Global Plastic Performance Manager - Secondment

Job Title: Global Plastic Performance Manager - Secondment

Reports to: Global Head of Sustainability - Plastic

Location: Port Sunlight R&D

Work Level: 2A

Time type: Full Time

Contract: Secondment (12 months)

While a strong internal candidate has been identified through our succession planning process, we remain open to additional applications to ensure that all individuals who meet the required skills, performance, experience, and leadership criteria outlined in the JD have a fair opportunity to be considered.

Role Summary:

Sitting in Corporate Affairs (CA), this role is responsible for driving the delivery of Unilever Plastic commitments which forming part of our companies broader Sustainability plan.

• Reduce Virgin Plastic footprint by 30% by 2026 and 40% by 2028.
• 100% of our plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2030 (rigids) and 2035 (flexibles).
• Plastic related SPIs

The role holder will partner with Business Groups (BGs), supporting them to create robust roadmaps, identify and escalate gaps or key risks, and navigate unlocks are in place and risks fully mitigated to facilitate delivery of the targets on time in full.

The role holder will lead and refine the performance management and governance of the plastics programme, including target setting, ensuring status, risks and necessary interventions are adequately raised to senior members and metric owners.

To close the technical gaps against the commitments, the role holder will support the engagement between the BGs and the Packaging Science & Technology team, to ensure the centralised future technology programme resolves known challenges, is relevant and consumer oriented.

Main Accountabilities:

Plastic Performance Management

• Set annual BG targets to deliver Unilever goals, set annual three year SPIs.
• Lead internal forecast reporting process on plastics metrics, including maintenance of up-to-date scorecards, creation of narrative for key stakeholder groups and onward cascade of information to Senior Leaders.
• Streamline the forecasting process and identify opportunities to automate inputs and outputs across shared systems. Maintain those in place.
• Work closely with the reporting team to align forecast and reporting processes and information sharing ensuring consistent stakeholder management. Lead the internal tracking of progress; handling large data sets, creating powerful visualisations, and identifying and escalating gaps and risks, to ensure delivery of our commitments on time in full.
• Create datasets and data led insights to support strategic decision making.
• Align closely with Procurement to ensure accurate cost forecasting.
• Support collation of key inputs necessary for external reporting (such as ARA, EMF, CGF, , etc)

Governance

• Lead the monthly One Unilever Plastics Committee, ensuring it is value adding, action oriented, and provides direction to BGs on key issues.
• Support preparation of inputs for significant business forums and steering committees (e.g. Sustainability SteerCom, ULE, Board CRC.
• Lead the ongoing refinement of broader corporate governance models to optimise visibility, drive accountability and decision making at all levels.
• Preparation of decision papers and recommendations on key issues within the plastic sustainability programme.

BG Partnering

• Partner all BGs, supporting development of robust roadmaps ensuring plans are fully embedded into innovation processes.
• Support BGs to monitor and mitigate risks on key projects, identifying trends across BGs/BUs.
• Support BGs to embed tailored processes, ways of working and governance methods.
• Ensure BG and OPC alignment on BG requirements.

External Engagements and Internal Advocacy

• Represent Unilever externally as required (industry mtgs, EMF, CGF, CC, WEF, suppliers).
• Attend industry conferences.
• Develop educational sessions for broader R&D, BG/BU groups, brands etc.
• Onboard new leaders, acquired brands and key partners to ensure awareness and drive shared accountability of the plastic commitments.

Profile and Skills required:

• Good understanding of our plastics commitments and their drivers.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to engage, inspire and influence stakeholders at all levels.
• Ability to work under pressure and operate with uncertainty, embracing transformational change and being agile to manage conflicting priorities.
• Strong project management skills with demonstratable experience managing large programs with complex interconnected components.
• Strategic mindset and ability to see the bigger picture and positively challenge the status quo.
• Comfortable holding stakeholders to account in a positive but successful way.
• Results-driven leader with a strong people-orientation, fostering talent development.
• Strong communicator and ability to create and deliver inspiring presentations alongside formal written documents.
• Comfortable managing large data sets in Excel with experience in driving operational improvements through increased automation and AI use.

Standards of Leadership:

• Passion for High Performance
• Business Acumen
• Personal Mastery
• Agility
• Talent Catalyst

NOTES

By applying for this vacancy, you are confirming that you have made your Line Manager aware of your application and that you are at a point in your career with Unilever where it is appropriate for you to be applying for other positions.

Should you require additional information or reasonable adjustments to allow you to present your best self during this process, please contact your Talent Partner on [email protected]

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.