Senior Chemist - Personal Care

Novaris Search is partnered with a leading personal care contract manufacturer with a long-standing reputation for innovation, formulation excellence, and premium finished-goods delivery across cosmetics, personal care, and OTC categories (including lip balms and sunscreens).

As part of continued growth, our client is seeking a Senior R&D Chemist to join their formulation team. This is a high-visibility, hands-on role where you’ll take products from concept to commercialisation, working directly with well-known brand customers and shaping the pipeline through gap analysis and category insight.

If you're a formulator who enjoys owning projects end-to-end, mentoring lab staff, and having a direct commercial impact, this is a strong step forward.

You’ll act as a senior technical lead in the lab, combining formulation depth with commercial awareness to develop products that hit the mark for brand customers, retailers, and the end consumer.

Key Responsibilities:

• Initiate project concepts, set objectives, prioritise workload, and deliver multiple concurrent projects with minimal supervision
• Formulate personal care, cosmetic, and OTC products (lip balms, sunscreens) from concept to finished good
• Identify market and category gaps and translate them into commercially viable product concepts
• Lead customer-facing technical discussions covering formulation, regulatory, and performance
• Independently troubleshoot research, scale-up, and production issues, including batch variation
• Own scale-up of approved formulations and identify critical process variables
• Set product specifications, write compounding procedures, and supervise pilot batches
• Deliver cost-down and raw material optimisation projects
• Provide new formula and raw material documentation to Operations and QC
• Manage stability testing programmes and monitor progress
• Conduct raw material and vendor research; assess ingredient interactions
• Review and check ingredient lists, QQs, and artwork
• Interpret lab findings, assess new product risks, and communicate outcomes to Sales and senior leadership
• Track retail, ingredient, and formulation trends and feed insight into the pipeline
• Train, supervise, and develop lab staff (permanent and temporary)

Required

Skills & Experience:

• Advanced formulation expertise across personal care, cosmetic, and/or OTC categories
• Working knowledge of lab equipment, standard techniques, and safe chemical handling
• Thorough understanding of FDA regulations and cGMP
• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, comfortable engaging clients, vendors, and senior stakeholders
• High initiative, innovation, and problem-solving ability
• Proven leadership and cross-functional collaboration skills
• Excellent prioritisation and deadline management in a fast-paced environment
• Exceptional attention to detail, accuracy, and organisation
• Adaptable and comfortable with change
• Proficient in Microsoft Office

Education:

• BS in Chemistry, Cosmetic Science, Physical Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related science with 8+ years of personal care formulation experience
• OR an advanced degree in Cosmetic Chemistry with 6+ years of relevant experience

• Work with a market-leading contract manufacturer trusted by recognised beauty and personal care brands
• Genuine ownership, you drive projects from concept to shelf
• Strong leadership pipeline with mentorship and development opportunities
• Collaborative, innovation-led R&D culture