What is most satisfying about working in Unilever R&D is the diversity of people – both the diversity of cultures and also of scientific backgrounds. You might find yourself in a session one day brainstorming an issue with ten scientists, all experts in different scientific fields – it's fascinating.
The other good thing is that, instead of being very compartmented, we are quite exposed to the whole product cycle from start to finish. So we are regularly in contact with people from Marketing and from Supply Chain and you really feel like you are making a difference to the business. We are very focused on the business goals but at the same time, you have a lot of freedom in how you approach those goals.
I've got an engineering background and creating stuff is really my passion, so my current role – where I'm responsible for evaluation techniques in the hair care business – is right up my street. That Dove ad where the women are sitting in chairs and two robotic arms are combing their hair: that's one of my techniques. We take attributes that consumers tell us are desirable – like softness, and smoothness – and develop technical evaluation methods to make sure that we are delivering what consumers are asking for and also so that, through measuring, we can improve the benefits that Sunsilk, say, offers.
I'm also working more and more with people outside Unilever, because sometimes a new technique could take more time to develop than you've got so it makes sense to co-operate with external partners who may have relevant technology. That's another interesting challenge.
In short, when I come into the lab in the morning, I can always look forward to something different – that's what I like about this job.
