Unilever Fragrance House Global Program & Operations Director

Job Title: Unilever Fragrance House Global Program & Operations Director

Location: Port Sunlight R&D

Work Level: 3X

Want to Change The World?

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Beauty, Personal and Home Care products selling in over 190 countries and used by 3.7 billion consumers every day. Unilever has more than 400 brands used in homes around the world, including Dove, Sure, TRESemmé, Sunsilk, Vaseline, Comfort, Persil and Surf. As one of the world’s largest users of fragrances, we recognise that creating exceptional fragrances is at the heart of delivering extraordinary consumer experiences and driving desire at scale.

To achieve our ambition, Unilever Fragrance House (UFH) is undertaking a global fragrance transformation, leveraging expert inhouse fragrance teams to craft unmissably superior fragrances for our Personal Care, Beauty & Wellbeing and Home Care Business Groups.

The Role:

UFH is transforming how fragrance is created, deployed and leveraged across Unilever — turning it into a genuine source of superiority, growth and value. By combining world-class creativity with industrial-scale execution, and a global network of fragrance creation hubs, UFH gives our brands a differentiated edge.

As we scale, we’re looking for an exceptional leader to join our established Leadership Team and run the global operating backbone that lets our creative programme perform at pace, with discipline and with impact. Reporting to the Head of UFH, the Global Program & Operations Director will be a key member of the Leadership Team, with end-to-end accountability for the systems that turn Business Group (BG) priorities into a delivered global fragrance programme.

Core Accountabilities:

• Creative Programme Delivery — Work with the UFH Strategy Lead to translate BG priorities into a focused, deliverable, multi-year agenda that delivers joint value for Unilever. Drive prioritisation, resource transparency and delivery discipline across the network; surface and resolve risks. Manage the interface with external Fragrance House partners to ensure success of co-creation projects. Provide the Leadership Team with clear visibility of program health, value and execution risk, and support the Strategy Lead with all programme-related performance executive reporting.
• Lab Operations & Infrastructure — Set the long-term strategy for our global laboratory facilities. Ensure we build and operate world-class labs that are safe, compliant and at the forefront of digital and AI capabilities; own the infrastructure investment roadmap and work with key partners to execute.
• Hub Strategy, Design & Scale-Up — Lead the work (with the UFH Leadership Team) to define the future global UFH footprint, build the framework for where hubs go next, and lead the design, launch and integration of new hubs — applying learnings each time.
• Palette Management — Work with Creative Fragrance Director and Science & Technology Lead to manage the global ingredients palette so it is resilient, cost-effective and ready to support creative delivery. Partner with Procurement and Supply Chain to ensure reliable ingredient availability across all hubs.
• Organisation & Leadership — Build and develop a world-class, globally distributed Programme & Operations organisation, with strong talent pipelines and a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. 

Key Experience/Skills Required:

• An experienced leader with a proven track record of building and running complex global operating models and technical organisations
• Experience leading large-scale programs, operations, infrastructure or enterprise-wide capability transformations
• An understanding of what it takes to operate a fragrance creation facility; ideally gained through direct experience in fragrance, flavours or ingredients, or through relevant adjacent experience in consumer goods innovation, R&D operations or specialist laboratory environments
• A talent for creating scalable governance frameworks and performance systems that stick
• The ability to lead through influence, create engagement and drive collaboration within and across teams and functions
• Strong strategic and commercial judgement, as well as data-driven decision-making
• An entrepreneurial mindset with the resilience to build new capabilities in ambiguity

Why Join
Build the operating engine behind one of Unilever’s most exciting growth capabilities! This is a defining role in one of Unilever’s most strategically important growth engines. You’ll join a high-performing Leadership Team building a truly global fragrance platform — leading the systems, infrastructure and operations that power UFH today, and helping design the hub network that will drive its future. For leaders who love building scalable global capability and creating lasting enterprise value, the scope, visibility and impact are exceptional.

NOTES 

What we offer 

Whilst the role is advertised on a full-time basis, we would be happy to discuss possible flexible working options and what this may look like for you. We strive to achieve a family-friendly and inclusive workplace and to, above all, create possibilities for all.  

Diversity at Unilever is about inclusion, embracing differences, creating possibilities and growing together for better business performance. We embrace diversity in our workforce. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. We are also more than happy to provide reasonable adjustments during our application and interview process to enable you to be present your best self. To find out more, including about our Employee Resource Groups, please click here Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (unilever.com).

Relocation to the UK  

Please be aware if you are applying for this role from outside the UK, if successful, your application will be treated as a self-initiated Change Location Outside of Country (CLOC) transfer. This means any relocation costs must be self-funded with the potential to reclaim some specific pre-approved expenses up to £5,000. Please speak to your Talent Partner if you have any questions.