Sourcing Operations Specialist - Greater Asia & Indonesia - UI R&D

Job Title: Sourcing Operations Specialist - Greater Asia & Indonesia – UI R&D

Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Business Context:

Unilever International is Unilever’s White Space Arm of Unilever and a decacorn in-making. UI has scaled 10x since its launch in 2012 and with a turnover of 1.4 billion € in 2024 it is one of the fastest growing and most profitable sizable business of Unilever

UI caters to the last billion consumers in underserved markets, consumer segments, and channels across 200+ countries and all Unilever categories. As intrapreneurs we deploy an agile innovation model that enables more than 1 launch per day. We introduce Unilever’s brands into white space geographies like Korea, Pacific Islands, Mongolia, and spearhead launches of iconic brands like Dove, Vaseline, Knorr, Surf, TRESemme into big markets like U.S, China, Europe, & Asia.

Crafting product innovations for niches like Corporate Partnership serving Hospitality & Travel retail, marketing to institutional partners like the United Nations, and seeding Unilever brands to overseas diaspora who crave for a taste of their familiar home brands.  As well as premium product segments, on-trend formats and D2C innovations globally. We navigate complex and dynamic global regulatory landscape to ensure product compliance and EHS assurance across Personal Care, Beauty & Wellbeing, Homecare, Nutrition & Ice Creams.

Singapore is our global hub leading strategy, marketing thinking, seeding plans, and alignment with the global categories and supply chain. We have a global presence with UI hubs all over the world. R&D is primarily spread across India (Mumbai & Bangalore) & Korea with some resources present globally.

PC is UI’s largest BG representing 42% of UI turnover.  Skin cleansing is the largest business for PC (€275 M), with double-digit growth rates. Deo is the second largest PC business (roughly 240M€), while Oral care, Grooming and others contribute to about €50M to PC turnover.  B&W is the most profitable BG for UI business growing double digit with an ambition to grow from 400M€ to 600M€. UI Lip care is already number #1 Lip business for Unilever, while Vaseline is number #2 for Unilever.  Apart from rapidly rolling BW portfolio globally, UI also has wide mandates for multiple PC & B&W brands including Pears, Camay, Suave, St Ives, Simple among others, wherein UI leads product design globally as per UI mandates.  

Purpose of the Job:

This role is responsible for technical management and R&D support for Unilever International (UI) in Southeast Asia. It focuses on strategic sourcing and execution, ensuring seamless coordination of R&D activities for exports from and deployments to the region.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the planning and execution of strategic sourcing initiatives from Southeast Asia from R&D perspective, aligning with UI’s business goals and global R&D standards.
• Product scaleup and troubleshooting across BGs in Unilever & 3P Manufacturing units in Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam & Indonesia. Ensuring high standard of delivered quality for new product /innovations.
• Manage end-to-end R&D activities related to exports and deployments, including last mile product development, quality assurance, cost optimization, regulatory documentation, PLM specification creation, and project network coordination including ICQA process.
• Deliver high-quality technical support to regional and local UI teams, enabling market expansion with innovative and affordable products.
• Foster strong collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, including UI BG teams, SEA R&D, Supply Chain, and Contract Manufacturers.
• Track and report on project performance, proactively identifying and mitigating risks. Support SC & CQA teams in troubleshooting for quality complaints.

Experience required

• Essential: In-depth knowledge of manufacturing processes, scaleup, understanding of factory operations. Significant experience (Min. 5 years) of Processing/Scaleup (preferred) or Formulations development or Manufacturing in any BG - Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods.
• Preferred: Degree in Chemical Engineering or Chemistry.

Note: Unilever embraces diversity and encourages applicates from all walks of life! We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to provide a positive, barrier-free recruitment journey. If you require any support to complete your application or any subsequent stage throughout your recruitment journey with us at Unilever, then please specify how we may be able to assist you. 

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.