Packaging Technologist

Unilever; City of Westminster; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading multinational consumer goods company in the UK is seeking a Packaging Technologist for their Deodorant Category. This role focuses on innovating and ensuring quality in packaging for flagship brands. The successful candidate will lead testing and validation processes, manage lab technicians, and drive continuous improvement. A competitive salary, annual bonus, and various employee benefits including a flexible working environment are offered.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Annual bonus

Subsidised gym membership

Discounted staff shop

Shares

Qualifications

• Experience of Packaging or Product development and/or manufacturing supply chain.
• Ability to read technical engineering drawings and understand tolerances.
• Experience in quality control, packaging materials, and injection moulding preferred.

Responsibilities

• Consultancy into core project teams to ensure product designs incorporate packaging design rules.
• Provide packaging manufacturing expertise during design reviews and risk activities.
• Responsible for the development and validation of robust functional specifications.
• Help to define testing plans for innovation projects.
• Analyse test results and use statistical tools to identify potential production issues.
• Manage lab technicians conducting technical testing plans.
• Identify and capture best practice for future capability initiatives.
• Contribute towards the Packaging teams’ strategy activities.

Skills

Packaging Development

Packaging Materials & Technology expertise

Digital Tool Proficiency

Data Analytics

Environmental Sustainability

Tools

Measurement and testing equipment

Job description

The Packaging Technologist is a pivotal role within the Deodorant Category, a key strategic growth area in Personal Care at Unilever. This position is responsible for supporting innovation and excellence in packaging for flagship brands including Rexona, Axe, and Dove. The successful candidate will demonstrate expertise in packaging technology and lead qualification processes to ensure seamless execution from concept to delivery. This role focuses on delivering superior product experiences aligned with business objectives, with sustainability and premiumisation as core principles. The Packaging Technologist collaborates with internal and external partners to assess technical risks, apply best practices, and define core design requirements. Responsibilities include requirements definition, risk assessment (including FMEA), and leading component and product testing and validation using both in‑silico and physical tools. The role supports the validation and calibration of virtual models with the Design team and Simulation Engineers, manages data analysis and reporting, and may develop new test methods for novel materials or applications. Data‑driven decision‑making is integral to the technical team's success. Additionally, the Packaging Technologist leads packaging and technology programs to drive continuous improvement and is based within the Packaging team at the UK PCR&D technology Centre, Leeds, UK.

Responsibilities

• Provides consultancy into core project teams to ensure product designs incorporate packaging design rules and best practice.
• Provide packaging manufacturing expertise during design reviews and risk activities (e.g. FMEA, Risk Assessments).
• Responsible for the development and validation of robust functional specifications for components and systems.
• Help to define testing plans for innovation projects with input into network timings.
• Analyse test results and use statistical tools to identify potential production issues, make decisions and recommendations to drive improvements within the packing innovation projects.
• Manage lab technicians when conducting technical testing plans through to completion including pilot packaging equipment, factory line trials and Design of Experiments.
• Contribute to the development of future capability initiatives by helping to identify and capture best practice and support the build of testing capability to validate “design rules” for implementation into future innovation projects.
• Play an active role in contributing towards the Packaging teams’ strategy activities.

Qualifications

• Experience of Packaging or Product development and/or manufacturing supply chain.
• Competent in using measurement and testing equipment.
• Ability to read technical engineering drawings and understand tolerances.
• Experience in quality control, packaging materials (including resins, MB) and injection moulding preferred.

Key Skills

• Packaging Development
• Packaging Materials & Technology expertise
• Digital Tool Proficiency
• Data Analytics
• Environmental Sustainability

Benefits

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.

Diversity & Inclusion

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.

Workplace Flexibility

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.