Cluster Engineering CAPEX Lead at Unilever

JOB PURPOSE

• This role exists to lead the delivery of the Southern Africa cluster capex program with a strong emphasis on financial governance, forecasting accuracy, digital transformation, and capability building. This role integrates finance expertise into engineering operations, ensuring strategic alignment, value-driven decision-making, and operational excellence across the Southern Africa cluster.  The role is a member of the SnA Engineering Team responsible for the E2E design and delivery of the cluster capex program. You’ll be part of a team that believes in doing work that matters — for people and the planet. Because here, we don’t just hire for jobs. We invite you to be part of something bigger.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead capital planning and governance, ensuring adherence to accounting policies, and driving net productivity.
• Challenge and influence capex decisions to ensure financial prudence and strategic alignment.
• Develop and maintain forecasting tools and dashboards (e.g., Power BI, Jazz), driving digital transformation, through system integration and AI-enabled decision support.
• Act as Marlin/Jazz system lead for Southern Africa, providing user support, training, access control, and maintaining the Schedule of Authority (SOA).
• Deliver regular training sessions on CEPs, DCFs and governance for engineers and finance teams to embed governance and forecasting principles.
• Lead post-investment reviews and savings tracking to ensure capital efficiency.
• Support succession planning through structured handover modules and mentoring.

OUTPUT / PERFORMANCE METRICS

• OTIF delivery of Project Reports and Performance Reports.
• Delivery of Cluster Eng. Metrics for Capex
• Annual Capex delivery vs. target
• Net Productivity bias
• Forecast accuracy and governance compliance.
• Number of training sessions delivered, and feedback received.
• Engagement in One Engineering Community and cross-functional initiatives.

EXPERIENCE & PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Either an Engineering Degree or a Finance degree

SKILLS

• Strong attention to detail
• High bias for action, responsibility and integrity

Leadership

Personal Excellence & Emotional Intelligence:

• Consistently striving to perform at their best, maintaining wellbeing, resilience, and high personal standards, while demonstrating empathy and emotional intelligence.

Collaboration & Influence:

• Facilitating productive engagement within and outside the organization, inspiring and motivating others, and fostering a results-driven environment.

Accountability & Ownership:

• Taking responsibility for outcomes, making data-driven decisions, and showing initiative without the need for close supervision.

Agility & Continuous Improvement:

• Embracing agile principles, iterative learning, and prioritizing customer value, while actively contributing to building an agile culture.

Purpose-Driven Leadership:

• Acting with humility, guided by a strong sense of purpose aligned with Unilever’s mission of sustainable living, and viewing leadership as service to others.

Employee Advocacy:

• Encouraging employees to champion company values and initiatives, understanding the importance of advocacy and managing external perceptions.

Resilience & Problem-Solving:

• Demonstrating adaptability, resilience, and the ability to navigate ambiguity and solve problems independently.

Critical SOL (Standards of Leadership) Behaviors

• Care deeply:  caring deeply about how consumers experience our brands every day, everywhere; about our people’s growth and development, and our impact on the planet. You care about your performance, to a point where it hurts when you don’t win.  Always brings their best self. Has emotional intelligence to take feedback, manage mood and motivations and build empathy for others. Sets high standards for themselves. Has humility, understanding that leadership is service to others, inside and outside of Unilever.
• Focus on what counts: We set clear and stretching goals and recognize maximum performance impact.  Generates intensity and focus to motivate people to deliver results at speed.
• Stay three steps ahead:  We think boldly and creatively to make breakthroughs in performance. We are always curious and confident – anticipating and staying ahead of consumer needs and external trends to beat the competition. Approaches delivery with an iterative and incremental, test - do - learn approach. Has an owner’s mindset, using data and insight to make decisions.
• Deliver with excellence:  We deliver everything we do with excellence and pace. We take personal ownership and hold each other to account – always finding a way to do what we said we will do.  Takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results.

Leadership

Critical SOL (Standards of Leadership) Behaviors

• PASSION FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE: Takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results. Has an owner’s mindset, using data and insight to make decisions.
• PERSONAL MASTERY: Sets high standards for themselves. Actively builds own wellbeing and resilience.
• CONSUMER LOVE: Whatever their role, always looks for better ways to serve consumers. Invests time inside and outside to understand the needs of consumers.
• TALENT CATALYST: Develops and magnifies the power of people. Creates an inclusive climate, empowering everyone to be at their best.
• AGILITY: Explores the world around them, continually learning and developing their skills.
• BUSINESS ACUMEN: Brings the outside in, encouraging experimentation and intelligent risk-taking. Creates new opportunities for profitable growth through the core and beyond.
• PURPOSE & SERVICE: Has own inner compass of purpose, which inspires actions. Has humility, understanding that leadership is service to others, inside and outside Unilever. Believes in and contributes towards Unilever’s purpose.