Executive Director, Strategic Innovation & Partnerships

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.; Melville (NY); On-site; USD 175,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental & vision

Retirement plans

Paid time off

Education programs

Paid holidays

Job summary

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. seeks an Executive Director, Strategic Innovation & Partnerships to lead external science scouting and strategic collaborations across R&I, Procurement, and Legal/IP.

This role shapes partner ecosystems, translates external capabilities into differentiated technologies, and ensures governance and measurement of supplier opportunities from discovery to commercialization. You will build senior scientific relationships with global suppliers, biotech firms, and

Qualifications

• MS or PhD/PharmD in chemistry, biochemistry, biology or related field.
• 15+ years in R&I, advanced research, or ingredient innovation.
• Proven track record building external innovation and strategic partnership programs.
• Demonstrated success translating external technologies into commercial outcomes.
• Deep expertise in cosmetic science, formulation, claims, regulatory and commercialization.
• 5+ years in the Beauty industry.
• Experience with global suppliers, biotech/startups, CROs and academia.
• Strong ability to influence senior stakeholders in a complex, matrixed org.

Responsibilities

• Lead a Strategic External Innovation Mindset Across Advanced Technologies.
• Identify opportunities and cultivate supplier partnerships aligned with long-term priorities.
• Build a transparent portfolio of external partners with scorecards and governance.
• Align internal teams (R&I, Legal, Procurement) to drive collaboration models.
• Translate external capabilities into differentiated technologies for ELC.

Skills

Strategic leadership

External partnerships

Influence stakeholders

Cross-functional collaboration

Commercialization pathways

Education

MS or PhD or PharmD

Job description

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.

Title

Position Summary

The Executive Director, Strategic Innovation & Partnerships serves as the senior scientific catalyst connecting ELC's Priority Pillar leaders with the external innovation provider ecosystem. The role is responsible for transforming how ELC identifies, accesses, and leverages external science by shifting supplier engagement from a reactive, opportunity-driven model to a proactive, strategically aligned, performance-driven and repeatable partnership model. Through scientific insight, external relationship leadership, and technology assessment expertise, this leader enables early access to emerging technologies and innovation pipelines, fosters collaborative development programs, and helps translate external capabilities into differentiated technologies that strengthen ELC's competitive advantage. Operating at the intersection of Research & Innovation, Procurement and Legal/Intellectual Property, the Executive Director creates the processes, criteria, governance, and engagement models required to move supplier opportunities from initial discovery through evaluation, development, and commercialization readiness.

Role Responsibilities

Champion a Strategic External Innovation Mindset Across Advanced Technologies

• Partner with Priority Pillar scientific leaders to identify future scientific needs, capability gaps, technology requirements, and innovation opportunities that can be accelerated through external supplier partnerships.
• Influence and enable internal scientific teams to engage partners strategically as sources of innovation, capabilities, and co-development opportunities rather than solely as providers of commercially available ingredients.
• Drive a proactive approach to external innovation by identifying, targeting, and cultivating relationships with suppliers whose technology roadmaps align with ELC's long-term innovation priorities.
• Build and manage a transparent portfolio of external partners and opportunities, tracking status, priorities, risks, decisions, milestones, and expected value. Use, refine, deploy a scorecard to continuously assess external suppliers, and their areas of expertise.
• Help establish a culture of scientific scouting and external engagement, within the strategic Supplier ecosystem, that prioritizes early access, collaborative development, and strategic partnership over opportunistic evaluation of technologies nearing commercial launch.
• Create visibility into emerging supplier pipelines, platform technologies, and future innovation roadmaps to strengthen the competitiveness and differentiation of ELC's innovation portfolio.
• Partner with Legal and Procurement to support agreement structures that reflect the intended collaboration model and business objectives. Help ensure objectives, success criteria, milestones, confidentiality requirements, exclusivity needs, ownership rights, and IP terms are clearly defined before collaboration begins.

Develop Strategic Scientific Partnerships that Create Competitive Advantage

• Serve as the senior R&I scientific owner for strategic external partnerships related to actives, working in close partnership with Open Innovation team to shape scouting priorities, evaluate partner technologies, and lead the execution of selected collaborations. Ensure that external opportunities are not only discovered, but scientifically validated, internally sponsored, operationally governed, and translated into differentiated capabilities, proprietary technologies, and pipeline impact for ELC.
• Establish and maintain senior scientific and innovation relationships with key suppliers, technology developers, biotech organizations, research institutions, and other external partners relevant to ELC's Priority Pillars.
• Position ELC as a preferred innovation partner by building trusted, long-term relationships that encourage early sharing of emerging technologies, research platforms, and future development plans.
• Partner with Procurement, Global Supplier Management to incorporate R&I innovation objectives into the overall supplier strategy.
• Identify opportunities for joint development programs, custom technology initiatives, and collaborative research efforts that address ELC-defined scientific challenges and innovation priorities.
• Facilitate the creation of bespoke supplier collaborations that generate differentiated capabilities, proprietary insights, novel ingredients, enhanced claims support, or exclusive innovation opportunities.
• Ensure strategic partnerships are actively cultivated and managed to maximize scientific value creation, relationship strength, and long-term innovation impact.
• Drive Cross-Functional Alignment. Act as the central connector between external partners and internal stakeholders across R&I (including formulation, safety, regulatory, clinical), Legal and Procurement.

Qualifications

• MS or PhD or PharmD - PhD or PharmD strongly preferred in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Biotechnology, Pharmacology, Cosmetic Science, Dermatology, Materials Science, or related field.
• 15+ years of experience in R&I, Advanced Research, Ingredient Innovation, or related domains.
• Proven track record building and leading external innovation and/or strategic partnership programs.
• Demonstrated success translating external technologies into commercial innovation outcomes.
• Deep expertise in cosmetic science, formulation, claims, regulatory, and commercialization pathways.
• 5+ years experience in the Beauty industry.
• Experience working with global suppliers, biotech/startup firms, CROs and academic partners.
• Strong ability to influence senior stakeholders in a complex, matrixed organization.

Pay Range

The anticipated base salary range for this position is $175,000.00 to $220,000.00. Exact salary depends on several factors such as experience, skills, education, and budget. Salary range may vary based on geographic location. In addition to base salary, this position is eligible for participation in a highly competitive bonus program as well as participation in the share incentive plan. In addition, In addition to base salary, this position is eligible for participation in a highly competitive bonus program with the possibility for overachievement based on performance and company results. 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, paid leave programs, education-related programs, paid holidays and vacation time, and many others. Many of these benefits are subsidized or fully paid for by the company.

Equal Opportunity Employer

It is Company's policy not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions), gender identity or gender expression (including transgender status), sexual orientation, marital status, military service and veteran status, physical or mental disability, protected medical condition as defined by applicable state or local law, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws and ordinances. The Company will endeavor to provide a reasonable accommodation consistent with the law to otherwise qualified employees and prospective employees with a disability and to employees and prospective employees with needs related to their religious observance or practices.

Michigan Applicants:

Persons with disabilities needing accommodations for employment must notify the company in writing of the need for an accommodation within 182 days after the date the person with a disability knew or reasonably should have known that an accommodation was needed.

Philadelphia Applicants:

Philadelphia's Fair Chance Hiring Law

Rhode Island Applicants:

The company is subject to chapters 29-38 of title 28 of the general laws of Rhode Island and is therefore covered by the state's workers' compensation law.