Vice President, Packaging Operations Excellence, Stretch and Upstream Innovation

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. is one of the world’s leading manufacturers, marketers, and sellers of quality skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products, and is a steward of luxury and prestige brands globally. The company’s products are sold in approximately 150 countries and territories under brand names including: Estée Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Lab Series, Origins, M·A·C, La Mer, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Aveda, Jo Malone London, Bumble and bumble, Darphin Paris, TOM FORD, Smashbox, AERIN Beauty, Le Labo, Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, GLAMGLOW, KILIAN PARIS, Too Faced, Dr.Jart+, the DECIEM family of brands, including The Ordinary and NIOD, and BALMAIN Beauty.

The VP of Packaging Operations Excellence, Stretch and Upstream Innovation at The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) will play a critical role within the Global ELC Packaging Leadership Team, accelerating the vision to transform Packaging into a highly competitive asset for ELC. This new role will establish and lead central/corporate competitive capabilities. The goal is to transform the Packaging organization’s ability to accelerate & scale NPL impact across categories and regions. The role will also accelerate the design & execution of competitive packaging platforms and ignite a high-value innovation pipeline that elevates packaging innovation at ELC.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned Global Packaging leader with deep expertise in all the roles Packaging plays in a Beauty CPG company. This leader will have led complex packaging operations, delivering NPL portfolios across categories, breakthrough innovation pipelines, developed sustainable innovation & will have a proven ability to transform organizations through systems transformation, capability building, & technology entrepreneurship.This role reports to the Global SVP of Packaging.

Key Responsibilities

Leads Corporate Packaging Operations Supporting Best in Class NPL Across Brands and Categories

• Leads Packaging Testing operations supporting Brands and Categories NPL across the global footprint (US, EU, Asia dotted line); includes the establishment of testing methodologies and practices supporting early risk discovery and management and lead the development of new methods.
• Leads technical design, modelling and simulation, developing the capability to support best in class “art to science” in the NPL process while enhancing predictive modelling.
• Establishes & leads ELC Packaging Center Of Excellence Hub (NYC), establish the EU Operating Excellence eco-system, & design and implement the operating excellence operating model through global operations.
• Leads Supplier technical excellence in partnership with GSM and VRO, auditing technical competencies of new partners where necessary & leading competency improvement plans where necessary.
• Manages and governs Packaging Operations Excellence group operating budget, ensuring sufficiency & day to day governance.

Lead Platforming Strategy and Best in Class Practices in Action

• Establishes a packaging Platforms strategy for global Packaging & ensure plans are in place to lead & execute with excellence through the Category Platform teams.
• Ensure the operating eco-system is fit for purpose to enable the company priority Platform agenda.

Ignite and Lead Global Packaging Stretch and Disruptive Innovation Pipeline Serving ELC Global Businesses

• Explore & establish a high-performing external innovation eco-system & technology partnerships enabling ELC strategic innovation and growth agenda. Involving the negotiation of partnerships & piloting with clear success criteria, governed via a strict collaboration rhythm & performance expectations.
• Lead technology discovery big bets serving ELC biggest growth opportunity spaces, in coordination with R&D and GSM.
• Lead Material Science innovation unlocking key material challenges & leading the discovery of novel sustainable material solutions serving ELC global Packaging agenda.
• Own Packaging IP strategy, involving the development of internal & external capability to create, capture, & protect IP.
• Connect-in the APAC innovation eco-system via Shanghai Packaging team \

Leads Packaging Work Processes Excellence, Simplification, Digitalization and Standardization

• Owns & drives continuous improvement of Packaging Work Processes serving global Packaging operations in partnership with Category VPs, ensuring delivery with excellence, initiative speed and simplification for all eco-system actors.
• Coordinates Packaging L&D programs, building shared ways of working and leading the increase of technical & operational competency across Packaging operations.
• Leads Packaging Digital strategy, PLM design, integration and Digital transformation, including accelerated AI impact. Orchestrates and sponsors the systems roadmap, ensuring appropriate resourcing and change management. Deploy AI/ML use cases to improve reliability and performance; leading experimentation-to-scale.

Lead New Brand Empowerment Packaging integration work

• Lead & direct packaging assets integration as needed by integration level requirements and destination brand operating model
• Support capability builds where needed in the context of chosen destination brand operating model

Supports the Global Packaging SVP with Portfolio Activity Management and Efficiency Tracking

Qualifications

• Education/Certification: Minimum BS degree in Mechanical, Chemical or Materials Engineering, Packaging Science or technical degree and related experience.

• Masters in business, business management, engineering management or a related field a plus. IOPP certification a plus.

• Direct Experience: 15+ years of experience in cosmetic and/or CPG package development, which could include personal, hair or skin care, home care, consumer health care, food & beverage, etc. Prestige beauty industry experience a plus.

Critical Competencies

• Packaging work process excellence: deep expertise in end-to-end packaging operations, quality systems, validation, and continuous improvement

• Technical packaging expertise: materials, formats, componentry, decoration, filling/assembly, and process capabilities

• Technology innovation & IP: ability to translate science/technology into differentiated packaging, protectable IP, and scalable solutions

• Predictive modelling literacy, uses of modelling/simulation and statistics to anticipate performance, capacity, risk, and cost

• Packaging systems & data excellence: disciplined master data, specifications governance, traceability, and data-driven decisions

• AI in action: applies AI/ML and automation to improve quality, throughput, reliability, and decision cycles

• Sustainability leadership: Awareness of PPWR and upcoming Sustainability challenges. Ability to lead innovation driving improvements in circularity, recycled content, recyclability, footprint reduction, and responsible sourcing in packaging

• Seasoned organisational leader leading large scale direct and indirect organisations across global footprints

Critical Experience

• Led successful packaging operations within FMCG and/or a large Beauty organization (multi-site, multi-category, high complexity)

• Led successful innovation pipelines from idea to industrialisation (including stage-gate governance, scale-up, change management)

• Led the successful development and embedding of technology platforms driving operational scale and x-brands benefits.

• Delivered sustainability innovation at scale (material transitions, lightweighting, refill/reuse, recyclability, EPR readiness)

• Built and ran external innovation ecosystems (suppliers, start-ups, academia, consortia) to accelerate technology scouting and adoption

• Experience in building new organizational capabilities and/or establishing new R&D hubs

Leadership Competencies

• Senior leadership experience with experience building high-performing teams

• Energizes and enables others - Sets a clear bar for “what great looks like” and the operating mechanisms required to deliver it

• Ability to engage across functions and levels; strong executive communication

• Drives creativity and innovation - Curious, creative, and outcomes-oriented; turns constraints into options

• Builds collaborative relationships: Builds networks internally and externally to solve problems faster and unlock value

Pay Range:
Anticipated Base Salary Range $285,550.00 to $486,100.00 (Depending on qualifications, skills, experience and/or budget), based on a 40 hour work week (range to be scaled accordingly). In addition, The Estée Lauder Companies offers a variety of benefits to eligible employees, including health insurance coverage (medical, dental, and vision insurance), wellness and family support programs, life and disability insurance, retirement savings plans, education-related programs, paid holidays and vacation time. In addition, the Company maintains highly competitive incentive compensation programs (role eligibility may vary based on terms of the respective plan(s)).

You may be eligible to participate in the applicable Commission/Bonus Plan, under the plan guidelines in effect at the time of hire. Additional details regarding the commission plan will be provided as part of your onboarding.

Equal Opportunity Employer
We are an equal-opportunity employer. Minorities, women, veterans, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Accommodations for job applicants with disabilities are available on request.

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