Smart4 Sciences
Product Development Manager
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Product Performance Development Manager – 12 Month FTC
Location: UK
Salary: Competitive, dependent on experience
A leading fragrance business is looking for an experienced Product Performance Development Manager to join its technical team on a 12-month fixed-term contract.
This is a specialist opportunity for someone with a strong background in fragrance applications, technical development or product performance, who enjoys combining hands-on technical work with team leadership and customer-facing activity.
You will lead a small technical team responsible for understanding and demonstrating how fragrances perform across a range of finished products, working closely with perfumers, development, commercial and technical teams.
Key Responsibilities
- Leading and developing the Product Performance Development team
- Planning and coordinating reactive and proactive fragrance performance testing
- Carrying out and overseeing testing covering areas such as stability, weight loss, viscosity and sensory performance
- Developing testing approaches and methodologies to support customer and internal requirements
- Producing clear technical reports and recommendations for commercial and customer teams
- Providing technical input and presentations to customers when required
- Working closely with perfumery, applications, development and commercial teams to introduce new technologies and solutions
- Supporting fragrance applications across Fine Fragrance, Personal Care, Home Care, Household and Fabric Care
- Developing the technical capability of the team through coaching, training and mentoring
- Ensuring testing equipment, calibration and associated contracts are maintained appropriately
- Providing technical leadership and support across the wider UK business
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About You
We are looking for someone with a genuine fragrance industry background rather than a general laboratory or formulation profile.
You are likely to have experience within fragrance applications, fragrance development, technical development, product performance or a closely related area, ideally with a scientific or chemistry-based qualification.
You will ideally have:
- 3–5+ years' relevant fragrance industry experience
- Experience of working with fragrance applications and product performance testing
- Previous experience managing, mentoring or developing technical staff
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Good attention to detail and a methodical approach to technical work
- Confidence communicating technical information to both internal and external stakeholders
- Strong Excel and wider Microsoft Office skills
- Experience with sensory testing would be advantageous
- A good sense of smell — an internal smelling assessment will form part of the process
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This would suit someone who enjoys being hands-on technically, but is also comfortable taking ownership of projects, supporting customers and providing technical direction to others.
The Opportunity
A chance to join an established and highly regarded fragrance organisation for an initial 12-month fixed-term contract, working across a broad range of fragrance applications and playing a key role within the technical function.
If you have a background in fragrance applications, product performance or fragrance technical development and are interested in finding out more, please get in touch for a confidential discussion.
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