Senior Data Science Manager

Job Title: Senior Manager, Data Science
Location : Bengaluru

Background
The Data Foundation team’s purpose is to make Unilever Data Intelligent, powering key decisions with data, insights, advanced analytics and AI. We enable democratization of data and insights across the enterprise to deliver business growth, while building fantastic careers for our people.

Data Foundation drives all aspects of Data Strategy, Data Management, Information Management, Analytics, and Insights. We are accountable for impact of solutions, maintaining market relevance and minimising unnecessary overlaps in analytics products. We partner with governance and legal teams to ensure responsible use of data and AI throughout the enterprise.

Our 5 strategies to achieve are:
1. Accelerate & simplify access to relevant data, and insights
2. Build in-house, leading-edge data, insights, analytics and AI capability
3. Lead the data & insights culture and careers to empower employees across Unilever
4. Rapidly embed analytics products, solutions and services to drive growth
5. Advance AI in the delivery of relevant insights to staff across the enterprise
The Senior Manager, Data Science is an exciting role in the Data Science Centre of Excellence (CoE) team within Data Foundation. This role is responsible for driving best practice in development of machine learning solutions, innovating in state of the art techniques, providing guidance to the wider data science community and maximising the impact of our solutions in driving enterprise performance.

Typical initiatives include optimizing trade promotion investments, enhancing forecasts of customer demand, using RAG and Agentic AI to serve performance insights to leaders via natural language, and making individual assortment recommendations for each of the millions of stores that sell Unilever products.

In addition to conducting innovation work, the Senior Manager, Data Science will expand our capabilities by sourcing leading-edge startups and academic partners. They will also support the up-skilling of Data Science talent across Unilever. The role will partner with Data Foundation’s XOps delivery teams, other technical CoEs, and our business stakeholders, addressing both large transformation programs and near-term business problems.

Main Purpose of the Job:
The Senior Manager, Data Science improves Unilever’s business performance, through the application of world class data science and AI capability.

Key accountabilities:
• Lead data science innovation projects, typically in partnership with delivery and business teams
• Define up-to-date Best Practice in areas of data science and publish via internal channels
• Create detailed proposals and project plans
• Deliver PoCs, and advise on their industrialisation and scaling across the business
• Govern the work of 3rd party vendors, while maximising creation of Unilever IP
• Represent Data Science in cross-functional governance, engaging with stakeholders up to VP level
• Identify opportunities arising from industry-wide evolution of data science capability
• Lead a small team of Data Scientists (typically 1 to 10), providing technical and career mentorship
• Support activities such as tool and vendor selection, recruitment, and up-skilling
• Build individual and team profile through activities such as presentations, DS community engagement, publications, blogs, conferences and industry steering groups.
Depending on the specific project, the Senior Manager, Data Science can expect 40-60% of their work to be hands-on prototyping solutions, with the remainder spent planning and designing, overseeing and reviewing work of project staff, interfacing with stakeholders and managing team members.
Experience and qualifications required:
(Detail essential and desirable experience)

Key Skills Required
Professional Skills
• Machine learning Expert
• Statistical modelling Expert
• Forecasting Expert
• Optimisation techniques and tools Fully Operational
• Application of Generative AI, LLMs, RAG etc. Fully Operational
• Agentic AI development, architecture patterns Foundational knowledge
• Python coding Fully Operational
• Effective use of modern development tools / co-pilots Fully Operational
• Data science platform tools e.g. MS Azure, GCP, Databricks Fully Operational
• Concepts in responsible and ethical AI Foundational knowledge

While an all round knowledge of the above skills is important, there is some flexibility to shape the role around an individual with deep expertise either in the Forecasting and Optimization space, or in Generative and Agentic AI.

General Skills
• Stakeholder Management Expert
• Communication / presentation skills Expert
• Team and 3rd party resource management Expert
• CPG Industry analytics Expert

Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills are essential, including the ability to influence peers and business leaders across Unilever.

Relevant Experience:
• Minimum of B.S. in a relevant technical field (e.g. Computer Science, Statistics, Engineering, Operations Research, AI); preferably a postgraduate (Masters or Doctorate) degree
• 10 years experience building data science solutions to solve business problems, preferably in Consumer Goods or a similar industry (or 7-8 years for those with a PhD)
• Experience with open source languages (eg. Python) and equivalent tools for distributed computing (PySpark)
• Experience deploying solutions in a modern cloud-based architecture
• Experience managing the work of team members and 3rd party resource vendors
• Experience presenting insights and influencing decisions of senior non-technical stakeholders
Key Points of Contact
Internal
• Unilever operational, marketing, customer development, supply chain, product & finance teams
• Other Data Foundation teams (XOps delivery squads; Data CoE; AI CoE, Engineering and Architecture CoE)
External
• 3rd party Data Science vendors
• Universities
• Industry bodies

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion 

Unilever embraces diversity and encourages applicants from all walks of life! This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.

Note: "All official offers from Unilever are issued only via our Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Offers from individuals or unofficial sources may be fraudulent—please verify before proceeding."