Product Development Senior Scientist - Pepsi Lipton Joint Venture

Background and Purpose of the Job

Pepsi Lipton is a joint venture between Unilever and PepsiCo operating in the ready-to-drink Tea segment globally with three well-established brands Lipton, Brisk and Pure Leaf and Yachak. Our global business is worth 3.0 billion USD today, growing volume and with a double digit increase in net revenues. We operate across complex and diverse regions spanning Western Europe to Australia and New Zealand to the United States and Latin America with markets at different stages of development, with different consumer habits and different routes to market via a matrix of franchise, company-owned and third-party manufacturing operating models in which innovation delivery is key enable to accelerate growth.

We have an established global R&D function based in two centres: Colworth UK, and Valhalla US. The centre at Valhalla is the primary `hub’ from where the R&D team is focused on the North America and Latin America markets, whilst also supporting global programes and some international markets. Our other R&D Site, Colworth, is our lead centre for tea expertise, bringing this to our product and process development to deliver products across our platforms to meet a wide range of consumer benefits and needs.

A role in Pepsi Lipton is a unique experience in which to develop and add value to your career. Pepsi Lipton, although a Joint Venture between Unilever and PepsiCo, operates independently and has its own Board of Directors. Whilst we have the full backing and support of our two parent companies, our entrepreneurial set up gives us real autonomy. Our roles are broad, our responsibilities big and our experiences even bigger. We have high visibility and great exposure – to senior leadership and to talented colleagues all over the world. It means we need to be impactful, smart influencers.
In order to support our ambitious growth agenda, we are looking for a Product Development Associate Scientist to join our team in Valhalla, NY.

To learn more, visit www.liptonicedtea.com.

Who You Are & What You'll Do:

The job holder will be a member of cross functional project teams providing product development capability across the Ready to Drink brand portfolio. This role will focus on product development for Brisk and Pure Leaf, which are North American brands. In this role they will be responsible for owning and delivering product development activities within agreed projects with an onus on practical based activities in our food laboratory or pilot plant facility including:

• Design and execute practical and lab-based work programs linked to assigned projects, including initiating and maintaining formal lab notes, trial reports, experimental write-ups, and handover documents.
• Contribute to project timelines, risk analysis, and resource loading for assigned projects, ensuring compliance with safety, regulatory aspects, and company policies.
• Source ingredients and manage supplier interactions, including documentation, samples, ordering, and specification builds, while integrating quality into parent company systems and processes.
• Generate prototypes to meet project requirements, liaising with the pilot plant for larger-scale production, managing non-standard ingredient ordering, and providing key documentation.
• Lead the creation and delivery of product-related documentation, including consumer testing materials, registration, certification, and local BU-specific requests.
• Own functional specification delivery and utilize digital tools to ensure technical outputs for artwork and labeling, coordinating with specification experts, concentrate teams, and QA for alignment.
• Manage scale-up trials to confirm viability, including trial briefing and acting as point of contact with SC, Technical Contact Managers, Quality teams, and suppliers.
• Coordinate with Consumer Technical Insights, Sensory, and Brand Insights to support prototypes, panels, and consumer tastings, and manage prototype sample shipments to test locations and stakeholders.
• Ensure regulatory compliance for prototype development and ingredient selection, liaising with local deploy partners and cascading outputs to relevant stakeholders.
• Support broader technical activities and R&D requirements, maintain awareness of competitor landscape, supply chain models, and liaise with parent company groups for knowledge building.

What You'll Need To Succeed:

• Able to work in Valhalla, NY
• Degree (or equivalent) in Food Science, Chemical Science or Engineering and/or relevant experience in FMCG in fields related to product or process development/manufacturing in foods or beverages
• Experience of working cross-functionally and with external suppliers
• Experience of delivery of innovations from brief to market deployment
• Foundation training/qualification in food hygiene
• Passion to work in a practical & lab- based setting
• Proven track record of product development
• Creativity & flair with ability to innovate and translate product brief into winning launches
• Strong communication skills
• Attention to detail especially with experimentation, data recording, analysis & reporting
• Strong organizational skills
• Good time management and priority setting skills
• An ability to flex and multitask.

Pay: The pay range for this position is $86,080 to $129,120. Unilever takes into consideration a wide range of factors that are utilized in making compensation decisions including, but not limited to, skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, qualifications and education, and other business and organizational needs.  

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