Unilever Future Leadership Programme - Finance UK

Unilever; Kingston; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Pension scheme

Annual bonus

Staff shop discount

Subsidised gym memberships

Shares

Relocation support

25 days holiday

Job summary

Unilever's Future Leaders Programme (UFLP) in the UK is a 36‑month rotational development track designed to grow undergraduates into future managers. You’ll work in a finance function, tackle live projects, and gain experience across accounting, performance management and governance while studying for the CIMA qualification.

The programme offers a structured learning path, coaching support, and exposure to diverse teams. Location is hybrid with office days in London/Kingston.

Qualifications

• Strong analytical thinking with data-driven approach to problems.
• Curiosity about consumer and growth drivers.
• Ability to influence, communicate clearly and own outcomes.
• Rapid learning and adaptability in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with teams to shape growth plans and quantify trade-offs.
• Build forecasts, track performance and present clear narratives to leaders.
• Evaluate investments with ROI thinking and structured business cases.
• Improve processes, controls and reporting accuracy with digital tools.
• Rotate across finance roles and contribute to governance and data integrity.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Commercial curiosity

Influence and communication

Learning agility

Integrity and ownership

Digital and AI mindset

Tools

Excel

Outlook

Word

PowerPoint

Job description

Our Future Leaders Programme will ignite the leader in you. This unique programme is designed to develop Unilever’s Future Leaders (UFLs) by providing challenging and purposeful opportunities that accelerate their readiness to take on business leadership roles. The Unilever Future Leaders Program (UFLP) is a global initiative enabling Unilever to build a strong talent pipeline that will support and lead our business growth. In the UK, our UFLP is a 36-month rotational leadership development program for which we recruit top-performing undergraduate talent who demonstrate the potential to become managers within our business. It’s designed to grow you into a manager, through hands-on learning alongside world-class experts. You’ll be hired into a function and develop your leadership skills by working on live projects which offer you all the experience you need to become ready for your first management role. At the heart of it, it’s about developing tomorrow’s leaders, today. From Day 1, you will take on real business challenges within your own function and across the organization. Along the way you will develop deep core professional skills and leadership skills, and build a robust support network. On top of all that, you will have a lot of fun along the journey.

What do we look for?

• Analytical thinking and comfort working with data to solve problems
• Commercial curiosity: you want to understand what drives consumers, customers and growth
• Influence and communication: you can translate numbers into clear recommendations
• Learning agility: you learn fast, ask good questions, and improve how things work
• Integrity and ownership: you take accountability and do the right thing
• Digital and AI mindset: you’re excited by using technology to work smarter and deliver better insight

The role:

Finance Unilever Future Leaders Our Future Leaders Programme will ignite the leader in you. This unique programme is designed to develop Unilever’s Future Leaders (UFLs) by providing collaborative and purposeful opportunities that accelerate their readiness to take on managerial roles. The Unilever Future Leaders Program (UFLP) is a global initiative enabling Unilever to build a strong talent pipeline that will aid our business growth. In the UK, our UFLP is a 36-month rotational development program for which we recruit top-performing undergraduate talent who demonstrate the potential to become managers within our business. It’s designed to grow you into a manager, through hands-on learning alongside world-class experts. You’ll be hired into a finance function and further develop leadership skills by working on live projects which offer you all the experience you need to become ready for your first management role. At the heart of it, it’s about developing people who can lead today and tomorrow.

What will the programme involve?

The three‑year programme is packed with a variety of experiences. You’ll develop your interpersonal and management skills by working on live projects that offer you all the experience you need. You’ll gain experience across financial and management accounting and be business-facing, communicating with key contacts across functions. First‑hand experience is the fastest way to learn—whether that’s building forecasts and performance views, evaluating investments, or improving the quality and speed of reporting. The Unilever culture is varied and friendly and encourages innovative thinking. We will push and encourage you to achieve your potential, while giving you the chance to shape your career path according to your interests, strengths and ambitions.

Professional qualification and learning

Your role will be underpinned by studying for the CIMA qualification (fully supported), alongside a structured learning curriculum covering: Unilever’s end‑to‑end value creation model commercial finance and performance management storytelling with data and executive‑ready communication governance, controls and risk digital finance, automation and AI‑enabled ways of working Think of it as accelerated leadership development—grounded in real business application from day one.

Coaching and support

You’ll have a strong support network, typically including a career sponsor, line manager, programme manager, and a peer cohort, helping you build capability, confidence and impact.

What could your day‑to‑day role include (depending on your role)?

• partner teams to shape growth plans, challenge assumptions and quantify trade‑offs build forecasts, track performance, and turn complex information into clear decision narratives for leaders
• evaluate investments (innovation, pricing, media, productivity, capacity) with rigorous ROI thinking
• improve processes and controls, increasing efficiency and reliability while reducing manual work
• apply digital tools to accelerate analysis, automate repeatable tasks and free up time for higher‑value thinking—always operating within robust governance, confidentiality and stewardship expectations
• collaborate across teams to improve data quality, consistency and insight so decisions are made with confidence

Some positions you could be allocated to include:

Partnering roles such as Commercial Finance partners in a Business Group Process and performance optimisation through Finance Excellence teams Stewardship experience in the Group Chief Accountant’s Department Expertise opportunities in the Investor Relations team Factory Finance knowledge

Skills required include:

• Analytical thinking and a desire to solve problems using data
• Stakeholder management and the ability to influence outcomes
• Effective communication and the ability to simplify complexity
• Prioritisation and ownership
• A mindset of continuous improvement: looking for smarter, faster ways to work
• Confidence with core tools (Excel, Outlook, Word, PowerPoint) and openness to learning new digital/AI tools as you rotate—using technology responsibly and with good judgement

Please note, that at Unilever, we have development programmes, the skills above are skills that would be good to have at the beginning however you will develop them over the course of the programme.

What Can Unilever offer YOU?

• A Competitive Salary of £35,000
• A Benefits Envelope which has a notional value of 25% of your pensionable earnings. Use it to save for your pension, get extra taxable pay or both.
• A pension scheme
• Annual Bonus
• A discounted staff shop
• Subsidised Gym Memberships - availability varies by site
• Shares
• Relocation support through a £5000 tax‑free loan
• 25 days of holiday allowance

We give full and fair consideration to all applicants, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.

We are a key advocate of well‑being 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.

Location: Hybrid working with a minimum of 3 days required weekly at our London Blackfriars or Kingston office.

Travel Required: Approximately 10-25% of your time, depending on your functional rotation.

Discovery Centre: TBC

Start date: September 2027

Recruitment Fraud

Cybercriminals advertise fake job adverts with prestigious employers as a way of stealing information or even defrauding individuals out of money. In the most sophisticated cases, they will set up fake websites, which have a similar address to companies like Unilever. They even conduct fake telephone interviews and then offer candidates a role with the proviso they pay a fee for background checks or to cover work visa costs. These types of attacks are becoming more common as more people are looking for employment in the economic climate.How is Unilever tackling this? Many of Unilever’s recruitment sites publish a warning to candidates about recruitment fraud. The Cyber Security team also proactively scans for signs of people setting up fake Unilever sites and acts to close them down. What can I do?If you become aware of potential recruitment fraud, spot fake Unilever recruitment adverts or fake LinkedIn profiles, report them via Una Live Chat. Unilever does not accept responsibility or liability for any candidates who are financially impacted by recruitment fraud. Your vigilance is key!

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion

Unilever is an organisation committed to diversity and inclusion to drive our business results and create a better future every day for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual and the talent they can bring. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment.

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