Sustainability Science Leader - Life Cycle Assessment Unilever

As a Sustainability Science leader in Unilever, your role will be focused on developing science strategy and partnerships as well as, conducting collaborative research to help advance life cycle assessment and related approaches. Science is an international and multi-disciplinary endeavour; you will partner with leading universities, governmental and non-governmental organisations and industrial groups around the world to deliver new methods, models and data. Publication and presentation of research at international conferences will be expected, and there will be opportunities to engage in various technical advocacy activities.

Research outcomes will be targeted for industrial application. As such, translation of new scientific approaches into direct business application will be a key part of the role, allowing for improved assessment of Unilever's product portfolio across our business groups (Nutrition, Home Care, Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care) to help deliver our ambition to be the global leader in sustainable business.

Responsibilities

• Environmental sustainability science strategy development and implementation: ongoing evolution of current research strategy, partnerships, funding mechanisms and dissemination plans.
• Development of new scientific approaches: deliver new scientific methods relating to life cycle assessment and associated approaches (e.g. spatially and temporally resolved impact assessment, prospective and ex-ante LCA, absolute sustainability, data generation approaches), including writing reports and publications.
• Application of LCA software and computational approaches (such as Simapro, Gabi, Brightway; Python, R, MATLAB; GIS) to enable cutting-edge LCA approaches to be developed and applied in industry.
• External engagement with universities, research groups, trade associations and suppliers.

All About You

You'll need to be able to work effectively and with impact in cross-disciplinary teams and in multi-cultural environments and be flexible and willing to adapt within a fast-changing business environment.

We Would Expect The Successful Candidate To

• Have a relevant PhD, ideally with several years of industrial/consulting/post doc experience.
• Have science leadership experience including development of project proposals and collaborative partnerships as well as a proven track record in project management.
• Have experience in the development, application and evaluation of Life Cycle Impact Assessment or footprinting methodologies and potentially associated standards, protocols, databases or tools.
• Ability to communicate complex scientific information and rationales on environmental sustainability to individuals from other disciplines or from non-technical backgrounds as well as via publications.
• Ability to employ a strategic and growth mindset. Proven track record of leading / working as part of a team. Willingness to explore and learn new approaches and to support others in doing so.

If you have the following skills, that's a bonus but not essential:

• Broader sustainability expertise in any of the following areas: bio-based systems, agriculture, ecosystem services / natural capital, green chemistry, circular economy, industrial ecology.
• Experience of employing approaches to assess variability and uncertainty in impact assessments.
• Experience of using Input/Output (I/O) analysis and related methods.
• Predictive modelling ideally with a focus on sustainable consumption and land system changes, e.g. understanding and experience of using Land Change models (LCM).