Sr. Director, Formulation Sales

Debut; San Diego (CA); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Debut is seeking a Sr. Director of Formulation Sales to lead strategic partnerships and drive revenue with prestige and masstige skincare brands.

You will own high-level client relationships, lead outbound prospecting, and manage multi-year opportunities, reporting to the VP of Sales within the Commercial Formulation Sales organization. The role emphasizes large-scale deal negotiation, cross-functional collaboration with R&D, operations, and finance, and a strong track record of converting

Qualifications

• Minimum of 8-10 years in business development, lead generation, or formulation sales within the beauty industry.
• Deep, established relationships across prestige and masstige skincare brands.
• Experience building and converting a pipeline of large, complex opportunities into awarded business.
• Ability to influence senior executives internally and with customer organizations.
• Willingness to travel up to 50% for customer meetings and industry events.

Responsibilities

• Own and grow relationships with skincare brand partners as the senior commercial point of contact for key accounts.
• Drive heavy outbound prospecting and pipeline generation for an assigned segment or territory.
• Manage elevated revenue targets and forecast accuracy across strategic opportunities.
• Oversee the full commercial process for strategic accounts from first contact to purchase order.
• Collaborate with R&D, product development, marketing, and finance to resource opportunities and deliver results.
• Maintain disciplined pipeline management and reporting from engagement to commercialization.

Skills

Business development

Lead generation

Formulation sales

Skincare brand relationships

Executive relationship building

Job description

About Debut

Debut is the unconventional innovation lab spearheading the next generation of big business. Only Debut has a scalable, integrated, climate-positive creation model powered by biotechnology that puts human wellbeing at the center of everything we do—setting the new standard for profitable business and a new pace for an ever-changing world. Our hybrid biotechnology approaches unlock latent markets, providing access to sustainably produced, natural ingredients with health benefits that cannot be obtained through other methods. We are committed to traversing the entire process, from ingredient discovery to the scaling of these products, for consumer markets. If you are passionate, enjoy fast-paced innovation and collaborative teams, then Debut is for you.

Sr. Director, Formulation Sales

Summary

Are you passionate about bringing breakthrough, science-backed beauty formulations to market? In this role, you will lead Debut's efforts to secure and expand strategic brand partnerships, with direct accountability for the largest and most complex accounts in the formulation business. You will drive heavy outbound prospecting and pipeline generation for a defined territory or account segment, in alignment with Debut's commercial strategy, carry an elevated revenue target, and collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to align on priorities and drive shared outcomes. This position is highly commercial in nature and suited for a senior, driven professional with deep, established relationships across (prestige and masstige) skincare brands, a proven ability to open doors with major brands, and an appetite for hunting large-scale new business, building strategic brand relationships, and converting complex opportunities into significant revenue. San Diego-based preferred but remote may be considered for the right candidate. This role sits within the Commercial Formulation Sales organization and reports to the VP of Sales.

Essential Functions

• Own and grow relationships with (prestige and masstige) skincare brand partners, serving as the senior commercial point of contact for key accounts.
• Drive heavy outbound prospecting and pipeline generation for an assigned customer segment or territory, in alignment with Debut's commercial strategy and revenue goals.
• Carry an elevated revenue target and take ultimate accountability for pipeline health, forecast accuracy, and conversion of strategic opportunities.
• Own the full commercial process for strategic accounts, from executive-level first contact through qualification, proposal, negotiation, project award, and purchase order.
• Build and maintain relationships with senior decision makers across R&D, product development, marketing, and executive leadership within major beauty organizations.
• Leverage existing, established relationships with (prestige and masstige) skincare brands to generate immediate, high-value opportunities for Debut's advanced formulations and biotechnology platform.
• Provide input and guidance to leadership on pricing and contract structures based on market and customer intelligence and execute complex deal negotiations for large or multi-year partnerships within established pricing frameworks. Represent Debut's competitive positioning at the executive level and clearly articulate its value to win new formulation business (custom and white label).
• Maintain deep knowledge of product development timelines and formulation planning cycles to align strategic outreach with customer launch calendars.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with R&D, operations, and finance to ensure strategic opportunities are properly resourced and delivered.
• Maintain disciplined pipeline management and reporting to ensure visibility and momentum from initial engagement through commercialization.

Education and Experience

• Minimum of 8-10 years in business development, lead generation, or formulation sales within the beauty industry, with deep, established relationships across (prestige and masstige) skincare brands.
• Proven track record of building and converting a pipeline of large, complex opportunities into awarded business.
• Experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder sales cycles and advancing several strategic projects simultaneously.
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior executives, both internally and with customer organizations.
• Highly self-driven, results-oriented, and comfortable operating independently in a fast-paced environment.
• Established, active network of relationships with skincare brand founders, R&D leaders, and product development teams at tier (prestige and masstige) brands, with a demonstrated ability to activate that network to generate near-term pipeline.
• Willingness to travel up to 50% for customer meetings and industry events.

Essential Physical Characteristics

• The physical characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of a job, on a case‑by‑case basis.
• Continuous upward and downward flexion of the neck.
• Frequent sitting, repetitive use of hands to operate computers, printers, and copiers.
• Occasional walking, standing, bending and twisting of neck, bending and twisting of waist, squatting, simple grasping, reaching above and below shoulder level, and lifting and carrying of files weighing up to 15 pounds.
• The performance of this position will present exposure to an industrial environment and requires support and compliance with the published Company PPE policy, including but not limited to the use of personal protective equipment as needed.

Condition of Employment

As part of Debut's pre-employment process, prospective candidates will undergo a background check prior to beginning employment. Additional types of background investigations may be conducted based on the job-related activities of the position. Debut is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. Salary range: $170,000-$210,000