We are currently seeking an interim Sustainable Plastics PMO Lead, to work with our global FMCG client Unilever, renowned for brands such as Dove, Sure, Persil, and Simple, and become an integral part of their fast-paced FMCG environment.

The position is based at our client’s scientific Research & Development facility in Port Sunlight Village, Wirral easily accessible by train and car. This is a full-time temporary role to run for 12 months, requiring 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday. Compensation for this role is competitive, paying between £58,400 - £73,000 per annum, pro rata, depending upon experience.

The role currently offers a mix of remote and onsite working, subject to adjustment based on business requirements.

The role holder will partner with all Business Groups (BGs) both within R&D and an extended network within the business, supporting them to create robust roadmaps, identify, escalate and navigate gaps or key risks, and ensure unlocks are in place to facilitate delivery of the targets on time in full, in close collaboration with the Head of Plastics within the Central Sustainability Team. 

In addition, the role holder will refine the governance and tracking of the plastics programme at the One Unilever level, ensuring status, risks and necessary interventions are adequately raised to senior members and metric owners, including the Packaging VP, Chief R&D Officer, and ULE members.

Finally, to close the technical gaps against the commitments, the role holder will lead the engagement between the BGs and the Packaging Science & Technology team, ensuring the centralised future technology programme resolves known challenges, and will take a leading role in accelerating the development of such technology and ensuring it is embedded into the innovation funnel.

Key Accountabilities
BG Partnering

• Partner all BGs, support development of robust roadmaps, embedded into innovation processes.
• Support BGs to embed tailored processes, ways of working and governance methods.

Reporting

• Lead the internal tracking of progress, handling large data sets, creating powerful visualisations, and identifying and escalating gaps and risks, to ensure delivery of our commitments on time in full.
• Drive the maintenance of up-to-date scorecards (data and narrative) for progress updates to executive members, including ULE and other stakeholder groups.
• Streamline forecasting processes, identify opportunities to automate inputs/outputs across systems.
• Support BGs to monitor and mitigate risks on key projects, identifying trends across BGs/BUs.
• Support collation of key inputs necessary for external reporting (such as EMF, CGF, CDP, DJSI etc).

Governance

• Lead the monthly One Unilever Plastics Committee, ensuring it is value adding, action oriented, and provides direction to BGs on key issues. 
• Support preparation of inputs for quarterly ULE sustainability sessions (amongst other forums and steering committees).
• Lead the ongoing refinement of broader corporate governance models to optimise visibility, drive accountability and decision making at all levels.
• Preparation of decision papers and recommendations on key issues within the plastics programme.

Ensuring Sufficient Innovation Strategy & Project Management Support

• Ensure the central technology program delivers vs. needs of the BGs and remains consumer centric.
• Highlight gaps in BG innovation funnel to drive experimentation and evolution of technology.
• Identify opportunities to pilot new technology or capability which has the potential to positively impact our progress on sustainable packaging.
• Support project management of initiatives in the central OPC programme which contributes directly to the improving our ability to deliver against our commitments.

External Engagements

• Represent Unilever externally as required (industry mtgs, EMF, CGF, CC, WEF, suppliers).
• Attend industry conferences.

Education and Internal Advocacy

• Develop educational sessions for broader R&D, BG/BU groups, brands etc.
• Onboard new leaders, acquired brands and key partners to ensure awareness and drive shared accountability of the plastic commitments.

Key Requirements

• Strong project management skills with demonstratable experience managing large programs with complex interconnected components.
• Comfortable managing large data sets in Excel.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to engage, inspire and influence stakeholders at all levels.
• Ability to work under pressure and operate with uncertainty, embracing transformational change and being agile to manage conflicting priorities.
• Strategic mindset and ability to see the bigger picture and positively challenge the status quo.
• Comfortable holding stakeholders to account in a positive but successful way.
• Results-driven leader with a strong people-orientation, fostering talent development.
• Strong communicator and ability to create and deliver inspiring presentations alongside formal written documents.
• Good understanding of our plastics commitments and their drivers.

Additional Information
Occasional travel to the London office and to other offices within Europe, may be required.