(Senior) Product Developer (gn)
Darmstadt, HE, DE
ABOUT THE WELLA COMPANY
Wella Company is one of the world’s leading beauty companies, comprised of a family of iconic brands such as Wella Professionals, Clairol, OPI, Nioxin and ghd. With 6,000 employees globally, presence in over 100 countries, Wella Company and its brands enable consumers to look, feel, and be their true selves. As innovators in the hair and nail industry, Wella Company empowers its people to delight consumers, inspire beauty professionals, engage communities, and deliver sustainable growth to its stakeholders.
For additional information about the Wella Company please visit www.wellacompany.com.
ABOUT R&D
Research & Development in Wella Company is a highly collaborative, competent and innovative group. You join a diverse team of highly passionate Scientists, Engineers and Hair and Nail Artists who innovate at the forefront of technology and beauty trends. We:
· Deliver end-to-end innovation through an empowered learning culture, exploring, developing and qualifying innovations that delight consumers.
· Innovate and bring to life the future of the company, guided by consumer research, social media & overall trends that will grow our industry long term.
· Keep safety, sustainability, quality and regulatory always front and center of our work.
We want you to join our R&D family for an exciting journey of innovation that will propel the Wella Company to new heights!
THE ROLE
This R&D Product Developer position will be within the Wella R&D Care & Styling team, to support our European Wella Styling business.
A Product Developer translates stylists & consumer needs into technical benefits. By monitoring consumer & stylist behavior as well as the competitive landscape and trends you identify opportunities for winning innovation. Product & service prototyping and benefit demonstration and visualization are core work areas, complemented by thorough technical documentation for global execution.
In this role you will be closely working with all R&D functions to develop technical understanding and deliver solutions for the retail styling specific initiative needs. You will also represent the R&D position within multi-functional team meetings.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
ACCOUNTABILITY ASPECTS
- Consumer understanding & insights generation, with focus on hair styling
- Product qualification
- Definition and documentation of robust claims substantiation strategy (in vitro and in vivo methods)
- Demo creation to illustrate product differences, building the reason to believe in the product efficacy
- Support the development of technical product stories and scientific communication
- Ensure the regulatory compliance of our existing Wella retail styling portfolio and adapt products where needed
- Support the registration, notifications, freedom to practice and other relevant clearances associated with product launches
- Represent R&D within multifunctional team meetings
PROBLEM SOLVING ASPECTS
- You use data and generate insights that contribute to the development of winning propositions.
- You deliver reliable, accurate and reproducible data in an actionable and timely manner.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Minimum Bachelor Degree from university in chemistry, chem-eng, cosmetic sciences, natural sciences, biology/biotech, etc. or related fields
- Ideally experience within Beauty or FMCG industry in designing and qualifying new technologies
- Curiosity and empathy to transfer consumer and stylist insights into new product ideas
- Desire to penetrate science deeply and support claims with robust science approaches
- Team player and “can do” attitude
- Creative thinking
- A bias towards Beauty and in touch with trends in the beauty and especially styling industry
- Communication and presentation skills for verbal and written communication (in English) of ideas, technical rationales, risks, issues and recommendation.
- Capable and willing to work in a fast-paced environment.
- Fluent in English & German
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT AT WELLA
- Open communication and an international as well as diverse environment in which the "WE" is in the foreground!
- Opportunities to learn and grow in a dynamic research field
- Access to modern lab equipment and computing resources
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
We offer equal employment opportunity to qualified individuals without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Wella complies with federal and state disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. We strongly believe that cultivating a diverse workplace gives a company strength.