Head of Product Planning & Innovation - Skin Care

We are seeking a Senior Strategist to lead Product Planning and Innovation for our global skin care business. This leader will own the end-to-end product pipeline - from white-space concepting and consumer insights to assortment architecture and new-concept incubation. The ideal candidate will transform deep market intelligence into differentiated, clinically proven, and trend-led innovations, partnering closely with R&D, Brand, and Regulatory teams to deliver at pace.

As the organization's thought leader on emerging ingredients, technologies, and consumer trends, this role will bridge business goals with consumer needs to shape the future of our fast-growing skin care portfolio.

Key Responsibilities:

Portfolio Leadership:

- Define and implement the global assortment and portfolio strategy, establishing systems and processes to identify new growth opportunities.

Trend & Insights Management:

- Monitor emerging ingredients, technologies, and market trends, translating insights into actionable product strategies that deliver breakthrough innovations.

Innovation Development:

- Conduct market research to identify gaps and opportunities; build them into the innovation pipeline in a cost-efficient and time-bound manner.

Concept-to-Launch Ownership:

- Collaborate with Brand and R&D to define winning claims and positioning, develop robust product briefs, and steward concepts through the full product development journey.

Cross-Functional Leadership:

- Lead stage-gate reviews, ensuring concepts are scalable, compliant, and margin-accretive for global rollouts; review claims, clinical reports, consumer feedback, and benchmarking data.

Team Building & Capability Development:

- Recruit, develop, and inspire a high-performing team of insights analysts, competitive intelligence specialists, and concept managers.

- Embed a data-driven, experimental culture leveraging AI tools and automation.

Consumer Intelligence & Research Excellence:

- Build internal competencies for consumer insights, competitive intelligence, and concept development to strengthen decision-making and accelerate innovation.

Skills & Qualifications

- Strategic Leadership: 15+ years of demonstrable success in global skin care innovation and product planning within leading multinational beauty or CPG companies.

- Technical Expertise: Strong knowledge of regulatory frameworks, ingredient chemistry, and claims development with the ability to guide on clinical efficacy and compliance.

- Analytical Acumen: Proven ability to make data-driven decisions, apply advanced marketing models, and assess product viability at scale.

Educational Background:

- Advanced degree (Ph.D. in Chemistry, Pharmacognosy, or related field) strongly preferred.

- MBA from a leading institution is desirable.

- Experience Range: 12-18 years of progressive leadership experience in product innovation, strategy, and planning.

Why Join Us?

- Opportunity to shape the future of global skin care innovation at scale.

- A leadership role with direct impact on portfolio growth and consumer relevance.

- Work at the intersection of science, technology, and consumer trends with world-class cross-functional teams.

- Drive a culture of innovation and experimentation in one of the fastest-growing categories in beauty.