Job Openings at Unilever

About the job
Title: Data Scientist

Location: South Africa

Reports to: Data Science Team Leader

Context

• UL is driving digital transformation to enable us to become an analytical competitor and deliver 4G growth. Our mission is to Transform our organization to a digital first culture, delivered by a world-class data and insights team, leaping ahead of our competition in everything we do. Our new Data Science function will lead the path for UL to become data intelligent. The team will deliver advanced products at scale and work closely with the global team to ensure that local decisions in Unilever are augmented with insight & recommendations and to ensure we drive incremental sales and profit for the company by meeting the needs of our consumers, customers and employees.

There are five major themes to the Information and Analytics strategy:

• Deliver Intelligent systems at scale. Powering Business (cross functional) and Customer Development area through data and analytics. Building out the right applications to enable business teams to move faster, with more accurate and future looking decisions leveraging Big Data & Data Science.
• Winning disproportionately. We believe that the best way to move the needle for Unilever in Analytics is to create analytics products that make a significant impact on our business and drive competitive advantage in SA.
• Drive Unilever to assisted and predictive decision-making. The future is about assisted decision-making with machines (AI/Cognitive Computing/Machine Learning) unlocking the insights from vast deluge of consumer, customer & internal data, and presenting this in a way that is simple for our teams.
• Make data a true asset. Better data and data science access for every part of Unilever, across the 3 data framework (Connectivity, Growth, Continuous Improvement) and leading through the Enterprise Data Executive.
• World-class Information. One Version of the Facts. Continued excellence in delivery of diagnostics and insights to focus attention when and where it matters with a focus on Big Bets, Strategic Initiatives and Leadership team reporting.
• We are looking for an experiences Data Scientist help to create competitive advantage for UL through assisted and predicted decision making. This is an exciting new role in a completely new team that UKI is developing, based in Leatherhead, UK, reporting to Data Science Team Leader. The role works closely with the global I&A Data science organization.

Main Job Purpose

• You are a data scientist with a passion for data, data science, AI and ML, demonstrating understanding of the advances data science models and their application into the business. This role will focus on understanding and optimizing the Unilever Business, building advanced and repeatable data science models that enable the business to make better decisions, drive 4G, and gain competitive advantage.

Main Accountabilities

• Understand the business problems and how to deliver relevant insights that lead to actions.
• Gather data and build data-science and algorithmic solutions to address business problems requiring descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and / or prescriptive analytics.
• Create experimentation to solve complex business problems and deliver predictions on future business outcomes in a repeatable and relevant way.
• Support product teams scaling models into low-touch solutions to provide optimal ROI from data science.
• Work on in-market business problems coming from CCBTs, CD, Finance and CLT. Identify common themes to build repeatable models and partner with CD, CCBT, Finance leadership to support 4G growth though data and analytics, and / or advance the next phase of NRM.
• Position analytics as a tradable “currency” with customers to gain competitive advantage.
• Drive new value from insights from connecting external and internal data sources.
• Innovate new data and analytic methodologies driven by local needs which feed into I&A’s global product pipeline.

Experience And Qualifications Needed

• Standards of Leadership Required in This Role
• Personal Mastery (Data-science and advanced analytics)
• Agility
• Passion for High Performance
• Business Acumen

Key Skills Required

Professional Skills

• Machine learning forecasting techniques Fully Operational.
• Statistical modelling Fully Operational.
• Operational research and supply chain Working Knowledge.
• Optimization techniques and tools Fully Operational.
• Manipulating multi-source data Fully Operational.
• Python coding Fully Operational.
• Cloud architecture (preferably MS Azure) Working Knowledge.
• Simulation packages e.g. Any logic Working Knowledge.
• Distributed computing (Hadoop, Spark) Working Knowledge.

General Skills

• Project Management Working Knowledge.
• Communication / presentation skills Working Knowledge.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work with peers and demonstrate vertical and lateral influence.

Limitless curiosity and imagination to create novel business solutions.

Relevant Experience

• B.S. or M.S. in a relevant technical field (Operations Research, Computer Science, Statistics, Engineering, or Mathematics).
• 1-4+ years’ work experience in a data science role with significant focus on large scale and/or unstructured data.
• Experience managing projects from start to finish.
• Passion for empirical research and for answering hard questions with data.
• Ability to apply an agile analytic approach that allows for results at varying levels of precision.
• Ability to communicate complex quantitative insights in a precise, and actionable manner to business leaders.
• Strong track record in solving analytical problems using quantitative and machine learning approaches o Working knowledge in common machine learning techniques such as Random Forests, Boosting, Regularized Regression, Naïve Bayes Classifiers.
• Working knowledge of advanced machine learning such as Deep Neural Networks, Support vector machines, Reinforcement learning and Bayesian networks.
• Working knowledge in classical statistics (Regression, Clustering, Optimization, Time Series, Probability).
• Deep experience in testing and measurement (A/B, multivariate, inferential measurement e.g. Causal Impact).
• Deep experience working with and coding in R, R Shiny, Python.
• Working knowledge of data visualization concepts in reports (Power BI) and specialist tools (D3 or equivalent)
• Working knowledge working with large data sets, experience working with distributed computing tools a plus (Apache Spark, Hive, Impala)
• Working knowledge working in Microsoft Azure and scaling analytic products over GPUs in the cloud
• Knowledge of extracting and combining complex, high-volume, high-dimensionality data from multiple sources (enterprise, proprietary, IoT, public domain), including unstructured data (comment threads, audio, video)

Key Interfaces

Internal

• Unilever SA Business leaders and subject matter experts
• I&A Business Insights Team
• CD Directors
• CCBTs key leaders and team members
• I&A Global Product Owner
• I&A in-market data scientists
• I&A in-market data experts
• I&A in-market data analysts
• Global business topic Subject Matter Experts
• Analytics and Data Science product peers

External

• Data Science meet-ups
• Partner Analytics and Data Science Contractors
• Targeted Universities for developing innovations
• Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.