Estée Lauder Companies Executive Director, Strategic Innovation & Partnerships
About Estée Lauder Companies
The Estée Lauder Companies is a global leader in prestige beauty, founded in 1946 by Estée and Joseph Lauder and built on an enduring belief in creativity, high-touch service, and entrepreneurial spirit. As an employer, the Group offers talent the scale of an international house with the energy of distinctive brands across skincare, makeup, fragrance, and hair care. Its culture values innovation, inclusion, learning, and responsible growth, inviting professionals to shape consumer experiences from laboratory to counter, digital platform to boardroom. Employees join a purpose-led organization where heritage, artistry, and scientific excellence meet to define the future of luxury beauty.
The Executive Director, Strategic Innovation & Partnerships leads enterprise-wide external innovation strategy at Estée Lauder Companies, connecting senior scientific leadership with a global ecosystem of suppliers, biotechnology firms, contract research organizations, and academic institutions. Operating at the intersection of Research & Innovation, Procurement, and Legal/Intellectual Property, this executive transforms supplier engagement from opportunistic, transaction-driven models to strategically aligned, performance-driven partnerships that accelerate access to emerging technologies and strengthen competitive differentiation across the beauty portfolio.
Role & Responsibilities
- Champion a proactive external innovation mindset by identifying, targeting, and cultivating relationships with suppliers whose technology roadmaps align with ELC's long-term innovation priorities
- Build and maintain a transparent, strategically managed portfolio of external partners and opportunities, leveraging scorecards to assess supplier expertise, capabilities, and performance
- Serve as the senior R&I scientific owner for strategic external partnerships related to active ingredients and advanced technologies, ensuring external opportunities are scientifically validated, operationally governed, and translated into differentiated commercial capabilities
- Establish and maintain senior scientific relationships with key suppliers, technology developers, biotech organizations, research institutions, and other external partners relevant to ELC's priority pillars
- Partner with Priority Pillar scientific leaders to identify future scientific needs, capability gaps, technology requirements, and innovation opportunities that can be accelerated through external collaboration
- Facilitate the creation of bespoke supplier collaborations that generate differentiated capabilities, proprietary insights, novel ingredients, enhanced claims support, or exclusive innovation opportunities
- Drive cross-functional alignment and act as the central connector between external partners and internal stakeholders across R&I (including formulation, safety, regulatory, and clinical teams), Legal, and Procurement
- Partner with Legal and Procurement to support agreement structures that reflect collaboration objectives, success criteria, intellectual property terms, exclusivity needs, and ownership rights
- Create visibility into emerging supplier pipelines, platform technologies, and future innovation roadmaps to strengthen the competitiveness and differentiation of ELC's innovation portfolio
Qualifications
- Master's degree or PhD/PharmD in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Biotechnology, Pharmacology, Cosmetic Science, Dermatology, Materials Science, or related field (PhD or PharmD strongly preferred)
- 15+ years of experience in Research & Innovation, Advanced Research, Ingredient Innovation, or related scientific domains
- Proven track record building and leading external innovation and strategic partnership programs with measurable commercial outcomes
- Demonstrated success translating external technologies into commercial innovation outcomes
- 5+ years of progressive experience within the beauty and personal care industry
- Deep expertise in cosmetic science, formulation, claims development, regulatory pathways, and commercialization
- Extensive experience working with global suppliers, biotech/startup firms, contract research organizations, and academic partners
- Strong ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive alignment across complex, matrixed organizational structures
Skills
Experience
15+ years in research and innovation, advanced research, ingredient innovation, or related scientific domains, with 5+ years in the beauty and personal care industry. Proven experience building and managing external innovation programs, developing strategic partnerships with suppliers, biotech organizations, and research institutions, and translating external technologies into commercial outcomes.
Education
Master's degree or PhD/PharmD in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Biotechnology, Pharmacology, Cosmetic Science, Dermatology, Materials Science, or related field. PhD or PharmD strongly preferred.
Workplace
The role is situated in Melville, New York, USA — conveniently close to New York.
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Compensation
The base compensation for this position ranges from USD 175,000 to USD 220,000 per annum.
Benefits
Health insurance coverage (medical, dental, and vision insurance); wellness and family support programs; life and disability insurance; retirement savings plans; paid leave programs; education-related programs; paid holidays and vacation time; participation in highly competitive bonus program with overachievement potential based on performance and company results; share incentive plan participation. Many benefits are subsidized or fully paid by the company.
Culture
The Estée Lauder Companies fosters a collaborative, inclusive workplace where creativity, entrepreneurial thinking, and a passion for prestige beauty are deeply valued. As a global house of distinctive brands, it offers employees an environment that encourages innovation, professional growth, and a shared commitment to excellence and consumer inspiration.
About Cerulean
Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.
Frequently Asked Questions
The luxury industry is characterised by a diverse and nuanced nomenclature. Esteemed houses frequently employ proprietary terminology, and even within a single organisation like Estée Lauder Companies, titles may vary across global markets to reflect local conventions. To ensure absolute clarity, Cerulean assigns a standardised, industry-coherent canonical title to every listing. However, it is worth noting that this role is functionally synonymous with «Chief Innovation Strategist», «Senior Vice President of External Innovation», «Innovation Partnerships Director», «Strategic Research Partnerships Lead», and other variations. Our sophisticated search architecture anticipates these variations, ensuring that inquiries using related terms will seamlessly yield the exact roles you desire.