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.

Unilever Future Leaders Programme – Human Resources – Netherlands

The Unilever Future Leaders Programme, or as we call it “UFLP”, is a 3-year traineeship programme that gives you the opportunity to develop yourself into an experienced future-fit professional. Bring your enthusiasm, curiosity and innovative ideas to the table and start your learning journey at Unilever as a UFLP.

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world’s largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) businesses. We reach 3.4 billion consumers a day and we have 128.000 employees globally.

We make products that people love – and that make a difference, Nutritious foods, Household care essentials, Luxurious shampoos... and many more. Shoppers buy them in more than 190 countries. That means you’ll find at least one of our products in seven out of ten households on the planet. And we want every one of those products to make a positive impact on the lives of the people through our brands, our commercial operations and relationships, through voluntary contributions, and through the various other ways in which we engage with society.

Requirements for application

• Eligibility to work in the Netherlands before the start of the UFLP programme (employment) per 1st of September 2025. *
• You have obtained your Master’s/Bachelor’s degree at the start date of the UFLP per September 1, 2025.
• A HBO/WO degree is required at the beginning of the Human Resources track.
• We recommend that you only apply with a maximum of 5 years of experience to get the best out of the traineeship. **
• Our Discovery Center Days take place at our Rotterdam office and will be held between April 1st – April 20th. It is not possible to join this day online.

What will you be doing as a Human Resources UFLP?

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 are 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 is 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 encouraging innovative thinking.

What do we look for?

It might come as a surprise, but you do not need a specific educational background. 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?

You will develop your individual leadership skills by working on projects which offer you the experience you need to be ready for your first management role. Over 3 years, you will take on a variety of roles across our businesses. You will gain experience both in financial and management accounting and you will be business facing, communicating with key contacts within the brand teams.

• We sell millions of products to consumers every day. That is why every UFLP will start their career joining our Field Force team. You will learn all about our consumers and customers, in retail (Supermarkets), in Food Solutions (Chefs in Restaurants) and in Out of Home (all other outlets like gas stations & theme parks). It is a great opportunity to really get to know the other “Future Leaders”.
• The programme 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 will 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 will support you every step of the way to senior management but much of your progress will be up to you. You will need to be focused and ambitious to get where you want, identifying opportunities and taking responsibility for your own development.
• During the 3 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 is the fastest way to learn.

Application Process

Our online application process runs from Saturday March 1st- Friday March 21stend of day.

You need to have finished all the digital stages including the Digital Interview stage by the end of the online application period (March 21st, end of day) to be eligible for the Unilever Future Leaders Programme. We work on a first comes, first served base. It will take a few days to finish all online application stages, so finish all stages as soon as possible when applications open.

The entire selection process consists of

Stage 1: Online Application** (Online)

Stage 2: Digital assessment

(Personality/Profile assessment) (Online)

Stage 3: Digital Interview (Online)

Stage 4: Discovery Center Day (Physically at the Rotterdam office)

Stage 5: Job Offer

* Search year/Orientation year visa is not accepted. Unilever cannot support the request for a visa in any form (R&D talents, EU nationals, and candidates with asylum residence permits, are excepted from this requirement).

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

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