Senior Product Development/Beauty - La

OUR CLIENT IS A BEAUTY TOOLS, NAIL POLISH AND HAIRCARE COMPANY THAT IS LOOKING FOR A STRONG SENIOR LEVEL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER IN LA!

The Senior PD Manager will manage the product launch pipeline from concept to commercialization. We are looking for a candidate who has extensive product development experience and can demonstrate superior results in the beauty, cosmetics, personal care or related categories.

Overall responsibilities will include research and development of product and category trends, management of the contract manufacturers, recommendations for product assortment and new item launch development and planning while collaborating with cross-functional department teams to achieve deliverables including process improvement, process enhancement and COGs reduction.

She/he must contribute to a positive culture and have a strong team-building orientation. Experience working collaboratively with other functions such as sales, marketing, and supply chain is important to succeed in this position. This role will report to the VP of Innovation.

Essential Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

• Generate ideas for the development of new products that are white space opportunities, on trend and add value to product assortments.

• Lead and manage product development projects through all phases of development ensuring deadlines are met and product launches occurs in a timely manner.

• Develop and communicate all time lines, costs, MOQ, formula attributes and material listings for products in development to both internal and external resources and stakeholders.

• Analyze, plan, and control product costs through the development process to ensure gross margin goals are met.

• Collect, analyze, interpret, and make recommendations from data to enable execution of projects

• Manage all product related packaging development work, artwork & die lines between printer, vendor, graphic designer.

• Support the VP of Innovation on creation of strategic presentation materials needed for customer meetings which include marketing briefs, launch decks, strategy slides, product profiles, comps, and branding collateral.

• Stay abreast of the competitive market, research retail environment for product, trend, pricing, comp items, attend tradeshows, and present compelling and relevant competitive products.

• Partner with marketing on product information sheets and product branding.

• Develop relationships with existing and new suppliers, internal cross functional teams and customers/brands.

• Help to identify new ideas and evaluate business opportunities that maximize revenue and profitability and minimize risk, using market research, analysis and/or competitive market intelligence.

• Develop, lead, and support the growth of direct reports and cross functional teams.

• Travel domestically and internationally when necessary.

Essential Skills & Characteristics:

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field is required. 5+ years of product development experience.

• Must have Beauty or extensive CPG category development experience.

• Has personal enthusiasm for the beauty industry and its products, marketing, advertising, and popular culture trends.

• Experience with managing contracted manufacturers with end-to-end development

• Strong problem-solving skills and a willingness to be held accountable for delivering superior results on time and on budget

• Proven track record of managing all aspects of the development lifecycle

• A team player possessing strong interpersonal skills with an ability to develop relationships and communicate with all levels of management.

• Organized, positive, and high-energy individual with an entrepreneurial spirit and an ability to execute with high attention to detail.

• Sense of urgency, persistence, and determination, yet flexible and open to internal and external feedback on products being developed.

• Solid computer skills including proficiency in MS Word, MS Excel & MS Outlook, Monday.com and Canva experience a plus.

• Experience working in smaller, high-growth companies is a plus.