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Senior Associate Sensory and Consumer Science Excellence (all genders)

City: Heidelberg

We are Reckitt

Home to the world's best loved and trusted hygiene, health, and nutrition brands. Our purpose defines why we exist: to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world. We are a global team united by this purpose. Join us in our fight to make access to the highest quality hygiene, wellness, and nourishment a right and not a privilege.

Research & Development

In Research and Development, we're full of highly skilled talents that include Scientists, Engineers, Medical, Clinical and Regulatory professionals - all working to create a cleaner, healthier world. With nine Centres of Excellence, we continually seek out new opportunities by using science, our entrepreneurial flare and our fearless innovation to develop and enhance our existing portfolio, never compromising on quality or performance.

We do the right thing, always, by ensuring we act with responsibility and integrity, by complying with regulatory legislation across the globe, whilst ensuring our products are safe for our consumers and are to the highest quality.

The size of our organisation means you'll have the opportunity to learn and work in different functions within R&D, giving you exposure to different disciplines, teams and environments. You will also have access to our Research and Development Academy, designed to develop our team and allow you to grow in our great organisation.

About the role

As a Senior Associate in Consumer & Sensory Science, you will play a pivotal role in shaping consumer‑centric product innovation within our Automatic Dishwashing portfolio. Acting as a trusted expert, you will lead qualitative, quantitative, and sensory research to generate clear, actionable insights that influence product experiences, innovation decisions, and long‑term strategy.

This is a senior individual contributor role with significant autonomy and visibility. You will partner closely with R&D, Marketing, and Insights teams globally, ensuring the consumer voice is embedded across the end‑to‑end innovation lifecycle.

Your responsibilities

Design and lead qualitative, quantitative, and sensory consumer research to support product development and innovation.
Define learning objectives and select the most appropriate research methodologies (e.g. home use tests, central location tests, usability studies, ethnography, sensory panels).
Own the full research lifecycle, from study design through analysis to clear recommendations.
Synthesize behavioural, qualitative, quantitative, and sensory data into compelling insight narratives that inform decisions.
Advise R&D, Marketing, and Insights stakeholders on research approaches and interpretation of results.
Lead early‑stage consumer exploration to identify unmet needs, behaviours, and usage occasions.
Manage external research agencies, ensuring quality, timelines, and cost efficiency.
Contribute to continuous improvement by introducing new methods, sharing best practices, and strengthening consumer science capability globally.
Ensure all research activities meet quality, safety, regulatory, and compliance standards.

The experience we're looking for

Solid experience in consumer research within an FMCG, R&D, or innovation‑driven environment, with hands‑on responsibility for designing and delivering qualitative and quantitative studies.
Strong analytical and statistical capability, with the ability to integrate multiple data sources and translate complex findings into clear, actionable, business‑relevant insights.
Proven experience working cross‑functionally with R&D, Marketing, and/or Insights teams, influencing decisions through strong storytelling, communication, and presentation skills.
High level of ownership, independence, and accountability, combined with a structured yet curious, problem‑solving mindset
.Comfortable operating in a fast‑moving, collaborative, and global environment, balancing rigour with flexibility.
Fluency in English (additional languages are a plus).

The skills for success

R&D, Product Lifecycle Management, Commercial Awareness, Business Partnership, Collaboration, Partnership building, Collaborator, Ability to challenge the status quo, Propose improvement, Accountability, Adaptability, Innovation Processes, Predictive Analytics, Digital transformation for R&D, Quality and Manufacturing, Consumer Insight, Creative Direction, Consumer Needs, Fragrance.

What we offer

With inclusion at the heart of everything we do, working alongside our four global Employee Resource Groups, we support our people at every step of their career journey, helping them to succeed in their own individual way. We invest in the wellbeing of our people through parental benefits, an Employee Assistance Program to promote mental health, and life insurance for all employees globally. We have a range of other benefits in line with the local market. Through our global share plans we offer the opportunity to save and share in Reckitt's potential future successes. For eligible roles, we also offer short-term incentives to recognise, appreciate and reward your work for delivering outstanding results. You will be rewarded in line with Reckitt's pay for performance philosophy.

Equality

We recognise that in real life, great people don't always 'tick all the boxes'. That's why we hire for potential as well as experience. Even if you don't meet every point on the job description, if this role and our company feels like a good fit for you, we still want to hear from you. 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.

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