Rob Chatfield currently leads a team dedicated to finding out what’s going on in the world of science & technology, with a charter to identify opportunities and competitive threats to help set R&D strategy and to help drive growth in Unilever’s Home and Personal Care business units. Rob has over 5 years’ experience in this role and has worked for Unilever for over 13 years. Unilever is a Global Foods and Home and Personal Care company employing more than 200,000 people world wide, and has a number of billion-Euro brands including Dove, Omo, Sunsilk, Knorr, Surf, Lux, Hellmans, Becel, Findus, Blue Band, Lipton and Heart Brand ice cream.

Rob gained a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Bristol University, where he investigated the chemistry of reactive plasmas and their application to the etching of SiGe alloy semiconductor wafers. He joined Unilever as a Scientist working in the Skin Cleansing area exploring the mildness and sensory properties of cleansing products, and then moved to the Laundry Category, developing technologies to deliver easy ironing and colour care benefits.

Rob’s initial focus in the Technology Intelligence arena was to identify threats from competitor activities, and this has now evolved and broadened to embrace Unilever’s Open Innovation strategy, via Technology Scouting. Open Innovation is now a key strategic element throughout Unilever. Rob has pioneered and established a number of techniques to improve and assist with Unilever’s Scouting capability. His activities have been instrumental in identifying and bringing in many new technologies to the company.

Rob lives in North Wales in the UK with his wife and two children. He enjoys playing piano/keyboards, listening to music, traveling, mountain biking and especially entertaining friends.