The Vice President, Product Development & Commercialization is a senior technical and business leader responsible for driving the development, engineering, and successful commercialization of innovative beauty packaging solutions. This role serves as the key link between customers, suppliers, and internal teams, translating customer vision into manufacturable, market-ready products while balancing design intent, technical feasibility, quality, cost, and speed to market.
This position requires strong collaboration with global manufacturing partners and cross-functional internal stakeholders to move concepts through feasibility, engineering, tooling, validation, and production launch. Success in the role depends on technical credibility, customer-facing leadership, disciplined execution, and the ability to solve complex development and commercialization challenges.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Lead the full product realization lifecycle, from concept development and feasibility assessment through commercialization and production launch.
- Drive design-for-manufacturability, tooling readiness, risk mitigation, and industrialization efforts to support successful launches.
- Serve as the primary technical partner to customers, translating design intent, functional requirements, and performance expectations into manufacturable packaging solutions.
- Collaborate closely with global suppliers and manufacturing partners to evaluate feasibility, optimize designs, resolve technical issues, and ensure successful execution.
- Drive innovation in beauty packaging while balancing aesthetics, functionality, manufacturability, speed to market, quality, and cost.
- Lead complex packaging development initiatives involving component design, materials, decoration, tooling, and production readiness.
- Establish disciplined product development, launch, and risk management processes that improve predictability and execution quality.
- Partner with sales, sourcing, quality, operations, and commercial teams to deliver strong customer outcomes.
- Build and lead high-performing technical and project management teams focused on accountability, innovation, and execution excellence.
- Work directly with customers to understand packaging specifications, aesthetic objectives, and commercial requirements.
- Guide suppliers and internal teams through technical problem-solving when customer expectations and manufacturing realities are not initially aligned.
- Support successful product launches by influencing customers, suppliers, and stakeholders across the development and commercialization process.
RELATIONSHIPS & ROLES
Internal / External Cooperation
- Serve as a critical liaison between customers, suppliers, and internal functions to ensure alignment throughout the product development and commercialization process.
- Build effective working relationships with sales, sourcing, quality, operations, and commercial teams to support execution and customer satisfaction.
- Maintain strong collaborative relationships with global manufacturing partners to assess feasibility, address technical challenges, and support production readiness.
- Provide technical leadership and influence across customer meetings, supplier discussions, and internal decision-making forums.
QUALIFICATIONS
Job Specifications and Education Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical field required; advanced degree preferred.
- Minimum 12 years of progressive leadership experience in engineering, product development, packaging development, or technical operations.
- Significant experience developing and commercializing beauty, cosmetic, skincare, fragrance, prestige, or other highly aesthetic, design-driven consumer packaging solutions.
- Strong understanding of product development, tooling, manufacturing processes, design-for-manufacturability, and commercialization.
- Proven ability to work directly with customers and suppliers to solve technical challenges and bring new products to market.
- Demonstrated ability to balance customer expectations, engineering realities, supplier capabilities, commercial objectives, and speed to market in decision-making.
- Experience leading complex product launches from concept through high-volume production.
- Demonstrated success in customer-facing development environments where responsiveness, collaboration, innovation, and execution are critical.
- Experience working with global contract manufacturers and suppliers to scale products from concept through commercial production.
- Experience managing global supplier and manufacturing relationships, particularly in Asia, is highly desirable.
- Strong leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills, with the technical credibility to influence customers, suppliers, and internal stakeholders.
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida preferred; remote may be considered.
