Kendo Manager, Process Engineering
- Location
- San FranciscoCaliforniaUSA
- Employment
- Full-Time
- Seniority
- Manager
- Compensation
- $108,300–130,200/year
- Posted
- Aug 17, 2026
About Kendo
Kendo is a dynamic beauty brand incubator within the LVMH family, renowned for creating and scaling distinctive names that shape contemporary prestige beauty. Since its founding in 2010, the company has combined entrepreneurial agility with the resources and standards of a global luxury group, fostering brands such as Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, Ole Henriksen, and KVD Beauty. As an employer, Kendo offers an inventive, fast-moving environment where creativity, commercial rigor, inclusivity, and digital fluency converge. Its teams are encouraged to challenge convention, build culturally resonant products, and contribute to a portfolio defined by innovation, authenticity, and global ambition.
Manager, Process Engineering at Kendo (LVMH) in San Francisco. Lead product lifecycle and process engineering for Fenty Beauty, $108.3K–$130.2K annually.
Role & Responsibilities
- Manage new product development (NPD), newness execution, and lifecycle management for Fenty Beauty and other core brands
- Monitor and oversee pilot batches, line trials, and first productions to ensure industrialization success criteria are met and translated into technical requirements
- Lead and schedule pilot and line trial meetings for all new products through commercialization or first production
- Oversee pilot project tasks including batching, filling, and assembly operations
- Create comprehensive technical reports summarizing scale-up and line trial outcomes with corrective action plans
- Maintain detailed project records and prepare findings for senior management presentations
- Support essential project documentation including specifications, product dossiers, manufacturing procedures, process reports, and launch compliance documents
- Collaborate with Quality assurance on non-conformances, investigations, and manufacturing procedure updates
- Develop testing protocols and control plans in partnership with Quality and Development teams
- Implement manufacturing design review processes incorporating Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) assessments
- Standardize risk assessment and failure identification processes during the development phase
- Support change requests and change controls for existing products in coordination with Contract Manufacturing (CM) sites
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree required; major in Science or Engineering strongly preferred
- Minimum 5 years of experience in cosmetic product formulation
- Prior experience in makeup and beauty, skincare emulsions highly desired
- Prior experience working in Packaging, R&D, or laboratory settings advantageous
- Proficiency with MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Skills
Experience
Minimum 5 years of experience in cosmetic product formulation, with demonstrated expertise in makeup, beauty, and skincare emulsions. Prior background in Packaging, R&D, or laboratory environments is advantageous.
Education
Bachelor's degree required; a major in Science or Engineering is strongly preferred.
Workplace
This position is based in San Francisco, California, USA.
Compensation
The base compensation for this position ranges from USD 108,300 to USD 130,200 per annum.
Benefits
Annual bonus; comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental and vision insurance; flex paid time off program; parental leave; employee discount and perks; retirement plan with employer contributions; Summer Fridays; opportunity to work from anywhere for two weeks during the calendar year; December wellness and shutdown week for applicable positions.
Culture
Kendo offers a fast-moving, entrepreneurial culture where brand builders, creatives, and beauty experts collaborate to develop distinctive global beauty brands. As part of the LVMH ecosystem, it combines the agility of an independent incubator with the standards, resources, and international perspective of a luxury group. The environment values innovation, inclusivity, commercial excellence, and hands-on ownership at every level.
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 Kendo, 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 «Process Engineering Manager», «Technical Project Manager», «Product Lifecycle Engineer», «Manufacturing Process 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.