• 17 minutes

Dr Devon Crouch

We spoke to former postdoc Dr Devon Crouch about his experience with Prosper, and his career switch to Unilever. Click the questions below to navigate to different sections of the interview:

• What's your background as a postdoc and researcher?
• Why did you want to join the Prosper cohort?
• How did you find the Prosper cohort?
• Are there any resource areas or sessions you found particularly useful?
• How and why did you end up making the decision to transition beyond academia?
• What is your career purpose?
• Can you explain a bit more about your new role at Unilever?
• How did you come across this opportunity, and what did the application process involve?
• What are you future career plans?
• If there’s one bit of advice you could give to a postdoc that was in the position you were in before you joined Prosper, what would it be?
• Is there anything you picked up from your time with Prosper that you are still actively using in terms of your development?
• Would you recommend Prosper to other postdocs?

Role on starting Prosper cohort

Researcher within the Life Courses and Medical Sciences faculty at the University of Liverpool

Current role

Sustainable Packaging Materials Scientist at Unilever

Case study conducted

April 2025 

What’s your background as a postdoc and researcher?

I was a PhD student in the Institute of Life Courses and Medical Sciences for four years, working on creating artificial tissue with a technique known as electrospinning to be used in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine – essentially getting animal and human donor tissues, decellularising the tissue, imaging it to see its architecture, and then trying to recreate that with a synthetic technique in the hope of being able to replace that tissue through delivery of stem cells grown on our synthetic material.

I had only recently finished my PhD and been a postdoc for about two months before I applied to join Prosper. My head of department – who herself had been involved with Prosper previously – strongly recommended I join the cohort.

Why did you want to join the Prosper cohort?

I had been having conversations with my PI – she thought I could have a good career within academia by going down the route of applying for fellowships. But I didn’t know if that’s what I really wanted to do in the long run – I wanted to explore/be made aware of the other avenues that I could pursue before I committed to that. She said Prosper would be ideal for getting a sense of my options and to help me figure out my path – which it was.

How did you find the Prosper cohort?

I really enjoyed it – I think it catered well to different learning styles, including my own. The structure, with the sessions buffered with the group coaching and peer learning work really suited the way I think and approach problems/gather my thoughts.

Having those conversations with other people, hearing other postdocs’ viewpoints and their takes on the same resources I was working through – and the discussions we were able to have off the back of that – really helped me focus my thoughts at this crossroads in my career journey. That’s how I learn – I’m quite a practical guy, I like working through things with others rather than simply listening to or reading the abstract theory.

The camaraderie of the cohort was great and really helped me to focus my mind in terms of the bigger questions over what I wanted to do with my career and work. Not just the group coaching sessions but also the buddy groups were great for this.

Are there any resource areas or sessions you found particularly useful?

The ones that really stuck out for me were the resources on CV development, cultivating an online presence, and interview prep. I took a lot from these sessions and I was able to put these learnings to immediate use in transitioning to industry, which was the decision I eventually took.

These sessions were crucial for me because they really filled a gap in my experience and understanding. How do you prepare for moving into a new job outside academia? How do you approach a job application for a role beyond academia? How do I translate my skills into that context in a compelling way for non-academic employers? How do I demonstrate to a non-academic employer that I resonate/identify more with a business/industry mindset over an academic? These are things I didn’t have any direct experience of in my career-to-date – and they were vital when I did end up going for a job with Unilever.

Apart from anything else, Prosper really helped me realise that I have a lot of skills that are highly relevant to other non-academic contexts that I hadn’t really thought about before – ‘simple’ things like time management, ability to meet tough deadlines, presentation skills, and so on. Before Prosper I didn’t really have a clear picture of these as valuable skills that I possess that I could turn into opportunity.

How and why did you end up making the decision to transition beyond academia?

After finishing my PhD I thought I’d try a postdoc role to get a sense of whether I wanted to pursue what you might call the traditional academic career pathway. So I was already at a bit of crossroads in terms of whether I wanted to pursue that long-term when I joined Prosper – hence me wanting to explore all my options.

While I enjoyed my postdoc, I found that it wasn’t quite suited to my style of working and thinking. Academia can be very abstract and ‘fundamental science’-based, and the research area I was working on was very proof of principle, meaning it was many steps and years removed from any tangible application. That didn’t really suit the type of purpose I find I need in my work.

The Unilever role I ended up getting is a much better fit for me in that regard. Purpose is quite important at Unilever, it’s a bit like Prosper in that regard in that they encourage you to reflect on what ultimately drives you and why you’re doing what you’re doing – which it turns out is very important to me. And it was thanks to Prosper with its focus on self-reflection that I realised I wasn’t going to be able to fulfill my own sense of purposes within a traditional academic career pathway.

And what is your purpose?

To sum it up – what makes me excited to come into work is a sense of activity and being part of a wider team where we’re all driving forward every day. I want to be on a team that’s constantly making big wins – I want to be able to see the tangible results, to see big, beautiful things be made from everyone around me. I want to make a concrete change in the world with my surrounding team and see those results. To celebrate that as a team is a huge driving force for me.

The academic research I was doing was great – and I can see how for some people that sort of thing is their preference, everyone’s different. But for me it didn’t really lend itself to this sense of purpose I just described – it was all proof-of-principle stuff, very early stage. I’d need to be working on one project for e.g. 15 years for it to even be considered as something that could go to market and be made into a tangible product. And that’s only if the research you’re pursuing and specialising in actually gets that far.

Whereas here at Unilever, with the work I’m doing, it’s much more nimble and practical. We’re constantly trying out new things as a team, adjusting ideas on the fly – “we tried this, did it work? No? OK, how about this idea, applied over here? OK that worked, let’s try and scale that up and push it further”. It’s much more of a sort of dynamic, agile, practical results-focused team environment, which suits me well.

And I think one of the main benefits I got from Prosper is that it really spurred me to reflect on what drives me, and realise that this is the sort of working style I needed. Prosper itself involved pushing me to think in a similar way about my own career – goal-orientated, taking a step back and really thinking about the big picture, that sort of thing.

Before Prosper I had never really paused to figure this stuff out. The same personality that makes me suited to this sort of teamwork also meant I was never inclined to stop and reflect on where I was going, in a holistic sense – I’m the sort of guy to just keep on going, take it a day at a time, etc. I went straight from undergraduate, to a Masters, to a PhD and then full-time employment without a break, so never stopped to think about any of these things. But Prosper made me really think through my priorities on a deep level – what is it I want out of my career? What drives me? What makes me go home feeling good, and what fills me with enthusiasm to get up and go in the morning?

This mode of thinking and self-reflection that I got from Prosper is something I think I’ll carry with me for the rest of my career now – I still think like this now in my current role, how do I grow? What do I see my career looking like in the short-,medium- and long-term? I definitely didn’t do that before I joined Prosper.

The work we did during Prosper around the sunk cost fallacy was also useful for focusing my mind in this respect. I’m a very fast-paced individual, I don’t like to think I’m wasting my time if something’s not right for me. Prosper really prompted me to realise that even though I wasn’t that far into my career as a postdoc, relatively speaking, I should listen to that part of me telling me it isn’t for me, and explore the wider landscape to find something more up my alley.

Can you explain a bit more about your new role at Unilever?

So my title is Sustainable Packaging Material Scientist – I’m a part of the one packaging centre at Unilever, a centralised team at Port Sunlight over in the Wirral, with the addition of team members in Mumbai.

Our overarching aim is to transition Unilever’s packaging portfolio to be more environmentally friendly. And this covers the whole breadth of the Unilever portfolio – from shampoo bottles through to detergents and so on.

We work as an R&D team and, essentially, if we find something that’s working, we then take that to the relevant business groups (which are the main pillars of Unilever, like Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition, and Beauty and Wellbeing) and say ‘we’ve tested X with your formulation, this could be feasible – do you want to progress this?’

Part of what makes it such an interesting role is this business-focused aspect, and the constant interface with the product side. It’s something I find both interesting and motivating, and that I wouldn’t have had as much opportunity to do had I continued down the academic pathway.

Regarding the specific R&D challenge we’re tackling; plastics have the advantage that they are inert and can hold powders, liquids, creams without much trouble, but are bad for the environment since they don’t readily degrade and fill up our landfills and oceans with plastic waste.

Unilever’s goal is to have 100% of its packaging portfolio reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2035, putting an end to plastic pollution through reduction, circulation and collaboration. Our team is looking into alternatives to traditional plastics to see whether they would be suitable for our portfolio, and if they could replace the plastics that are currently being used with a something that is more readily degradable. So that if the pack wasn’t recycled and ended up in landfill or ocean, it would readily degrade into non-harmful chemicals and be completely removed of all physical content.

This is really cool for me because it means constantly finding and testing solutions for a huge range of applications, in a quick-fire way. There’s a lot of hands-on learning combined with ‘being thrown in the deep end’, which is how I like to both work and learn. I’m less inclined towards endlessly reading theory – this is highly agile and experimental: “OK let’s see what happens. OK that worked, that didn’t. Adjust and try again.”

It’s also a great example of how postdocs have skills and expertise that potentially range far beyond their niche specialism within academia – something a lot of postdocs may not appreciate. My academic work was focused toward therapeutic outputs – but I’m using the same principles and knowledge here at Unilever, just within a different context. And getting to know the business side is just as important as the science – a technology that doesn’t work for one product might be ideal for another. So, knowledge about the whole of Unilever’s portfolio is required to adjust and consider where a technology would be useful.

Another big positive for me is that this is all in service of very worthy and concrete social change, beyond Unilever’s business goals per se. Our work will make supply chains more sustainable and environmentally friendly, which is good for everyone. We’re working towards some pretty concrete targets: all of Unilever’s rigid packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2030, and all flexible packaging by 2035.

How did you come across this opportunity, and what did the application process involve?

I knew someone on the team from my PhD days. She knew my background, my skillset and my expertise, and thought they would be applicable to the packaging context. She messaged me to see if I would be interested in applying.

Unilever was always on my list of companies I’d like to work for, so I seized the opportunity.

Following an initial simple screening (basic details – where do you live, do you have right of work, salary expectations etc.), there was a teams interview; half-hour competency, half-hour technical.

Then there was a final stage that was quite involved. One hour for interview, where I presented some research, 20 minutes of questions on that relevant to the role, half an hour of technical questions after that. Then I had a half-hour tour of the site, followed by another half-hour interview with the Director of the team. It finished with a hour group session with two other candidates where they gave us a scenario and we had to say what we’d prioritise, and how we’d approach that challenge.

They wanted to get a sense of how we worked in a team, how we strategised – and were looking for a business/industry mindset.

What are you future career plans?

Obviously, it’s early days, but I’m really enjoying the role thus far. I want to pursue this, and I’m also a very ambitious person. One of my purposes is that I love to build-up people – I want to see my team win/grow, and help my team win/grow. So down the line I’d be quite interested in getting into a role where I’m leading and managing and doing the strategy side.

One of the great things about Unilever is there’s so much to do here, so many opportunities and pathways to take.

But for the time being, I’m enjoying getting to the grips with my current role. I’m going to work my socks off and see where I go from there.

If there’s one bit of advice you could give to a postdoc that was in the position you were in before you joined Prosper, what would it be?

I would say explore as much as you can. Don’t be afraid to stop and think and reflect on your career, and what you want out of it.

I think if you’re a postdoc straight out of your PhD, having grown up in academia, you often don’t realise how transferable your skills are, and how many avenues are open to you in the wider world. Things like Prosper can really help open your eyes in this regard.

Figure out what you enjoy. Go looking for where you can find that. Search for a sense of purpose. Ultimately, this is how you’ll find a career that makes you happy and gives you a sense of fulfillment.

Is there anything you picked up from your time with Prosper that you are still actively using in terms of your development?

Lots!

I think the main one that’s applicable to me right now is the reflection element – thinking about things holistically and in terms of my sense of purpose. How do different things affect me emotionally, what gives me motivation, etc. – because ultimately this is the driver of not only performance, but also wellbeing.

The ‘sunk cost fallacy’ is also always in my head now!

All the stuff around self-marketing, CV writing, communicating your skills effectively and in a tailored way… I may not be using this so much right now but I now have these skills ready for future use.

Finally, would you recommend Prosper to other postdocs?

Absolutely, I loved it, and it really helped me grow professionally. I’ve already recommended to quite a few other postdocs and suggested they apply for the next cohort at the University of Liverpool.