Director of Product Development

Job Description

The Director of Product Development will lead the innovation and commercialization process for a growing personal care and home cleaning brand. This role is responsible for bringing new products to market from concept through launch while ensuring alignment with consumer trends, brand positioning, regulatory standards, operational capabilities, and business objectives. The ideal candidate combines strong project management skills with a passion for innovation, formulation trends, sustainability, and consumer-driven product development.

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Key Responsibilities

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● Product Innovation & Strategy: Lead the development pipeline for new personal care and home cleaning products, identifying whitespace opportunities, consumer needs, and emerging industry trends.

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● Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with marketing, operations, sourcing, supply chain, regulatory, quality, and sales teams to ensure successful product launches and ongoing product improvements.

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● Product Lifecycle Management: Manage product timelines from ideation through commercialization, ensuring milestones, budgets, and launch dates are met.

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● Formula & Packaging Coordination: Work with external manufacturers, formulators, and packaging suppliers to develop products that align with brand standards, performance expectations, sustainability goals, and cost targets.

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● Consumer Insights & Market Research: Analyze competitive products, category trends, retailer feedback, and customer insights to support innovation strategy and product positioning.

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● Testing & Quality Oversight: Coordinate product testing, stability testing, compatibility testing, and consumer feedback processes to ensure quality and efficacy standards are achieved.

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● Regulatory & Compliance Support: Ensure products comply with relevant labeling, ingredient, safety, and environmental regulations across all target markets.

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● Vendor Management: Build and maintain relationships with suppliers, contract manufacturers, testing labs, and packaging partners.

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● Cost & Margin Optimization: Partner with finance and operations teams to manage product costing, margin targets, and sourcing efficiencies.

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● Product Launch Execution: Support launch readiness through collaboration with marketing, sales, and operations teams on product education, claims support, and inventory planning.

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Key Requirements

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● Bachelor’s degree in Product Development, Chemistry, Cosmetic Science, Business, Marketing, or a related field.

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● 4+ years of product development experience within personal care, beauty, household cleaning, CPG, or related industries.

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● Strong understanding of product formulation processes, packaging development, and commercialization workflows.

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● Experience managing multiple product development projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.

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● Familiarity with FDA, EPA, or other relevant regulatory standards for personal care or cleaning products.

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● Strong analytical, organizational, and project management skills.

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● Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration abilities.

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Experience working with manufacturers and suppliers both domestically and internationally preferred.

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● Passion for innovation, sustainability, and consumer trends.

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● Proficiency in Microsoft Office, project management tools, and product lifecycle systems preferred.