Associate Manager, Scientific Program Development - Global (18-Month Contract)

DECIEM | THE ABNORMAL BEAUTY COMPANY; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 70,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous vacation days

Paid parental leave (6 months)

Hybrid work model

Work from anywhere 4 weeks/year

Summer Fridays (1pm)

Job summary

DECIEM | THE ABNORMAL BEAUTY COMPANY is seeking an Associate Manager, Scientific Program Development – Global in Toronto. The role balances New Product Development with Existing Product Development leadership, ensuring milestones and scalable formulas for The Ordinary, NIOD, and Incubator brands.

Hybrid work and an 18-month contract are offered. Responsibilities include cross-functional coordination, risk mitigation during scale-up, and maintaining real-time project dashboards for senior

Qualifications

• 2+ years supporting Senior Leaders; 3+ years in Project Management, preferably cosmetic product development.
• Bachelor's Degree or Diploma in Cosmetics, Science, or related field.
• Strong computer skills with MS Office; familiarity with Wrike is a plus.
• PMP certification or equivalent is an asset; ability to manage multiple priorities.

Responsibilities

• Monitor timelines, enable cross-departmental workflows, and ensure on-time milestones for active projects.
• Lead stakeholders, report status, and manage projects from initiation to scale-up.
• Coordinate transfer of formulas to commercial production with RD and PD&L teams.
• Maintain costing dashboards and project trackers for real-time visibility.
• Map scope, deliverables, resources, and budgets for new and existing products.
• Escalate risks and deviations to avoid downstream impacts; bridge stakeholder gaps.

Skills

Project Management

Time management

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's or Diploma in Cosmetics/Science/related field

Tools

Wrike

Excel

PowerPoint

G-Suite

Job description

We are a collective of disrupters and doers, of creatives and scientists, with a mission to reimagine the world of beauty.

WHAT ON EARTH IS DECIEM?

Since inception, our vertically integrated structure, including our own laboratories, manufacturing, retail stores, and brand infrastructure, have enabled us to rapidly identify opportunities and deliver quality. Home to The Ordinary, NIOD, AVESTAN, and other emerging brands, our goal is to create with purpose. We were founded on the principle of doing everything that others don’t. Because normal gets you nowhere.

We are DECIEM, The Abnormal Beauty Company.

We are growing rapidly and we’re looking for someone who shares this vision and wants to grow with us!

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

The Associate Manager, Scientific Program Development – Global plays a pivotal cross-functional role at DECIEM, driving project management across all scientific pillars for brands like The Ordinary , NIOD , and the Incubator. This role balances the execution of New Product Development (NPD) with independent leadership over the Existing Product Development (EPD) pipeline, ensuring that scientific milestones are hit, formulas are seamlessly scaled for commercial production, and global workflows are optimized.

This is an 18-month contract position based out of our Head Office located in Liberty Village, Toronto. This position offers a hybrid work schedule.

PAY RANGE

The anticipated base salary for this position is $70,000 to $75,000.

Exact salary depends on several factors such as experience, skills, education, and budget. Salary range may vary based on geographic location.

WHAT YOU'D BE DOING IN THIS ROLE

• Monitor detailed timelines, facilitate cross-departmental workflows, and ensure on-time delivery of key scientific milestones for active development projects.
• Implement and manage a variety of project-related activities assigned by the Director of Product Portfolio & Scientific Strategy.
• Lead all relevant stakeholders, communicate status updates, and manage these projects independently from initiation to scale up.
• Act as the liaison between Scientific teams and PD&L to ensure final formulas are successfully transferred for commercial production, proactively mitigating risks during the scale-up transition.
• Own the daily maintenance of costing dashboards and project trackers, ensuring real-time data accuracy and cross-functional visibility for the Director and Senior Manager
• Manage the product development life cycle by working closely with the Scientific Team (R&D, Applied Research, Analytical, Scientific Communications, Clinical, Regulatory, Microbiology and Quality) to map project scope, deliverables, resource requirements, work plan, budget and timing for new and existing products.
• Communicate project status, progress and risks to key stakeholders. Ensure all deviations, liabilities, and timeline risks are called out and escalated effectively to avoid downstream impacts.
• Enforce a standardized process internally to bridge communication gaps between stakeholders; ensure all team members understand due dates, milestones and impacts.
• Support and optimize the use of project management tools (i.e. Wrike) and perform project work using Excel, Powerpoint and other platforms.
• Manage, support, train, and advise staff, ensuring project processes (project plans, issue/risk management, financial management, resourcing) are applied consistently.

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS NEEDED TO GET THE JOB DONE

• 2+ years of relevant work experience supporting Senior Leaders is required, with 3+ years of relevant work experience in Project Management (ideally within cosmetic product development).
• Bachelor's Degree or Diploma in Cosmetics, Science, or a related field is required
• Strong computer skills are essential. Expertise on G-Suite (Gmail) and the MS-Office product suite including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Project Management Institute, PMP Certification or equivalent is an asset
• Ability to handle multiple priorities. Excellent time management skills

WHAT YOU'LL BE GAINING BY JOINING OUR TEAM

• Generous Vacation & Personal Days, plus additional time off for volunteering in your community, voting, peaceful protesting, celebrating your birthday, and more.
• 6 months of paid time off for new parents (inclusive of all genders).
• Work from anywhere 4 weeks per year.
• A hybrid work model (for applicable roles).
• Summer Friday’s - get off at 1pm all summer long! (for applicable roles).
• A dog-friendly office (and lots of cute dogs to play with).
• Unlimited access to an Employee Assistance Program that includes mental health care, mindfulness programs, and more.
• Access to Development Grants & a LinkedIn Learning membership to help you keep growing and learning.
• A generous discount on DECIEM products for you, your family, and your friends.

BUILDING GROWTH TO POWER GOOD

• Defy Convention.
• Make it real.
• Play in the grey.
• Build Bridges.
• Be the rabbit.

These values continue to guide us in all that we do. Along the way, we’ve been honoured to win some pretty incredible awards, including a CEW Achiever Award, Best Skincare Brand at Sunday Times Style Beauty Awards, and Most Popular Sustainable Brand by The Cosmetify Index Global. We’re still blushing!

SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL IMPACT

DECIEM’s objective is to build growth and do good things while prioritizing people, animals, and the Earth.

Our Sustainability strategy is focused on fighting climate change, improved waste management, responsible packaging, responsible sourcing and product lifecycle, and water conservation.

In 2020, DECIEM established the Good Fund to support both large and grassroots charities in response to global events.

CREATING A HUMAN WORLD OF BEAUTY

DECIEM is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by creating meaningful, measurable change in the lives of our team members and in the communities where we operate. Achieving equality is critical to DECIEM and our future. You can learn more about our DEI commitment in our open letter, "DECIEM is an equal opportunity employer. We prohibit discrimination based on age, colour, disability, national origin, race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, and any other legally protected class in accordance with applicable federal, provincial and local laws. We are also committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible workplace. If you are contacted to be part of our recruitment process and require accommodation, please let us know."