Vice President, Product, ESG, Regulatory

Vice President, Product, ESG, Regulatory

Launched in 2015, Sol de Janeiro is a globally recognized, award-winning beauty brand, drawing inspiration from Brazil's beauty rituals, warmth, and spirit. Sol de Janeiro delivers a sensory experience beloved by multi-generational consumers worldwide, with clinically proven results, transformative textures, and transportive fragrances. Headquartered in New York and launched as a digitally native brand, we have expanded globally with teams in Paris, London, and Germany. Our commitment to excellence has earned high-profile honors, including being named one of TIME's 2024 Most Influential Companies, Fast Company's 2024 World's Most Innovative Companies, and WWD Beauty Inc's Power Brands of 2024, underscoring its leadership in the beauty industry and outstanding workplace.

What You'll Do

As the Vice President, Product, ESG & Regulatory, you will lead the strategy, development, and execution of Sol de Janeiro's global product innovation roadmap, ensuring every formula reflects our performance standards, sensorial excellence, and sustainability values. You will oversee end-to-end product creation with external labs and manufacturing partners, embed ESG principles and impact transparency across the product lifecycle, and guide our global regulatory approach to support compliant, scalable growth. You'll partner cross-functionally to accelerate innovation, enhance technical capabilities, and shape the future of our product portfolio with a balance of creativity, scientific rigor, and responsible beauty leadership.

What You'll Be Working On

R&D Responsibilities:

• Lead end-to-end product development through external labs and manufacturing partners, from concept to commercialization bringing formulations that meet our Brand performance, client experience, and ethical, "clean" and sustainable goals
• Develop superior & competitive products with strong pipeline and innovating on-trend formats and ingredients.
• Drive organizational knowledge of ingredient and performance innovation that reflect our business vision to have highly effective products with the best and most sensorial client experience in the market.
• Maintain awareness of new technologies and developments both independently and with L'Occitane Groupe R&D
• Build and establish relationships with appropriate contacts within existing and new contract manufacturers' labs, raw material suppliers, and 3rd party testing facilities to drive formulation and company goals.
• Directly oversee all technical aspects of formulation integrity including stability, fragrance compatibility, safety, efficacy, claims support, and documentation.
• Build robust R&D processes and partnerships that support long-term capacity, quality, and speed-to-market goals.
• Manage formulation COGS and proactively drive cost optimization through process & ingredient optimization without compromising product quality or consumer experience.
• Develop and manage annual R&D budgets: development, testing, regulatory, and claims activity.
• Travel or delegate travel when it serves organizational or formulation goals.
• Recruit, develop, train, mentor, and retain a growing technical team while fostering a high-performance, collaborative culture.
• Set standards with Product Innovation and Customer Experience and advise on technical inquiries ensuring legally compliant responses.
• Own risk assessment regarding possible legal actions, manage actions if they arise.

Sustainability Responsibilities:

• Oversee all carbon, waste, and water reporting, managing upstream and downstream impact assessments across the value chain.
• Maintain and evolve tools and frameworks for formula and ingredient impact transparency (e.g., LCAs, ingredient impact dashboards).
• Stay ahead of emerging ESG regulatory trends, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), packaging mandates, and carbon disclosure.
• Partner with packaging, formula labs, and contract manufacturers to improve environmental profiles and drive circularity initiatives.
• Represent ESG interests in product innovation discussions, ensuring integration of sustainability principles from concept to shelf.

Regulatory Responsibilities:

• Lead the global regulatory strategy, ensuring compliance across North America, EU, LATAM, APAC, and emerging markets.
• Manage interdependencies, risks and trade-offs across functions/stakeholders, keeping abreast of regulatory changes and updates globally both independently and with L'Occitane Groupe Regulatory.
• Oversee safety and claims substantiation, including product testing, user trials, and documentation for global launches.
• Manage product registration processes and country-specific portals such as CPNP, Canada Health, and LATAM equivalents.
• Ensure all marketing and communication materials, including digital, print, and packaging, meet relevant regulatory requirements.
• Conduct global risk assessments for ingredients, formulas, and claims in coordination with our Legal and Quality teams.
• Build and lead a regulatory team capable of scaling with the brand's global expansion plans.

Must Haves

• Bachelor's Degree in Cosmetic Science, Chemistry, or Related Field (Advanced degree preferred).
• 10+ years of progressive leadership in product development in the beauty, cosmetics, or personal care industries.
• Demonstrated success leading ESG reporting and sustainability initiatives in a consumer product setting.
• Deep understanding of global regulatory environments including the EU, Canada, LATAM, and Asia.
• Experience managing external labs, contract manufacturers, and third-party testing organizations.
• Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams and communicate technical topics to non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to derive insights from ESG and ingredient impact data.
• Experience building and scaling high-performing teams in fast-paced, entrepreneurial environments.
• Passion for purpose-led brands and a track record of integrating innovation and sustainability into business strategy.
• Exceptional Project Management Skills, including budget, timeline, and resource management.
• Strong Communication and Interpersonal Skills, with the ability to engage cross-functional teams and stakeholders effectively.

Salary Range: $250,000 - $290,000 USD

Why Sol de Janeiro?

• Competitive salary and bonus program
• Flexible hybrid work environment with opportunities for collaboration and growth
• Inclusive culture that values diverse perspectives and celebrates individuality
• The chance to be part of a fast-growing, award-winning global beauty brand

The information contained herein is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee, as these may change or new ones may be assigned at any time. Sol de Janeiro is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status.

Requests for accommodation due to a disability or any other protected characteristic can be made at any stage of the recruitment process and during employment by contacting our People Experience Team at [email protected].