Director, Product Development

Role overview

Farmacy is looking for a Product Development Consultant to cover parental leave for approximately six months. In this hands-on, highly collaborative contract assignment, you will help move new skincare concepts from early ideation through launch, supporting the brand’s innovation pipeline and product growth.

What you will do

You will work closely with R&D, Marketing, Creative, Regulatory, and Operations teams to manage day-to-day development activity, keep stakeholders aligned, and ensure key milestones stay on track. The role combines project leadership with product evaluation, cross-functional coordination, and market-informed decision-making.

Core scope

• Lead skincare product development across the full lifecycle, including formula creation, safety and claims validation, creative concept development, design brief preparation, and market analysis.
• Support product innovation efforts that reflect customer needs and current market opportunities.
• Collaborate with R&D and partner teams to write new product concepts, choose active and story ingredients, and coordinate testing and regulatory steps within the overall timeline.
• Build R&D briefs that clearly outline development requirements such as texture, fragrance benchmarks, usage experience, ingredients, technologies, positioning, and claims.
• Review formula proposals and share actionable feedback with R&D.
• Monitor and communicate progress on product and packaging submissions, reviews, and approvals.
• Organize, follow, and interpret testing activities, including safety, clinical, consumer panel, and other studies, while considering test design and intended claim outcomes.
• Work with Regulatory to help ensure formulas and claims meet compliance requirements.
• Prepare and share a weekly project status update.

Compensation and assignment details

The pay range for this contract role is $9,000 to $11,000 per month. The assignment is expected to run for about 6 months as parental leave coverage.

Working arrangement

This is an onsite position based in New York, NY. The role also requires dependable commuting to the Mahwah, NJ area for visits to the contract manufacturer site.

About the working style

The successful candidate should be energized by a fast-moving startup environment, comfortable working in an all-hands-on-deck culture, and able to balance strategic thinking with strong execution. The position reports to the VP of Product Development & Regulatory.

Requirements

• At least 7 years of professional experience in product development or a closely related field.
• Hands-on skincare experience is essential.
• Comfort working in a startup setting with a proactive, collaborative mindset.
• Ability to commute reliably to the Mahwah, NJ area when needed for contract manufacturer visits.
• Strong strategic thinking with the ability to translate plans into execution.