What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Manager, Product Innovation (Raw Sugar) position at Careers with WM Partners' Portfolio Companies?
ABOUT RAW SUGAR LIVING
Raw Sugar Living is a personal care brand on a mission to promote clean and healthy living through products that are good for the body and nourish the soul. Since 2014, we have mainstreamed premium-quality and vegan-friendly personal and hair care products, recognized by our signature ‘Bamboo Tops & White Bottles.’ We continue to innovate new and eco-friendly clean products because everyone has the right to feel beautiful and love the skin they are in. Learn more at rawsugarliving.com.
WORKPLACE
Los Angeles, CA / hybrid (1-2 days/week in office)
ABOUT THE ROLE
We are seeking a Senior Manager, Product Innovation to lead the creation of our next generation of products across haircare and body care. This role is responsible for front-end innovation and product development—from identifying consumer insights and white space opportunities through concept creation, claims development, and validated product readiness. Sitting at the intersection of product development and brand strategy, this role shapes both what we build and how it comes to life for the consumer. You will develop distinctive, category-disrupting products and scalable innovation platforms, grounded in strong insights, clear positioning, and compelling reason-to-believe.
WHAT YOU WILL DO
Drive Innovation Strategy
- Identify emerging consumer trends, market opportunities, and competitive white space
- Translate insights into breakthrough concepts and scalable innovation platforms
- Develop a 2–3 year innovation roadmap, balancing near-term launches with longer-term, disruptive opportunities
- Ensure innovation drives incremental revenue, margin expansion, and brand differentiation
- Own accurate and organized data management across formula setup, product information files, development samples, initial pricing and ongoing product lifecycle management.
- Coordinate with commercialization and compliance workflows during new product development and product lifecycle management, including tracking testing, documentation, and compliance milestones in alignment with regulatory guidance and commercialization timelines.
Lead Product Development
- Lead the product development process from concept through validation, ensuring the original innovation vision is preserved through execution
- Own concept creation, product positioning, and high-level claims development
- Partner with external formulators and suppliers to develop high-quality, cost-effective products
- Guide formulation direction, ingredient selection, and product performance standards
Supplier & Formulation Leadership
- Build and manage strong relationships with contract manufacturers, labs, and packaging suppliers
- Drive iterative development cycles to optimize performance, cost, and speed-to-market
- Ensure all products meet Raw Sugar’s clean beauty, safety, and sustainability standards
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner with Marketing, Design, and Operations to ensure product concepts align with brand strategy and positioning
- Translate innovation vision into clear briefs, product requirements, and development guardrails
- Serve as the innovation lead and product expert, supporting internal teams with claims, storytelling, and technical insight
Process & Capability Building
- Build and scale best-in-class innovation capabilities, including tools, processes, and ways of working
- Introduce AI-driven insights and modern innovation approaches to accelerate concept development and decision-making
- Improve development workflows to enhance speed, agility, and pipeline quality
- Establish scalable processes for pipeline development, concept validation, and product readiness
WHAT YOU BRING
- 7 years of experience in product innovation, product development, or R&D within beauty, personal care, or CPG
- Proven track record of creating and launching innovative, high-impact products
- Strong ability to translate consumer insights into tangible product concepts and platforms
- Deep understanding of formulation, ingredients, and packaging (without needing to be a bench chemist)
- Experience working with external formulators, labs, and contract manufacturers
- Balance of creative thinking and technical product knowledge
- Experience building innovation pipelines and multi-year product strategies
- Strong project management and cross-functional leadership skills
- Ability to manage multiple projects and thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment
PERKS & BENEFITS
Raw Sugar Living offers a comprehensive benefit package which includes medical, dental and vision plans, company-paid disability and life insurance, paid time off, 401(k) match, a wellness program and more!
The annual base salary range for this full-time position is $140,000 - $145,000 USD/year. The actual annual base salary offered may be adjusted based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to: location, education, skills, training, and experience.
Applicants for employment in the US must have work authorization that does not now or in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the United States. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, marital status, or any other legally protected factor. Raw Sugar Living is committed to offering reasonable accommodation to job applicants with disabilities. Raw Sugar Living does not accept unsolicited agency resumes and is not responsible for any agency fees related to unsolicited resumes.
Salary : $140 - $145