Unilever Future Leaders Programme - Human Resources

Our Future Leaders Programme will ignite the leader in you. This unique programme is designed to develop Unilever’s Future Leaders (UFL) by providing challenging and purposeful opportunities that accelerate their readiness to take on business leadership roles.

ABOUT UNILEVER

Unilever is one of the largest global fast-moving consumer goods companies that owns some of the world’s much-loved brands such as Dove, Robijn, Ben & Jerrys, Lipton and Unox. Our products sold under our many brands are used 2 billion times a day and in over half the households on the planet.

We want our business to flourish, and we know that our success depends on others flourishing around us. That's why our purpose is to make sustainable living commonplace, and why sustainable, long-term growth is at the heart of our business model.

WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING?

By joining the Unilever Future Leaders Human Resources Programme, we want to show you the impact Unilever has because of its people. HR is considered a core rather than a support function, playing a role in shaping business strategy. We need HR people who are mindful and responsive to contexts, audiences and individuals. Within HR you will help to create an environment in which all can develop themselves and the capabilities required for winning in our business.

Wherever you’re based in our organization, you will gain experience of driving culture change, play a key role in delivering a great employee and line manager experience, developing talented individuals and leaders, turning around the performance of teams and much more. It’s all about shaping our organization from within.

Our people have the opportunity to make 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 encourage innovative thinking.

WHAT DO WE LOOK FOR?

No specific qualification is required, except for a completed master’s degree. People skills are essential. The role of HR in Unilever as a core strategic business area means we look for people with ambition, an interest in business and the courage to offer creative insights and execute change. Individuals who are able to build relationships and have a talent in influencing and negotiation go a long way. The limitless opportunities at Unilever creates fully engaging innovative entrepreneurship.       

WHAT WILL THE PROGRAMME INVOLVE?

The programme is designed to accelerate you into a manager in 3 years (if your performance is up to  our ambitious standards). You’ll develop your individual leadership skills by working on projects which offer you the experience you need to be ready for your first management role. You will have at least three rotations within your role as UFL; these will give you a wide range of experiences in a broad range of dynamic and exciting areas of the business: During the program, you receive on-going development through a learning roadmap to build your skills and leadership but also functional learning opportunities. Next to this, each UFLP is assigned a mentor to guide you through the 3 year program.

• We sell millions of products to consumers everyday. . That is why every UFLP will start their career joining our Field Force team for two months, to learn all about our consumers and customers. Both in retail (Supermarkets) as in Food Solutions (Chefs in Restaurants) and in Out of Home (all other outlets like gas stations & theme parks). It’s a great opportunity to really get to know the other “Future Leaders”. Please note that for Unilever the safety and health of our employees is top priority – therefore the continuation of the two-month Field Force rotation will depend on the Covid-19 situation at that time and the policy we have on travels. Either way we will make sure to create an exciting onboarding!
• The scheme gives you a broad array of rotations: you can think of rotations in the Global/Regional head offices, or in one of our factories. We make sure to differentiate between rotations, so that you’ll get a broad exposure to the business. You can be end-to-end responsible to deliver a great employee experience for key employee moments as a People Partner, join in one or our HR Expertise teams (Reward, ER/IR, Learning & Development or Talent) or Business Partnering one of our departments or brands.
• Your rotations could be based at different business units across Europe and you will need to be flexible about where you are based during your time on the scheme.
• Support and empowerment: We'll support you every step of the way to senior management but much of your progress will be up to you. You'll need to be focused and ambitious to get where you want, identifying opportunities and taking responsibility for your own development.
• During the three years of your programme you will be learning and developing in the rotations you will be doing, having real responsibility and impact. This development is supported with a learning roadmap full of internal and external training focused on developing your individual leadership skills. We have a proven tradition of developing our own purpose driven leaders and encourage innovative thinking. Future focused feedback and challenging goals drives innovation and ambition within a performance culture and an inclusive and informal environment. We will push you to achieve your potential and make a big business impact where you learn from the best. Firsthand experience – it’s the fastest way to learn. 

WHY SHOULD YOU APPLY?

• Work with exciting brands that give you a chance to make a genuine impact on people’s lives.
• A real job from day one that continuously tests and develops your skills.
• Local & international exposure to stay close to local consumers and harness global expertise.
• Work with cross-functional teams to see the big picture
• Support along the way with great (learning) development opportunities
• Competitive primary and secondary benefits such as salary and company pension 

REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICATION

• Eligibility to work in the Netherlands at the start of the program. Search year / orientation year visa is accepted as well. ;
• You have obtained your Masters degree at the start date of the UFLP (1 September 2021)
• An intermediate knowledge of Dutch is preferred but not required for our human resources programme  

APPLICATION PROCESS

Our online application period runs from Thursday 1 April till Friday 23 April 2021. You need to have finished up till stage 3 (the digital interview) at the end of the online application period to be eligible for the Unilever Future Leaders Programme. We work on a first come, first serve base so finish all stages as soon as possible. In case of many good candidates, we may decide to close earlier. In that case, we will communicate this.

The entire selection process consists of 

Stage 1: Online Application*

Stage 2: Profile Assessment

Stage 3: Digital Interview

Stage 4: Discovery Center Day**

Stage 5: Job Offer.

*In the application form there is a possibility to upload your CV to fill out your personal details. This is not part of the selection process

**Our Discovery Center days will be held between 25 May and 18 June 2021.