Product Development Senior Scientist - Pepsi Lipton Joint Venture

Product Development Senior Scientist - Pepsi Lipton Joint Venture

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Pepsi Lipton is a joint venture between Unilever and Pepsi Co operating in the ready‑to‑drink tea segment globally with three well‑established brands—Lipton, Brisk, Pure Leaf, and Yachak. Our global business is worth $3.0 billion today, growing in volume and double‑digit net revenue increases. We operate across a complex and diverse region set spanning Western Europe to Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Latin America, employing a matrix of franchise, company‑owned and third‑party manufacturing models in which innovation delivery is key to accelerating growth.

We have an established global R&D function based in two centres:
Colworth, UK and Valhalla, US. Valhalla is the primary hub for North America and Latin America markets, while Colworth leads on tea expertise, supporting product and process development worldwide.

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 focuses on product development for Brisk and Pure Leaf (North American brands) and will own & deliver product development activities within agreed projects, including practical lab and pilot plant work.

• Design and execute practical and lab‑based work programs linked to assigned projects, including 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.
• Generate prototypes, liaise with the pilot plant for larger‑scale production, manage non‑standard ingredient ordering, and provide 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 use digital tools to ensure technical outputs for artwork and labeling, coordinating with specification experts, concentrate teams, and QA.
• Manage scale‑up trials to confirm viability, briefing trials 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.
• 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 and supply‑chain models, and liaise with parent company groups.

• Able to work in Valhalla, NY.
• Degree (or equivalent) in Food Science, Chemical Science or Engineering, and/or relevant FMCG experience in product/process development or manufacturing of foods or beverages.
• Experience working cross‑functionally and with external suppliers.
• Experience delivering innovations from brief to market deployment.
• Foundation training/qualification in food hygiene.
• Passion for 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 in experimentation, data recording, analysis & reporting.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Good time management and priority‑setting skills.
• Ability to flex and multitask.

Pay: $86,080 to $129,120. Unilever considers a wide range of factors in compensation decisions, including skill set, experience, qualifications, and business needs.

Bonus: This position is bonus eligible.

Long‑Term Incentive (LTI): This…