Research & development

Our teams are recognized and respected as some of the world's best. They bring ideas to life to make our brands bigger, bolder and more exciting. Collaborating with leading international experts, academic groups and other third parties ensures that we are connected with the very latest scientific thinking.

We spent €927 million in 2008 on R&D and employ around 6,000 people in six research facilities across three continents: two in the UK and one each in the Netherlands, US, China and India. These are supported by a network of global and regional technology centers that stretches from Buenos Aires to to New York to Shanghai.

The team

Being involved in the whole product life-cycle from start to finish, you'll work with a diverse group of individuals from many different disciplines. All of them are necessary to get the product from lab bench to market. This exposure will constantly stretch your mind and encourage you to develop your thinking.

The roles

Opportunities span Unilever’s key R&D areas, including product, package and process development, as well as consumer-technical insights (CTI), consumer sciences, clinical and claims substantiation, bioscience and measurement sciences (instrumentation, analytical and microbiology), patent protection, regulatory compliance and nutrition & health.  Responsibilities vary based on the R&D area, but anywhere you go in Unilever there is the opportunity to work independently on challenging projects and gain exposure to cross-functional teams right from the start of your employment!

You might be looking at our quality systems or minimizing the environmental impact of our activities. Either way, the work is extremely varied, from project manager to hands-on practical projects to exploring how we’ll do our jobs in the future.