Director, Product Development

AS Beauty Group; New York (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

AS Beauty Group, a fast-growing cosmetic company based in New York, seeks a Director of Product Development to lead end-to-end development across color cosmetics, skincare, and bath & body for our brands. The role drives concepts from brief to commercialization while balancing quality, cost, timing, and regulatory compliance.

You will translate brand and consumer opportunities into innovative products, lead a cross-functional team, collaborate with sourcing, Regulatory & Quality, Creative, and

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive product development experience in color cosmetics, skincare, and bath & body.
• Deep knowledge of cosmetic formulations, ingredients, textures, performance, and manufacturing methods.
• Proven ability to translate brand and consumer insights into new products with sound rationale and substantiation.
• Strong leadership in building and guiding a Product Development team.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end product development across color cosmetics, skincare, and bath & body.
• Translate brand strategies and consumer insights into compelling new product concepts.
• Develop clear briefs with formula requirements, claims, benchmarks, and target costs.
• Lead formula development from submission to final approval with actionable feedback.
• Evaluate formulas for performance, texture, shade, payoff, application, and sensorial experience.
• Identify new ingredients and formats to drive innovation across brands.
• Manage multiple launches and maintain alignment with COGS, MOQs, and timelines.

Skills

Color cosmetics

Skincare

Bath & body

Job description

AS Beauty is one of the fastest-growing cosmetic companies in the market today. We are a family-run business based in New York, NY, focused on developing global beauty brands that deliver real-world solutions to a diverse consumer base. AS Beauty’s portfolio includes renowned brands Laura Geller Beauty, Bliss, and Julep Beauty. We are continually developing products that are innovative, effective, and ensure that our customers feel beautiful inside and out.

About the Role

The Director, Product Development is responsible for leading product development across color cosmetics, skincare, and bath & body for AS Beauty’s portfolio of brands. This role oversees the development process from initial concept and product brief through formula development, sampling, testing, approvals, and commercialization.

The Director serves as a key product expert, translating brand and consumer opportunities into innovative, high-performing products while balancing product quality, cost, timing, regulatory requirements, and brand positioning.

This role partners closely with Brand/Marketing, Sourcing, Regulatory & Quality, Creative, and external manufacturing partners to ensure products are developed on strategy, on time, and to established product standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end product development across color cosmetics, skincare, and bath & body.
• Translate brand strategies, consumer insights, trends, and whitespace opportunities into compelling new product concepts.
• Develop clear product briefs outlining, formula requirements, claims, benchmarks, key ingredients, sensorial expectations, and target costs.
• Lead formula development from initial submissions through final approval, providing clear technical and aesthetic feedback to manufacturers and laboratories.
• Evaluate formulas for performance, texture, shade, payoff, application, fragrance, sensorial experience, and overall consumer appeal.
• Identify new ingredients, technologies, textures, formats, and product concepts that support innovation across the brand portfolio.
• Maintain awareness of competitive launches, category trends, ingredient innovation, and emerging consumer preferences.
• Lead development across complexion, face, eye, lip, and other color cosmetic categories, including shade development, shade matching, color standards, formula performance, and shade-range optimization.
• Lead formula development across skincare, body care, cleansers, treatments, moisturizers, masks, and other applicable categories.
• Partner with Regulatory & Quality and Marketing to ensure proposed product benefits and claims are supported by the formula, testing, and available substantiation.
• Establish product performance expectations and coordinate appropriate consumer, clinical, instrumental, compatibility, stability, and other product testing in partnership with Regulatory & Quality.
• Review testing results and determine appropriate product-development actions when formulas do not meet established standards.
• Partner with Sourcing to ensure formula and product decisions align with target COGS, manufacturing capabilities, MOQs, and commercialization requirements.
• Support troubleshooting of formula, quality, manufacturing, or performance issues during development and production.
• Build strong relationships with domestic and international cosmetic manufacturers, laboratories, ingredient suppliers, and innovation partners.
• Lead, manage, and develop the Product Development team, establishing clear priorities and accountability across brands and projects.
• Manage multiple concurrent product launches and development timelines while ensuring appropriate allocation of team resources.
• Serve as the senior Product Development partner to Brand/Marketing, Sourcing, Regulatory & Quality, Creative, Operations, and other cross-functional teams.
• Communicate product-development status, risks, recommendations, and key decisions clearly to senior leadership.
• Establish and continuously improve Product Development processes, standards, trackers, and workflows to improve speed, quality, and execution.
• Attend industry trade shows, supplier meetings, innovation presentations, and factory visits as needed.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive product development experience within color cosmetics, skincare, and bath & body.
• Deep understanding of cosmetic formulations, ingredients, textures, product performance, and manufacturing processes.
• Demonstrated expertise in formula evaluation, benchmarking, product briefs, testing, and commercialization.
• Strong color cosmetics expertise, including shade development, color matching, formula performance, and product evaluation.
• Established relationships and experience working with domestic and international cosmetic manufacturers and laboratories.
• Demonstrated experience leading, managing, and developing a Product Development team.
• Strong project-management and cross-functional leadership skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent launches in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and ability to present product recommendations and development strategies to senior leadership.