Director, Innovation

L'oreal Usa; United States; Hybrid; USD 138,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work policy

Flexible time off

VIP access to internal shop

Monthly mobile allowance

L’Oréal e-learning access

Mentorship programs

Wellness programs

Job summary

L’Oréal USA is seeking a Director of Innovation within the Brand Engagement team in New York, NY. You will source and pilot consumer-facing tech partnerships in AI, beauty tech, and gaming, building a roadmap of strategic collaborations and driving pilots from pitch to measurement.

Role requires 10+ years in digital marketing or startup/tech, strong partnership skills, and ability to communicate complex tech concepts to executives.

Qualifications

• Experience navigating early-stage tech ecosystems with relationships to VC firms and incubators.
• Proven track record sourcing and evaluating startup tech for business needs.
• Experience negotiating pilots and navigating legal/IT onboarding for vendors.
• Direct experience with GenAI, beauty tech, and gaming platform integrations.
• Ability to identify trends early and translate into partnership strategies.

Responsibilities

• Scout and source innovative startups and AI-powered consumer tech opportunities.
• Define innovation territories in beauty tech, AI tools, and gaming.
• Lead test-and-learn pilots with clear KPIs and post-pilot evaluations.
• Match startup capabilities to brand challenges and drive activations.
• Build relationships with founders and external tech partners.
• Communicate concepts to senior management to secure pilots.
• Coordinate onboarding with CDMO, IT, Sourcing, and Legal.
• Collaborate to scale pilots into integrated brand programs.
• Co-lead BeautyV3rse event and monitor digital innovation trends.

Skills

GenAI applications

Beauty tech

Gaming integrations

Startup scouting

Pilot management

Vendor onboarding

Strategic partnerships

Trend synthesis

Executive communication

Project management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in related field

Tools

PowerPoint

Excel

Adobe Creative Suite

Job description

DEPARTMENT:

Brand and Consumer Engagement, Corporate Digital Marketing Office (CDMO)

LOCATION:

New York, NY

Who We Are:

For more than a century, L’Oréal has devoted its energy, innovation, and scientific excellence solely to one business: Beauty. Our goal is to offer each and every person around the world the best of beauty in terms of quality, efficacy, safety, sincerity and responsibility to satisfy all beauty needs and desires in their infinite diversity.

CDMO:

The Corporate Digital and Marketing Office mission is to put the consumer at the heart of L’Oréal’s business and drive digital innovation. As a force for L’Oréal’s innovation, CDMO delivers the best consumer experiences, drives new marketing models, and spearheads new digital capabilities to futureproof the group’s business.

What You Will Do:

The Director of Innovation is a highly proactive, visionary role within the Corporate Brand Engagement Team, tasked with sourcing, piloting, and scaling consumer-facing technology partnerships across the organization. Rather than just tracking trends, you will actively scout best-in-class startups and technology partners across the consumer tech ecosystem, specifically focusing on AI, Beauty Tech, and Gaming. You will be responsible for building and maintaining a roadmap of strategic partnerships and bridging the gap between early-stage innovation and brand activation needs, partnering directly with brand teams to pitch, negotiate, launch, and evaluate pilots that drive measurable consumer engagement and conversion.

• Proactively build and maintain a robust pipeline of innovative startups, venture capital portfolios, tech incubators, and accelerators to scout and source proprietary AI-powered consumer tech opportunities
• Establish clear and strategic innovation territories, with a laser focus on next-generation beauty tech, AI-driven consumer tools and gaming integration opportunities
• Orchestrate "test and learn" initiatives from end-to-end, including establishing clear success KPIs, managing startup vetting and onboarding, coordinating pilot execution, and delivering post-pilot business impact evaluations
• Actively match startup capabilities with specific brand business challenges, translating complex consumer technologies into practical, high-impact marketing applications
• Serve as the primary point of contact for the external tech and startup community, building deep, long-term relationships with founders, developers, and platform partners
• Introduce and effectively communicate innovation concepts to senior management and brand leaders to secure pilot opportunities
• Act as the strategic liaison between startups and internal stakeholders including CDMO, IT, Sourcing, and Legal to streamline the security, legal, and operational onboarding of new tech vendors
• Collaborate with brand digital leaders and CDMO teams to transition successful startup pilots into fully integrated, scalable brand programs across our divisions
• Co-lead and execute BeautyV3rse, an annual CDMO tentpole event to upskill and inspire the L’Oreal USA digital and marketing communities
• Continuously track and evaluate consumer service-related innovations, along with other digital and technological advancements, that are relevant to our business, and share with leadership (i.e., be the “eyes and ears” of digital innovation trends for the benefit of the entire all divisions and across the brands)

What We Are Looking For:

• Bachelor’s degree in related field
• Experience navigating the early-stage technology ecosystem, including established relationships with venture capital (VC) firms, startup incubators, accelerators, and emerging tech founders
• A proven track record of actively scouting, vetting, and evaluating early-stage companies, developer platforms, and technical capabilities against specific business needs
• Experience negotiating pilot parameters, structuring Proofs of Concept (PoCs), and navigating corporate procurement, legal, and IT security guidelines to onboard external startup vendors
• Direct experience working with, building, or implementing consumer-facing GenAI applications, beauty tech and gaming platform integrations
• Ability to identify "the next big thing" in tech and consumer behavior before it becomes mainstream, synthesizing trends and insights and translating them into partnership strategies
• Must have a true passion and understanding of gaming, AI and the beauty tech landscape
• 10+ years of digital marketing, marketing, entertainment marketing, project management, consumer insights or start-up/tech experience
• Self-starter, highly organized, detail-oriented and focused on projects from developing the vision and strategy to executing and evaluating the results
• Ability to interact with and present to all levels of the organization, including top management
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, demanding environment with a positive and team-oriented, collaborative approach
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft applications including PowerPoint, Word and Excel required. Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite InDesign, Photoshop a plus

What’s In It For You:

• Salary Range: $138-200K
• Hybrid Work Policy (3 Days in Office, 2 Days Work from Home)
• Flexible Time Off (Paid Company Holidays, Paid Vacation, Vacation Buy Program, Volunteer Time, Summer Fridays & More!)
• Access to Company Perks (VIP Access to L’Oréal’s Internal Shop for Discounted Products, Monthly Mobile Allowance)
• Learning & Development Opportunities (Unlimited Access to E-learnings, Lunch & Learn Sessions, Mentorship Programs, & More!)
• Employee Resource Groups (Think Tanks and Innovation Squads)
• Access to Mental Health & Wellness Programs

Don’t meet every single requirement? At L'Oréal, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and innovative workplace. If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with the qualifications listed in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways! You may just be the right candidate for this or other roles!

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and take pride in a diverse environment. We would love to find out more about you as a candidate and do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, marital or veteran status, medical condition or disability, or any other legally protected status.

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