Senior Director of Product Development, The Honest Company
$220-260k
+ equity
Office located in Playa Vista, CA
Natural baby and beauty products
Be an early applicant
Natural baby and beauty products
201-500 employees
Be an early applicant
$220-260k
+ equity
Office located in Playa Vista, CA
201-500 employees
Company mission
To challenge ingredients, ideals and industries so people can protect who they love!
Role
Who you are
- Education: Bachelor’s degree required; an advanced degree or Bachelor's in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Cosmetics Science, or a related technical field is highly preferred but not required
- Experience: 12+ years of progressive product development experience within a CPG Personal Care environment, paired with an authoritative, deep understanding of R&D operations. Direct formulation or laboratory experience is a distinct plus
- Leadership: Minimum of 6–8+ years of direct people management experience, with a proven track record of leading, mentoring, and influencing scale cross-functional teams and executive stakeholders across a matrixed organization
- Technical Expertise: Proven, expert-level mastery of product development, advanced sensory evaluation, clean beauty standards, and complex stage-gate operational processes
- Business Acumen: Demonstrated mastery in managing substantial departmental budgets, complex financial metrics, and high-volume, high-stakes project portfolios successfully
- Mindset: A powerful combination of creative problem-solving skills, sophisticated consumer-insight comprehension, and an agile aptitude for high-level strategic thinking in a fluid, fast-paced environment
- Soft Skills: Executive-level interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills. A highly collaborative leader possessing an unshakeable sense of ownership, accountability, urgency, and corporate integrity
What the job involves
- You will be fully accountable for steering the multi-year long-term innovation pipeline, driving macro-level category strategy in partnership with Brand, and guiding a dedicated team of in-house chemists to concept, develop, and optimize award-winning products
- The Senior Director will ensure all initiatives seamlessly deliver on the company's shared category strategic vision, uncompromising quality standards, and aggressive business growth objectives
- The Honest Company is expanding our Research and Development leadership team! We’re looking for a strategic, visionary, and highly experienced Senior Director of Product Development
- As a Senior Director in the Research and Development department, you will serve as the principal strategic leader and primary executive liaison between Research and Development and the cross-functional leadership of the operating units—including Brand, Operations, Sales, and Marketing Communications
- Strategic Vision & Portfolio Leadership: Partner directly with Brand and Executive leadership to architect, cultivate, and champion the long-term innovation pipeline and overarching strategic vision for Honest Baby Personal Care, Adult Personal Care, and future adjacent categories
- End-to-End NPD Governance: Direct, optimize, and champion high-impact projects through the Honest NPD stage-gate process from initial concept to commercialized launch, ensuring flawless execution, superior quality, and strict adherence to corporate timelines
- Macro Product Concepting & Strategy: Direct in-depth global reviews of key categories, emerging macro trends, and the competitive landscape to define forward-looking product strategy. Lead and orchestrate cross-functional collaboration among key stakeholders—including formulation, packaging, Claims & Clinicals, brand marketing, and sales—to develop robust, highly differentiated product concepts with undeniable Points of Difference (PODs). Strategically weigh development trade-offs with an executive focus on organizational effort vs. long-term ROI
- Executive Technical Marketing: Serve as the authoritative internal expert on the product portfolio, providing critical technical insights to marketing communications, sales, and investor relations. Cultivate deep, collaborative relationships with R&D technical experts to translate complex ingredient science and clinical claims into powerful, consumer-facing narratives. Champion comprehensive product and brand education across all global consumer touchpoints
- Process & Systems Optimization: Establish, scale, and continually elevate front-end innovation processes, advanced tracking tools, and methodologies to streamline departmental functions, mitigate project complexity, and accelerate rapid prototyping
- Market Intelligence & Insight: Analyze global macro-category dynamics and clean ingredient trends, collaborating closely with consumer insights to draw high-level, actionable conclusions that future-proof product roadmaps
- Industry Representation: Represent The Honest Company as a thought leader at key trade shows and global conferences to spearhead strategic manufacturer and raw material supplier relationships, evaluate competitive landscapes, and maintain cutting-edge industry education
- Travel: Ability to travel up to 15%
Our take
The Honest Company was founded in 2012 by Jessica Alba with the simple idea to create everyday products that are safer, gentler, and more transparent about what goes into them. The brand built its reputation on "clean" personal care - things like baby products, skincare, and household items made without any of the harsh chemicals. Because of this approach, it quickly gained popularity with families looking for a trusted, easy-to-understand product.
Over time, Honest has grown into a well-known name in baby and personal care, with products designed for both kids and adults. Its lotions, shampoos and wipes are especially popular for being mild and easy on sensitive skin. In a fun and unexpected moment, even astronauts have taken notice, during the Artemis II mission, astronaut Christina Koch mentioned missing Honest's lotion while in space, showing just how widely love the brand has become.
The company has been going through a bit of a reset though, deciding to step back from selling directly to customers online, choosing instead to focus on retail partnerships and wholesale. This shift is part of a larger plan to cut costs and simplify the business after slower growth. While it means less direct control over how customer shop the brand, it should help Honest become more profitable and focused, leaning into what it does best while relying on big retail partners to drive scale in the future.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
4% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 7 rounds)
Jun 2018
$200m
GROWTH EQUITY VC
Oct 2017
$75m
SERIES E
Total funding: $503m
Company benefits
- Competitive Compensation Packages
- Comprehensive Medical, Dental + Vision Insurance
- 401k with Company Match
- Generous Maternity + Paternity Leave
- Equity Compensation
- Generous Vacation Policy
- Wellness Incentives
- Free Onsite Gym + Fitness Reimbursement
- Pet Insurance
- Learning + Development Opportunities through our Honest University
- LinkedIn Learning Access
- Employee Giving Program + Volunteer Time Off (VTO)
- Education Reimbursement
Company HQ
Playa Vista, Los Angeles, CA
Leadership
Jessica Alba
(Founder)Beyond her acting career, she is a New York Times bestselling author and an advocate. She was also awarded Entrepreneur of the Year in the Webby Awards in 2016 and the Grace Kelly Award in 2015.
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