Product Planning and Innovation Head - Personal Care

As a senior strategist responsible for Product Planning and Innovation in the skin care business, you will have the opportunity to directly manage the end-to-end product pipeline. Your role will involve owning white-space concepting, consumer insights, assortment architecture, and new-concept incubation for the fast-growing skin-care portfolio. To excel in this role, you will need to convert deep market intelligence into differentiated product pipelines by collaborating closely with R&D, Brand, and Regulatory teams to deliver clinically proven, trend-right innovations efficiently. Key Responsibilities: - Define and implement the assortment & portfolio strategy for skincare globally, including setting up robust systems and processes for identifying opportunity areas. - Monitor and track emerging trends in the skin care ingredient and technology space to develop clutter-breaking assortments. Outline processes to convert insights into actionable plans. - Conduct market research to identify gaps, emerging trends, and new innovations, integrating them into the product strategy in a cost-efficient and timely manner. - Collaborate with Brand and R&D teams to identify winning claims and product positioning across different geographies during the concept development stage. Translate insights into robust product briefs and oversee the product development journey. - Lead cross-functional stage-gate reviews to ensure concepts are scalable, compliant, and margin-accretive for global roll-out. Evaluate product efficacy based on claims, feedback, clinical reports, and benchmarking. - Recruit, develop, and motivate a high-performing team of insight analysts, competitive intelligence specialists, and concept managers. Foster a data-driven and experimentation culture using robust AI tools and automation. - Establish a team dedicated to consumer insights, competitive intelligence, and concept development. Develop competencies in research, analysis, and review processes. Skills Required: - Strategic Leadership: Demonstrate over 15 years of experience in global skin care innovation with full cycle ownership. - Technical Expertise: Possess in-depth knowledge at both regulatory and ingredient chemistry levels to offer expertise on claims development, clinical efficacy, and regulatory guidance. - Analytical Proficiency: Utilize a data-driven approach for consumer insights and product decision-making, with a deep understanding of marketing models and tools. - Experience: Have 12-18 years of experience leading product innovation strategy and planning in a CPG company. Preferably hold a Ph.D. in chemistry, pharmacognosy, or related field along with an MBA from a leading institute.,