Innovation Manager

As Innovation Manager, you'll sit at the intersection of consumer insight, product development, commercial strategy and technical innovation. Working closely with Commercial, Brand, R&D, Procurement and Supply Chain teams, you'll identify future market opportunities, develop commercially compelling product concepts and oversee their journey from initial idea through to successful product launch. You'll also act as a key customer-facing innovation expert, presenting category trends, emerging technologies and innovation strategies to retailers, brand partners and prospective customers. This role combines strategic thinking with hands-on project leadership and offers significant exposure across the business.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Innovation Strategy
  • Own and develop the business-wide innovation pipeline across Brand and Private Label categories.
  • Monitor global beauty, personal care and wellbeing trends to identify emerging consumer opportunities.
  • Translate market insight into commercially viable product concepts.
  • Build future product roadmaps aligned with customer and business objectives.
  • Deliver trend presentations and innovation updates to internal stakeholders and customers.
• Customer Innovation
  • Partner with Commercial and Brand teams to identify growth opportunities.
  • Lead customer innovation workshops and concept presentations.
  • Develop compelling product solutions that address customer objectives.
  • Support new business pitches, innovation showcases and strategic customer meetings.
  • Represent the company's innovation capabilities externally.
  • Lead innovation projects from concept through feasibility, validation and market launch.
  • Develop robust commercial business cases for new product opportunities.
  • Work cross-functionally to ensure products are technically achievable, scalable and commercially successful.
  • Measure innovation performance and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Technical Innovation
  • Maintain strong knowledge of cosmetic ingredients, formulation technologies and emerging product formats.
  • Build relationships with ingredient suppliers, packaging partners and technology providers.
  • Identify new technologies that strengthen the innovation pipeline.
  • Support technical feasibility through close collaboration with the Innovation Chemist and R&D teams.
  • Stay informed on regulatory, sustainability and ESG developments impacting future innovation.
  • Manage, coach and develop the Innovation Chemist.
  • Foster a collaborative, curious and commercially focused innovation culture.
  • Encourage knowledge sharing across Commercial, Brand, R&D and Supply Chain teams.

What We’re Looking For

• Experience
  • 5+ years' experience in Innovation, Product Development, R&D or Technical Innovation within beauty, personal care or FMCG.
  • Proven track record delivering successful products from concept through to commercial launch.
  • Experience managing multiple innovation projects simultaneously.
  • Previous customer-facing experience presenting innovation concepts or category opportunities is highly desirable.
  • Experience leading or mentoring technical teams is advantageous.
• Skills & Knowledge
  • Strong understanding of product development and innovation stage-gate processes.
  • Knowledge of cosmetic chemistry, formulation technologies and ingredient functionality.
  • Ability to translate consumer insight into commercially successful products.
  • Strong commercial awareness and strategic thinking.
  • Excellent project management and organisational skills.
  • Outstanding presentation and stakeholder engagement abilities.
  • Confident working across technical, commercial and creative teams.
• Personal Attributes
  • Naturally curious with a passion for emerging consumer trends.
  • Commercially minded with strong strategic thinking.
  • Comfortable balancing creativity with technical feasibility.
  • Collaborative and able to influence across multiple departments.
  • Proactive, adaptable and energised by fast-paced environments.
  • Passionate about sustainability and continuous innovation.
  • Motivated by ownership and delivering measurable business impact.

Why Join the Team?

Innovation is at the heart of everything we do. You’ll have the opportunity to influence future product strategy, collaborate with some of the UK's leading retailers and beauty brands, and help shape products that reach millions of consumers every year. This is a highly visible role offering genuine autonomy, cross-functional leadership and significant opportunities for career development within a growing business.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package.
• Life Assurance.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• Employee Benefits Platform.
• Opportunities for professional development and career progression.
• Collaborative and supportive working environment.
• Exposure to leading retailers and global beauty brands.
• The opportunity to shape future innovation strategy across multiple product categories.

Our Culture

Here, innovation is driven by collaboration, curiosity and ownership. We believe the best ideas can come from anywhere, and we empower our people to take responsibility from concept to launch. We move quickly, solve problems together and continuously look for better ways of doing things. If you’re excited by creating products that make a real commercial impact and want the freedom to turn ideas into reality, we’d love to hear from you.