Job Summary
The Personal Care Innovation Manager leads and drives product innovations for our Personal Care business. It is a pivotal role in defining the business' global product strategy, ensuring a competitive edge in the market, and ultimately driving revenue growth through the creation of cutting-edge personal care ingredients and technologies that meet both customer and industry demands.
Job Description
Position in Organization
Reports to : Global Director of Innovation - Personal Care
Direct Reports: x2 direct reports
Department:
Global Innovation Research and Development
Responsibilities
You lead and work with a team of synthetic chemists to generate novel compositions at bench scale and assist in scale up of technology (‘make, test, modify’), foster a culture of teamwork and innovation, and providing direction to achieve research objectives.
You provide guidance and technical direction on project briefs, ingredient composition, and lab trials, ensuring the development of cutting-edge personal care products that meet quality and performance standards.
You identify, coordinate, and work with internal and external research, academic and new venture partners to discover and present new technology and innovation platforms to the leadership team.
You translate voice of the customer into actionable strategies, ensuring that research and development efforts align with market demands and consumer preferences and requirements.
You lead multiple projects simultaneously, oversee project timelines, resources, and budgets to deliver successful outcomes.
You communicate the Research & Innovation product vision, new technologies, product ideas, and new ingredients to higher management and to cross-functional teams in order to bring a proactive thinking regarding product development.
You perform an active role in new product brainstorming sessions with Marketing and R&D. Develop new concepts and present ideas to Marketing.
Decision making
The preferred candidate would have the authority to make decisions related to technical direction, experimental methodologies, formulation approaches and product development processes. You can also make decisions related to project execution, including timelines, milestones and resource allocation within budget. Higher-level approvals are required for those related to significant budget allocations, strategic shifts, or major collaborations that have substantial financial or long-term implications.
What will it take
Job Competencies
Strategic mindset: Having a strategic mindset allows you to set clear direction and vision, identify market trends and opportunities, ensure product development efforts are strategically positioned to meet future consumer needs and aligned with the company’s overall strategy.
Cultivates innovation: By promoting an innovative mindset, you foster a culture of creativity and exploration within the team, encouraging them to think outside the box and generate novel ideas, and drive continuous improvement in products, processes and technologies.
Communicates effectively: Effective communication enables you to articulate the strategic goals, provide technical guidance, ensure everyone is aligned with the company’s objectives, facilitate collaboration within and across the teams, ensure ideas and feedback are shared openly and ultimately enhance the quality of innovation efforts. Excellent presentation skills preferred.
Plan and align: Planning and aligning to execute is essential for managing multiple projects effectively. It enables you to allocate resources, ensure research activities are synchronized with project timelines, execute projects with precision, maximize productivity and achieve desired outcomes.
Collaboration: Effective collaboration ensures you can harness the collective expertise and insights of various stakeholders including Global R&D teams, Marketing, regulatory affairs, and external research partners. You can facilitate the exchange of ideas, align diverse perspectives, promote synergy, and accelerate the product development process.
Customer focus: Being customer obsessed and understanding their pain points to develop customer-centric solutions.
Technical Knowledge and Skills
Advanced understanding of chemical/functional relationships
Advanced knowledge in chemical synthesis, especially related to chemical processes used for manufacturing of personal care rheology modifiers, polymers, and emulsifiers
Advanced knowledge of the personal Care Industry and key trends
Intermediate knowledge of the principals of green chemistry
Intermediate awareness of regulatory guidelines and restrictions for new product development
Position Requirements
Education: BS or higher in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering
Experience: 10+ years of R&D Personal Care experience and 5+ years of hands-on experience in advanced materials or specialty chemicals industrial research and/or new product development. 3+ years leadership experience.
IT Skills: Proficiency in Microsoft Office programs, with a strong capability for presentation creation, Project management software
Language Skills: English. Portuguese is not mandatory,
Working arrangements: Minimum 3 days in the office, 5 days for lab roles
Traveling required: Trade shows, customer visits as required