R&D Director

The Opportunity

R&D Director – Beauty & Personal Care

Hybrid – Various sites across the UK

Delighted to be partnering with an established UK consumer products manufacturer with a broad portfolio across health, wellness, beauty and personal care.

The business develops and manufactures products for well-known consumer brands and retail customers, with R&D, innovation and technical capability at the heart of its offer. Beauty and personal care represent a significant growth opportunity, and the business is looking to substantially develop its presence and capability within the category. Genuinely exciting opportunity for an R&D Director to influence the strategy, shape the future portfolio and determine where the business invests in innovation, science and technical capability.

This is not simply about managing an established R&D function but will define where the beauty category goes next and how the business gets there.

The Role

Leading experienced R&D teams, you will take responsibility for the beauty innovation and product development agenda, working closely with commercial, marketing, operations, quality and regulatory teams.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Shaping the beauty innovation strategy, portfolio priorities and future category roadmap.
• Leading new product and formulation development from initial concept through laboratory development, scale-up and commercial launch.
• Translating consumer trends, customer needs and emerging science into commercially viable new product opportunities.
• Driving a faster, more agile innovation pipeline and prioritising resources against the strongest commercial opportunities.
• Leading and developing established teams of scientists, formulators and technical specialists.
• Working directly with strategic customers, bringing technical expertise and innovation thinking to customer presentations and development programmes.
• Ensuring formulations deliver against performance, cost, manufacturability, stability, quality and regulatory requirements.
• Identifying new ingredients, technologies and scientific opportunities that can differentiate the future portfolio.

The Person

• This role requires someone with a genuine passion for cosmetics, beauty, personal care and the science behind the products.
• You will be an established R&D or innovation leader with strong formulation and product development experience gained within cosmetics, skincare, haircare, beauty, personal care or closely related topical products.
• Alongside your scientific credibility, you will understand how to turn innovation into products that can be successfully manufactured, commercialised and sold.

A great opportunity to put science and innovation at the heart of a growing beauty business and have real influence over what comes next.