Senior Product Development Manager

About Us:

Salt & Stone is skincare and self-care for a life lived in motion. Founded in Los Angeles, Salt & Stone is built on and from a connection to the natural world. We combine active ingredients from the sea and mountains with skin science and intoxicating fragrances, for a sensorial experience that soothes and restores.

At Salt & Stone, we are driven by a shared commitment to excellence and innovation. Our cultural values, Passionate Execution, Thoughtful Urgency, Competitive Mentality, Creative Brilliance, Empowered Collaboration, and Humbled Excellence, define who we are and how we work. We are dedicated to delivering exceptional products and experiences, operating with a sense of thoughtful urgency to ensure impactful progress while maintaining integrity in our decisions. Our competitive spirit fuels our ambition to be the best in our field, and we cultivate a culture where creativity thrives, valuing diverse perspectives and innovative thinking. We empower every team member to take ownership of their roles, fostering collaboration and trust throughout our organization. With a focus on excellence tempered by humility, we create an engaging and high-performing environment where everyone is encouraged to express themselves. Join us in our mission to be trailblazers in our industry, and help us make a meaningful impact together.

Position Overview:

Salt & Stone is looking to add a Senior Manager, Product Development (Fragrance & Body) to own the end-to-end development of our fragrance and Body portfolio, from Deodorant through body mist, body wash, and other scent-led formats. This is a role for someone who is equally comfortable evaluating a fragrance mod with real olfactive judgment and managing the critical dates and trade-offs that keep a launch on track. The ideal candidate is olfactively fluent, has a track record of building strong fragrance house and contract manufacturer relationships, and is motivated to grow into one of the brand's in-house fragrance authorities over time.

Reporting to the Director, Product Development, the Senior Manager, Product Development will own development end to end, from brief to launch. This person will partner daily with Packaging, PM, Marketing, and Operations to shape the full product experience, serve as the primary liaison to fragrance houses and contract manufacturers, and, as tenure and category expertise grow, take on a larger role in shaping Salt & Stone's fragrance category strategy.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Own product development end to end, from brief through launch.
• Write and present clear, complete product briefs, both internally to cross-functional partners and externally to fragrance houses and contract manufacturers, translating brand direction into concepts vendors can execute against.
• Review fragrance mod submissions with informed olfactive judgment, giving fragrance houses brand-right redirects and driving each scent toward Salt & Stone's signature identity.
• Lead technical fragrance development work to translate a signature scent across multiple base formats, adapting fragrance load, carrier systems, and composition as needed while preserving that scent's signature identity.
• Manage critical dates and development trade-offs across concurrent projects, flagging risk early and influencing cross-functionally to protect launch timelines without compromising product quality or scent integrity.
• Partner closely with Packaging, PM, Marketing, and Operations to deliver each product on time, in full, and to spec, aligning formula, packaging, quality, regulatory and production requirements from concept through launch.
• Support cross-functional teams, including marketing, sales, retail, and customer support, ahead of launch with the fragrance, active ingredient, formula, and claims information they need to sell and service the product with confidence.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with fragrance houses and contract manufacturing partners, serving as a trusted day-to-day point of contact on concept, formula, and cost.
• Bring established fragrance category and competitive expertise to the role, continually sharpening that point of view by tracking olfactive trends, ingredient stories, and what's working across prestige and niche perfumery.
• Proactively bring forward new fragrance concepts and olfactive directions that identify strategic white space for the brand, partnering with the Director, Product Development to shape and prioritize which ideas move forward.
• As tenure and category expertise grow, take on a larger role shaping category strategy alongside the Director, Product Development, defining how new concepts fit the Salt & Stone portfolio and where they can bring genuine points of difference to market.
• Build fragrance house and contract manufacturer relationships into longer-term innovation partnerships, surfacing new raw materials, techniques, and opportunities that could shape future hero products.

Requirements:

• 5+ years of experience in product development, with meaningful time spent specifically in fragrance or fine fragrance development.
• Olfactively trained or educated, with demonstrated ability to evaluate and give informed direction on fragrance submissions.
• Experience building and managing relationships with fragrance houses, perfumers, or olfactive experts.
• Comfortable presenting product concepts and scent direction to both small working groups and senior leadership.
• A genuine passion for fragrance, wellness, and the broader personal care industry.
• Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent development projects through strong prioritization and planning.
• Excellent cross-functional communication skills, organization, and attention to detail.
• A commitment to fostering a culture of support and accountability.
• Excellent time management skills with a proven ability to meet deadlines.
• You are comfortable using data to tell a story and can speak confidently to the metrics of your role.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced startup environment and flexibility to adjust plans as needed.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally as needed for fragrance houses, labs, factories, and trade events.

Compensation & Benefits:

• Base Annual Salary of $150k
• Annual Performance Bonus
• Medical, Vision, and Dental Insurance
• Flexible Spending Account
• 401(k) with 3% match
• Flex PTO
• Paid Leave
• Company Discounts

Additional Information:

Salt + Stone provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.