Assistant Research Scientist – Skin Benefits

BACKGROUND:

Unilever's Science and Technology (S&T) team in the Personal Care Business Group creates future technologies to deliver unique consumer products with a wide range of superior, differentiated benefits. Within S&T, the Physical Sciences Platform translates relevant science generated both internally and externally into a stream of innovative consumer products. The Physical Sciences team includes deep expertise in chemistry, emulsions, material science, surface & colloid science, and process engineering. Their common purpose is to create a steam of benefit-led products by unraveling the understanding of ingredient interactions and product interaction with biological substrates. The research deliverables from the team support the innovation pipeline over the next 5 years. They primarily take the form of next generation products scaled at least to pilot plant level, but may also include novel claims, claim support measurements, and expertise & authority. In addition, the team often partners directly with Design teams to solve critical product-based problems or to provide deeper insight into new technologies, products, or processes.

This role will be part of the Physical Sciences team located in Bangalore, India.

MAIN JOB PURPOSE:

The individual in this role will join an integrated, cross-laboratory team dedicated to developing innovative products, with a primary focus on delivering benefits through personal care formats like soap bars, liquid cleansers, and deodorants. They will be tasked with studying the impact of novel actives towards betterment of skin health and skin feel. This work will involve close collaboration with R&D partners in related disciplines, external experts, and business partners to ensure the research outputs have maximum impact and are effectively delivered.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Collaborate with Design and S&T project leaders, as well as science area leaders, to investigate both current and emerging technologies for the development of innovative products. This requires a comprehensive understanding of the various functional materials employed in the formulation of personal care products.
• Gain a comprehensive understanding of the skin benefits derived from formulation ingredients and investigate new active components that can enhance skin health and feel.
• Develop a range of analytical characterization techniques to provide insights into the interactions of active compounds on the skin. This role requires strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Identify and manage projects/interactions with external partners, especially serving to build a 3P/cross laboratory network of relevant product characterization capabilities critical to the Physical Sciences skill bases.
• Design and conduct experiments at laboratory scale to identify product design rules relevant to specific projects
• Manage the transition of technology from the Science and Technology platform to the Design teams
• Proficient in data analysis and documentation, with knowledge of digital tools and modeling (optional)
• Possesses outstanding communication and collaborative abilities

KEY REQUIREMENTS

• PhD (2+ years' experience) or MS, MTech (5+ years' experience) in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biochemistry, Materials Science or related discipline with a strong understanding of the physical science bases underpinning personal care products.
• Experience in working with personal care formats, their characterization, and relevant characterization techniques.
• Proven track record of creative scientific problem-solving skills.
• Working knowledge of surfactant/colloid science and physical chemistry to enable linking measurements to product design rules would be a plus.
• The ability to work effectively across multiple teams, geographies and functions.
• The ability to present and communicate in a compelling, efficient, and effective manner, to cross-functional teams across multiple geographies.

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