About Unilever   

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2 billion consumers a day. Unilever has more than 400 brands found in homes around the world, including Dove, Tresemme, Lynx, Lifebuoy, Shea Moisture, Persil, Domestos, Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum, Marmite, The Vegetarian Butcher, Graze, Vaseline, Sure, Wall’s, Colman’s and Pot Noodle.  

Faced with the problem of climate change and the desire for human development, we want to move towards a world where everyone can live well and within the natural limits of the planet. That’s why our purpose is ‘to make sustainable living commonplace’.    

What we offer

Not only do we offer a competitive salary of £22,550, we also offer an end of placement bonus and a discounted staff shop. You’ll have the opportunity to work directly with our renowned and exciting brands in a flexible and hybrid working environment.  

Diversity at Unilever is about championing inclusion, embracing differences, creating possibilities, and growing together for better business performance. To celebrate this, we have internal networks and communities created to raise awareness for a cause, which work to create change within the business. These networks include Proud, Empower, Enable and Unity and our communities include Thriving Parents, Carers and All Inclusion Club.

We give full and fair consideration to all applicants, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.  

We are a key advocate of wellbeing and offer a variety of support for our people including hubs, programmes, and development opportunities. We strive to achieve a family-friendly and inclusive workplace and to, above all, create possibilities for all.   

Do you require any adjustments in the application or assessment process?

If you do need any adjustments, please inform the Talent Acquisition team who will contact you to discuss the accessibility options available. E.g., If required extending time spent in any ‘timebound’ assessments/interviews.

*We also provide accessibility options such as magnifying glass, decrease/increase font size, change font & colour, screen ruler, screen mask for everyone who would require support.

Please contact the Talent Acquisition team at futurecareers.recruitment@unilever.com.

The role: Customer Development

Customer Development (Sales) ensures that our brands are available wherever the shopper wishes to buy them. The focus of the role is to manage relationships with retailers to effectively drive our business and theirs.

Our aim with the retailer is to develop and execute our overall brand & customer strategy and customer business plan, to drive the growth and profitability agenda within Unilever.

Our customers recognise the effectiveness with which our work drives our business and theirs, which has led to several retailers (Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Boots and Nisa) recognising us as their supplier of the year.

What will I be doing?

You’ll develop your commercial knowledge and numerical skills. You’ll build partnerships with our wide range of customers – Grocers, Health and Beauty Retailers, Value Stores and E-commerce Businesses - so that we reach our target markets.

That could mean working together to maximise a new product launch, recommending the right range of products, developing marketing programmes, negotiating an annual business plan, or looking for new business opportunities. You’ll also work closely with our internal teams – Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance – to ensure everyone is aligned to deliver the best outcome for our retailers & consumers.

Our people have the opportunity to help build a bright future for our world, making a big impact every day, on a local level, across Europe and the globe. We have a proven tradition of developing our own purpose driven leaders and encouraging innovative thinking.

What do we look for?

You don’t need a specific degree background – this is an area where your personality will set you apart. It takes a special blend of ambition, people skills and commercial acumen; you’ll need to be credible and confident in front of people and have a passion for growing businesses, coupled with the power to influence and negotiate.

With a strong performance culture, challenging goals and continuous feedback, we will support you to achieve your potential in an inclusive environment. You will thrive by gaining exposure to real business challenges where your energy and fresh thinking will have an impact. First-hand experience- it’s the fastest way to learn.

Students must have completed the penultimate year of their undergraduate degree by the time they start their placement and be returning to study after their placement.

Our Customer Management Industrial Placements are a chance to showcase your knowledge & skills, with total support from a line manager and a buddy.

We also have excellent benefits to support you through your placement including a salary starting at £20,000, 20-25 days’ annual leave and training through virtual and instructor-led sessions.

Our application process involves

Online application
Digital interview
Virtual Discovery Centre

Location

Our placement opportunities are available throughout the UK. All opportunities are available at Kingston, Port Sunlight and London Blackfriars (100VE). Please note that only Supply Chain and Research & Development opportunities are available at Leeds, Gloucester, Burton and Colworth has R&D opportunities only.

If you are successful, we will try our best to match you to your location preferences, however, this cannot be 100% guaranteed. Please note, the requirements of your role will ultimately determine your location.

Closing date

We will close for applications as soon as we receive enough applications for the business area. We, therefore, advise you to apply as early as possible to avoid disappointment. 

If you have any questions about your application or if you require special arrangements/reasonable adjustments to be made to complete any part of the application process, please contact the Future Careers Team.

If you would like to discuss any mitigating circumstances before making an application, please also contact the team using the following contact details: Phone: 020 3650 2304 or e-mail: futurecareers.recruitment@unilever.com.  

Customer Development Industrial Placement 2024