Senior Director of Product Development

ResponsibilitiesStrategic Vision & Portfolio Leadership: Partner directly with Brand and Executive leadership to architect, cultivate, and champion the long-term innovation pipeline and overarching strategic vision for Honest Baby Personal Care, Adult Personal Care, and future adjacent categories.End-to-End NPD Governance: Direct, optimize, and champion high-impact projects through the Honest NPD stage-gate process from initial concept to commercialized launch, ensuring flawless execution, superior quality, and strict adherence to corporate timelines.Macro Product Concepting & Strategy: Direct in-depth global reviews of key categories, emerging macro trends, and the competitive landscape to define forward-looking product strategy. Lead and orchestrate cross‐functional collaboration among key stakeholders—including formulation, packaging, Claims & Clinicals, brand marketing, and sales—to develop robust, highly differentiated product concepts with undeniable PODs. Strategically weigh development trade‐offs with an executive focus on organizational effort vs. long‐term ROI.Executive Technical Marketing: Serve as the authoritative internal expert on the product portfolio, providing critical technical insights to marketing communications, sales, and investor relations. Cultivate deep, collaborative relationships with R&D technical experts to translate complex ingredient science and clinical claims into powerful, consumer-facing narratives. Champion comprehensive product and brand education across all global consumer touchpoints.Process & Systems Optimization: Establish, scale, and continually elevate front‐end innovation processes, advanced tracking tools, and methodologies to streamline departmental functions, mitigate project complexity, and accelerate rapid prototyping.Market Intelligence & Insight: Analyze global macro‐category dynamics and clean ingredient trends, collaborating closely with consumer insights to draw high‐level, actionable conclusions that future‐proof product roadmaps.Industry Representation: Represent The Honest Company as a thought leader at key trade shows and global conferences to spearhead strategic manufacturer and raw material supplier relationships, evaluate competitive landscapes, and maintain cutting‐edge industry education.Travel: Ability to travel up to 15%.RequirementsEducation: Bachelor's degree required; an advanced degree or Bachelor's in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Cosmetics Science, or a related technical field is highly preferred but not required.Experience: 12+ years of progressive product development experience within a CPG Personal Care environment, paired with an authoritative, deep understanding of R&D operations. Direct formulation or laboratory experience is a distinct plus.Leadership: Minimum of 6–8+ years of direct people management experience, with a proven track record of leading, mentoring, and influencing scale cross‐functional teams and executive stakeholders across a matrixed organization.Technical Expertise: Proven, expert‐level mastery of product development, advanced sensory evaluation, clean beauty standards, and complex stage‐gate operational processes.Business Acumen: Demonstrated mastery in managing substantial departmental budgets, complex financial metrics, and high‐volume, high‐stakes project portfolios successfully.Mindset: A powerful combination of creative problem‐solving skills, sophisticated consumer‐insight comprehension, and an agile aptitude for high‐level strategic thinking in a fluid, fast‐paced environment.Soft Skills: Executive-level interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills. A highly collaborative leader possessing an unshakeable sense of ownership, accountability, urgency, and corporate integrity.Core CompetenciesDemonstrates expertise in product development and strategic vision within the personal care industry, with a strong focus on clean beauty standards and advanced sensory evaluation. Proven ability to lead cross‐functional teams and manage complex project portfolios while optimizing processes and systems for innovation.