2025 Summer Digital Research & Development Internship

Background & Purpose of the Job

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Refreshments, Health & Wellness, and Home and Personal Care products with sales in more than 190 countries. In the United States, some of our brand icons are: Axe, Degree, Dove, Dove Men+Care, Hellmann’s, Nexxus, Shea Moisture, TRESemmé and Vaseline. All of the preceding brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies. We are a purpose led and future fit organization developing our brands for people’s lives today and for the changing environment tomorrow – aiming to make sustainable living commonplace. Unilever offers vast and exciting career paths within R&D. Creating new innovations, delivering consumer benefits, and enhancing our brands as a force for good – it’s all yours in Unilever R&D working in a digital research role. As a digital research summer intern at Unilever you will learn how we develop cutting-edge digital tools and generate leading technical insights to drive product innovation in either the skin care, skin cleansing, hair, or deoderant teams. Your work will guide the development of the latest technologies, deliver breakthrough cosmetic and health benefits, and bring innovations to life for our consumers.

What You’ll Do

With guidance from a manager and team of functional experts, summer interns will manage one major summer project on their own in a digital R&D role. This project will address a major technical challenge and opportunity for one of Unilever’s major hair, skin cleansing, or skin care brands or businesses. Interns will carry out the project within teams of scientists that support regional or global Unilever business groups.

Possible project topics include

- Applying artificial intelligence tools to generate market insights that will guide our product development teams.

- Guiding strategic approaches to product quality issues in some of the largest consumer products in the world by modeling processing and formulation variables across numerous data streams.

- Generating new insights from consumer, clinical, and product application data to elucidate new approaches to delight our customers.

In any project, interns will learn to apply data science and other digital approaches to the unique challenges of consumer product development spanning consumer preference, product development, and manufacturing. The work will involve both the application of digital approaches and storytelling to convey their value to the overall Unilever business. The work will have an appreciable on-site component that may extend into working in laboratory and pilot-plant facilities. Interns can expect to learn the specific programs or tools available needed to execute their research program. Interns will be given access to numerous data streams and develop ways of working to generate insights from the data. Interns will plan approaches, analyze their data using statistical and graphical tools, and generate predictive models. Interns will generate input and incorporate feedback from a cultivated network of technical experts within Unilever to enhance the delivery on their project.

Who You Are

You’re a born leader: You will lead your own project

You’re a dot connector: You will solicit the input of technical experts, apply digital tools to the design of experiments, generate insights from your data, and provide recommendations that meet business objectives

You’re a story teller: You will present your project to senior management

You’re a culture & change champion: You bring your own experiences and uniqueness to the team, which is valued in our inclusive work environment

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Undergraduate with sophomore or junior status majoring in statistics, computer science, data science, artificial intelligence or related.

• Strong interest in the practical application of statistical and machine learning techniques to solve concrete problems in a dynamic business environment.

• Familiarity with programming in Python, R, and/or Julia.

• Coursework or project familiarity with predictive modeling techniques, e.g. linear regression, random forests, XGBoost.

• Coursework or project familiarity with large language models.

• Proficiency with the MS office suite, especially Excel and PowerPoint.

• Proven willingness and ability to learn new technical skills

• Must have a minimum GPA of 3.0.

• Ability to conduct an experimental program to generate relevant, high-quality data with subsequent data analysis and interpretation.

• Able to work under pressure in order to meet project deadlines

• Ability to work with others, communicate effectively, and contribute to cross functional teams.

• Willingness to relocate

Life at Unilever is a lot of fun – just like our application process! Check out what you'll experience when you apply for one of our internships or co-ops:

1) Application -Start by completing our simple online application. You can import your details from your LinkedIn profile to speed up the process. You can only apply to one function, so carefully consider which role you would like to pursue before applying.

2) Assessment -After your application, if you meet the basic requirements, we’ll invite you to participate in a series of fun games that looks at different cognitive, emotional, and social traits. This will help us find the best fit for you and you will receive personalized feedback after completing the games.

3) Digital Interview –Upon successful completion of the assessment, you will be invited to participate in a digital interview where you can solve real-world problems using Unilever scenarios. This will give you insight into our company culture and how we do business. The interview is split into two parts – three short hypothetical questions followed by a business case. You can record and complete your video anytime, anywhere. All you need is a computer or mobile device with access to video recording (usually standard in most devices) and a stable internet connection.

What We Can Offer You

| Top Notch Employee Health & Well Being Benefits | Every Voice Matters | Global Reach | Life at Unilever | Careers with Purpose | World Class Career Development Programs | Check Out Our Space | Focus On Sustainability

To receive communication about your application, please add careers@unilever.com to your safe senders list, and ensure your mobile phone number is correctly entered in your application.

Unilever is an organization committed to diversity and inclusion 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.

Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer Minorities/Females/Protected Veterans/Persons with Disabilities

Applicants and employees are protected from discrimination under Federal law. For more information, please see EEO is the Law

Employment is subject to verification of pre-screening tests, which may include drug screening, background check, credit check and DMV check.

If you are an individual with a disability in need of assistance at any time during our recruitment process, please contact us at 1-855-239-5459 or NAAccommodations@unliever.com .

Please note: These lines are reserved for individuals with disabilities in need of assistance and are not a means of inquiry about positions or application statuses.

Unilever is an organization committed to diversity and inclusion 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. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal law and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability. 

For more information about your Federal rights, please see Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal and Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision.

Employment is subject to verification of pre-screening tests, which may include drug screening, background check, credit check and DMV check.

If you are an individual with a disability in need of assistance at any time during our recruitment process, please contact us at NA.Accommodations@unilever.com. Please note: This email is reserved for individuals with disabilities in need of assistance and is not a means of inquiry about positions or application statuses. The Protected Veterans or Individuals with Disabilities AAP narratives are available for inspection by any employee or applicant for employment Monday through Friday during normal business hours at establishment.

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