Sustainable Packaging: Systems Engineering Lead (KTP Associate

This role will be based at Unilever Port Sunlight, Wood St, Birkenhead, Wirral CH62 4UY with occasional work at the Materials Innovation Factory, Liverpool and at the University of Leeds.  We are also open to discussing flexible working arrangements.

Do you want to join Unilever’s Sustainable Packaging mission? Do you have expertise in Process Systems Engineering and Sustainability? Are you keen to help reinvent packaging materials and develop your career in material science?

This Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) position is part of an exciting collaboration between Unilever, Dr Keeran Ward and Prof. John Blacker at the University of Leeds, through Innovate UK. It is based at Unilever’s Port Sunlight R&D site, Wirral with occasional work at the Materials Innovation Factory, Liverpool and at the University of Leeds. The job holder (KTP Associate) should have relevant experience and strong interests in Process Systems engineering and Sustainability. The role will be ideal for a driven, hard-working, and enthusiastic individual with excellent interpersonal skills willing to learn and collaborate with a vibrant team of researchers across the University of Leeds and Unilever to help revolutionise Unilever’s sustainable packaging.

Unilever is a worldwide leader in the production of consumer goods across Home Care, Beauty and Wellbeing, Personal Care, Nutrition and Ice-cream. Unilever is fully committed to product quality and safety, and environmental sustainability is at the core of its values. The business has been working hard to close the loop on plastics to make its packaging more sustainable by halving its virgin plastic footprint, making all its packaging 100% recyclable reusable or compostable, and accelerating the use of recycled material. Unilever is taking the next big step by ensuring its packaging moves towards a 100% circular waste-free and carbon-neutral model. To make this a reality, Unilever is using Science, Engineering and Innovation to reinvent its packaging. 

The Associate will spend 10% of their time working with and supported by Dr Keeran Ward and Prof. John Blacker to learn and develop the research tools. The remaining 90% will be spent working at Unilever’s Packaging Advanced Materials Team, applying these skills to embed a Systems Engineering approach that will accelerate the development of sustainable packaging materials.

The Associate will contribute to both partners’ active research efforts by developing, modifying, and applying existing software systems to the development and optimisation of novel sustainable packaging materials. A key aspect of the project is the sharing of knowledge between partners and, to assist this, the position has a tailored training programme, including specialised courses delivered by the University of Leeds, and two residential courses provided as part of the Innovate UK KTP programme.

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact: 

Academic Supervisor

Dr. Keeran Ward

Lecturer in Chemical Engineering

E-mail: k.r.ward@leeds.ac.uk  

Company Supervisor

Emile Engel

Lead Materials Scientist

E-mail: Emile.Engel@unilever.com 

KTP OFFICE

James Hartford

Innovation Support Co-ordinator (University of Leeds)

E-mail: J.Hartford@leeds.ac.uk 

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