R&D Senior Associate - Essential Home

Embark on a Leading Role in Home Fragrance Innovation with Essential Home

This is a compelling opportunity for seasoned R&D professionals seeking to make a significant impact within the dynamic Essential Home division. Focused on transforming houses into cherished homes through a diverse portfolio of Air Care, Surface, Laundry, and Pest Control products, Essential Home is building a forward-thinking and inclusive culture. You'll join a newly formed business and leadership team that champions a founder's mentality – embracing entrepreneurship, agility, and decisive action.

Essential Home boasts a strong collection of well-loved brands such as Air Wick, Cillit Bang, Calgon, and Mortein. This is an exciting juncture to become part of a purposeful, fast-paced, and energetic company, offering a truly unique learning and career development experience.

The Research & Development Advantage

The R&D function at Essential Home is dedicated to creating superior products and solutions. You'll be part of a team of highly skilled Scientists and Engineers collaborating to innovate across all product categories. The organization is structured to be agile, entrepreneurial, and results-oriented, with a strong emphasis on action, accountability, local ownership, and mutual care – all aimed at empowering consumers to create a true sense of home.

Key Opportunity: Senior Associate, Global Air Wick R&D (Hull Site)

This role presents a significant opportunity to join a vibrant and fast-paced global Air Wick R&D team. As a Senior Associate, you will be instrumental in leading new formula and fragrance developments for Essential Mist, the division's fastest-growing product format.

Your Impact and Responsibilities:

• End-to-End Project Leadership: Independently manage all R&D technical aspects of complex projects, from initial concept and feasibility studies through to product development and market enhancement, aligning with defined category strategies.
• Consumer-Centric Innovation: Develop a deep understanding of the product format and consumer needs/insights to drive the creation of exciting, relevant new ideas, shape product strategy, and influence product cost structures.
• Proactive Problem-Solving: Demonstrate strong risk awareness and problem-solving skills, effectively navigating obstacles and leveraging internal support networks.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Serve as the primary R&D liaison with technical development, business, and supply chain teams to ensure timely project completion and successful market launch.
• Strategic Input & Mentorship: Lead and participate in ideation sessions, contribute to the strategic direction of the leading format, and help shape its future under the guidance of the R&D Manager.
• Business Acumen & Networking: Develop high business acumen to navigate the operating model independently and build strong internal and external networks.
• Effective Communication: Utilize excellent communication and presentation skills to clearly articulate risks, next steps, and recommendations to senior management.
• Quality & Compliance: Ensure all R&D documentation is meticulously maintained according to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
• Team Development: Take responsibility for individual team members, providing mentorship and coaching to foster growth and development.

What Makes You Stand Out:

• Proven experience leading complex technical projects with a demonstrated ability for end-to-end delivery.
• Demonstrated team leadership and people development capabilities.
• Broad technical expertise and a curious mindset, with the ability to assess and develop new technologies, methods, and approaches.
• Experience working effectively with manufacturing sites and third-party partners.
• A strong track record of translating functional prototypes into finished, market-ready products.
• Solid understanding of supply chain processes, technical challenges, and their impact on product development and ongoing quality.
• A knack for translating key consumer needs into viable product concepts by leveraging new or existing technologies, scientific principles, or methods.
• Proficiency in project management, including building technical timelines aligned with operating models and business stage gates.
• A natural technical curiosity and a robust problem-solving mindset for complex challenges.
• Understanding of R&D validation qualification requirements and production success criteria.
• Ability to interpret lab test results with confidence, including statistical analysis of testing data.
• Strong negotiating and interpersonal skills.
• Proven ability to build and nurture strong working relationships and networks, both internally and externally.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, coupled with strong presentation capabilities.

Your Career Journey and Benefits:

At Essential Home, we are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where every individual can thrive. We support your career journey through:

• Inclusion and Belonging: Working alongside our four global Employee Resource Groups, we champion your individual success.
• Wellbeing Support: Access to parental benefits, an Employee Assistance Program for mental health, and global life insurance for all employees.
• Comprehensive Benefits: A range of benefits aligned with the local market to support your overall welfare.
• Share in Success: Participate in global share plans to benefit from Reckitt's potential future successes.
• Performance Recognition: For eligible roles, short-term incentives acknowledge and reward your outstanding results, in line with Reckitt's pay-for-performance philosophy.

Embracing Potential:

We understand that exceptional talent doesn't always fit a rigid mold. We actively seek potential and encourage applications even if you don't meet every single criterion outlined in the job description. If this role and our company resonate with you, we encourage you to connect with us.

Essential Home is an equal opportunity employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, disability or medical condition; colour, ethnicity, race, citizenship, and national origin; religion, faith; pregnancy, family status and caring responsibilities; sexual orientation; sex, gender identity, gender expression, and transgender identity; protected veteran status; size or any other basis protected by appropriate law.