into our leadership development thinking and activity.

All About You

We are therefore looking for someone who is passionate and willing to take this trajectory to the next level and raise the bar on people agenda. This role will equip you to drive strategy in action, influence and impact change and leadership at scale. It provides an opportunity for strong LD talent to architect change and culture in the organization.

• Experience of shaping leadership development in a multinational organization, including working with external partners.
• Experience of instructional design and working with subject matter experts. Knowledge of the end‑to‑end learning cycle including needs analysis, learning design and development, learning delivery and learning evaluation.
• Experience and post graduate qualifications in behavioral sciences or psychology will be a strong advantage. Experience with designing and/or implementing leadership assessments is also a plus.
• Successful implementation of innovative learning approaches from initial assessment through final implementation.
• Strong project management, contracting and influencing skills.
• Experience of managing a learning facility (preferred).

Location

In September 2020, Unilever announced the intention to build a new sustainable campus site in Kingston, London. This site will house some employees who currently work in 100 Victoria Embankment in Blackfriars together with colleagues who are currently located in Lever House in Kingston. We are excited to be creating our own Unilever sustainable, agile work environment. The campus is due to be completed in 2026.

What We Offer

Not only do we offer a competitive salary and pension scheme, we also offer an annual bonus, subsidised gym membership, 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

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, including about our Employee Resource Groups, please click here Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at Unilever | Unilever.

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