Senior EPD Manager
Department: New Product Development
Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time
Location: Head Office, London
Description
As Senior EPD Manager you will lead the strategic planning and tactical execution across two key areas: (1) driving structured change management processes across the product lifecycle, and (2) overseeing continuous improvement, reformulation, and compliance of all existing product lines.
You will serve as a cross-functional leader interfacing between Product Development, Regulatory, Quality, Supply Chain, Marketing, and Commercial teams to ensure timely, cost-effective, and compliant product updates in a fast-paced beauty environment. This role must ensure innovation and operational excellence within the NPD (New Product Development) framework while maintaining the commercial and regulatory integrity of existing product lines.
You will work collaboratively with the Head of Innovation and CIO, alongside Technical & Regulatory team, Education and Brand team to ensure clear and timely communication on product updates and changes. A high level of CPA management across a high volume of products, process implementation and attention to detail, as well as excellent communication skills and ability to meet tight deadlines is crucial for the effectiveness of the role.
What Will You Do?
Change Management
* Develop and implement a formal change management process for all NPD and existing product updates (e.g., formula, packaging, regulatory, vendor) and build out clear forward planning on change consolidation.
* Implement and lead change control meetings with cross-functional stakeholders and suppliers to review, prioritise, challenge and approve changes.
* Ensure all product changes align with brand strategy, consumer expectations, cost targets, and global compliance standards.
* Partner with the technical and regulatory teams to manage global documentation and registrations associated with product changes.
* Monitor post-launch feedback and trigger responsive product adjustments as needed.
Existing Product Development (EPD)
* Work with NPD to manage the product lifecycle of existing SKUs, identifying opportunities for optimization, cost-saving, reformulation, or relaunch.
* Maintain a proactive roadmap for EPD, aligned with regulatory horizon scanning, brand strategy and innovation pipeline.
* Lead technical reformulation projects (e.g., to improve performance, remove restricted ingredients, respond to consumer feedback).
* Oversee packaging upgrades to improve sustainability, quality issues, cost, or shelf appeal.
* Collaborate with Quality and Operations on product performance improvements or addressing consumer complaints.
Cross-Functional Collaboration & Project Management
* Act as a key liaison across internal departments (including Regulatory, Quality, Ops, Marketing, Commercial, R&D).
* Ensure alignment and timely execution of all product change projects via detailed project planning, risk mitigation, and milestone tracking.
* Serve as a change advocate, ensuring team-wide transparency, training, and adoption of updated processes or changes.
* Drive and establish new processes to adapt to the commercial direction of the business
Leadership, Team and Stakeholder Management
* Provide mentorship, coaching, and performance management to one direct report, fostering a culture of accountability, growth, and collaboration.
* Delegate and oversee tactical tasks while maintaining strategic oversight across EPD and change management projects.
* Model leadership excellence by driving decision-making, ownership, and cross-functional alignment.
* Contribute to team development by sharing knowledge, elevating standards, and promoting innovation within the NPD team.
* Champion inclusivity and psychological safety, encouraging ideas and contributions from all team members.
Sustainability Responsibility
* Ensure all change projects are aligned with our sustainability goals and ambitions to support our environmental pledges and LRP.
* With an appreciation for packaging, work collaboratively with the Sustainability Team to ensure a careful analysis of pack types are carried out for each launch to ensure the Brand arrives at the right decision that balances a luxury execution with sustainability.
* Ensure ingredients are selected with consideration of their efficacy but also their environmental impact and support the Brands CSR ambitions.
The Perfect Candidate
* A relevant university degree
* Experienced project manager
* Solid experience within the beauty industry is essential
* Relevant and demonstrable product development experience is essential
* Proven track record of developing NPD
* Strong CPA management experience.
* Strong prioritisation skills.
* High organisation skills i.e. documents and samples
* A positive, proactive, initiative driven mindset- always remaining solutions focused
* Excellent communicator
* Excellent computer literacy in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
What We Offer You!*
* Generous Staff Discount on all your favourite ELEMIS products and spa treatments, as well as discounts on L'OCCITANE Group products (including L'Occitane, Erborian and more)
* Excellent well-being policies including enhanced Maternity & Paternity policies, Income Protection, Life Assurance and more
* Generous Holiday Allowance, increasing with length of service
* Company Pension Scheme
* Bonus/Commission Scheme
* Healthcare Cash Plan (with Dental)
* Employee Assistance Programme for all Associates and their families
* Cycle to Work Scheme, Season Ticket Loan, Length of Service Awards
* Much, much more!
*Some benefit eligibility is based on length of service or contract type
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