Industrial Placement Student Packaging Designer

We are currently seeking an interim Student Packaging Designer (Industrial Student Placement) to work with our global FMCG client Unilever, renowned for brands such as Dove, Sure, Persil, and Simple, and become an integral part of their fast-paced FMCG environment. The position is based in Seacroft, Leeds. This is a full-time temporary role to run from 1st August 2025 until 31/07/2026, requiring 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday. Compensation for this role is competitive, paying up to £26107.50 per annum.

Unilever is a global Fast-Moving Consumer Goods company with powerful brands like Dove, Axe, Magnum, Domestos, Lux and Signal. Through our Brands we create products that make a positive impact on consumers' lives whilst striving towards our Net Zero Carbon footprint ambition. To maintain the contribution of world-class design to the success of our brands, the Deodorant Category has created exciting new roles in its Design Team.

JOB PURPOSE

As a Student Designer in Deodorants, you will support project teams through the design process to deliver brilliant and meaningful products that consumers love, whilst shaping our sustainable future. You will work across multiple design projects from the early identification of opportunities, turning insights and desires of our consumers into technically feasible concepts that fulfil a real consumer need. Co-create with multi-functional teams to bring concepts ideas to life through visual and physical prototyping to test with Consumers and validate performance in the virtual and lab environment. In order to deliver the greatest value for both the consumer and our brands, your job is to help deliver creative quality and ensure that the brand’s design intent is met in a project’s outcome.

WHY JOIN UNILEVER DESIGN

Joining Unilever Design means working within a dedicated and ambitious creative team on the development of high impact brand innovation. Unilever offers an agile and open-minded environment with strong and passionate thinkers and doers who are constantly seeking to improve purpose in terms of brand, people, sustainability, technology & business growth. In Unilever, you will collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams and external partners to create value and meet consumer needs with convincing and meaningful creative solutions.

Main Responsibilities

• Support the Design Team and Project Teams across the total creative spectrum, from the fuzzy front end through to concept creation and refinement, using Unilever best practice design tools and methodologies.
• Understand the consumer experience of our packaging and identify opportunities to strengthen and change it in line with future consumer expectations.
• Support the briefing process, then collaborate with and guide the design delivery of external design agencies.
• Create and articulate new packaging concepts using design tools (sketching, rendering, 3D CAD etc) to bring ideas to life and enable clear communication + inspiration for the broader team.
• Use multi fidelity prototyping and visualisation tools to bring concepts and mechanisms to life, enabling decision making and user experience studies.
• Support project leaders in development of packaging ideas and product experiences, gathering and interpreting qualitative information and insights from market research and stakeholder assessments.
• Create and manage CAD data in support of projects, creating 3D aesthetic models and engineered components, under guidance from senior designers and engineers.
• Support the design capability build programme, developing our design toolbox and prototyping capabilities to ensure new product experiences resonate with consumers.
• Regularly contribute to cross category Design Communities of Practice in areas of specialist expertise.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

We understand that for student placements, industry experience may be limited. You should be working towards a degree in the design of physical products - Industrial Design, Product Design, Product Design Engineering, or other related design field. (Please note that this is not a UI/UX role)

• Applied knowledge of design disciplines, design terminology, ways of working and project management.
• Experience of 3D CAD software (We use NX, but experience in Solidworks, CREO etc. would be fine!), Keyshot, Adobe Suite, as well as the ability to put pens to paper.
• An understanding and application of semiotics and market codes to packaging.
• Can write and articulate creative briefs in English language to good standard.
• Knowledge of materials, manufacturing processes, or sustainable/circular design would be an advantage.

ABOUT YOU

• A creative and consumer focused mind to generate innovative design solutions to real consumer problems.
• Must be used to working as part of multi-disciplined teams.
• Strong communicator and influencer.
• A passion to learn and willingness to develop new skills.
• Able to handle multiple projects at the same time.
• An eye for detail - Be convinced that sometimes it’s the little things that can make a big difference.

Leeds working environment:

There is a canteen available onsite serving hot and cold food. There is a Staff Shop where Contingent Workers can buy discounted products. Free tea and coffee on site. Free parking. R&D sites have Free Fruit, Relaxation/Energy facilities like Table Tennis. Uniform for factory workers.