Executive Director, Strategic Innovation & Partnerships

Estée Lauder Companies•Melville, NY

2d•$175,000 - $220,000

About The Position

The Executive Director, Strategic Innovation & Partnerships serves as the senior scientific catalyst connecting ELC's Priority Pillar leaders with the external innovation provider ecosystem. The role is responsible for transforming how ELC identifies, accesses, and leverages external science by shifting supplier engagement from a reactive, opportunity-driven model to a proactive, strategically aligned, performance-driven and repeatable partnership model. Through scientific insight, external relationship leadership, and technology assessment expertise, this leader enables early access to emerging technologies and innovation pipelines, fosters collaborative development programs, and helps translate external capabilities into differentiated technologies that strengthen ELC's competitive advantage. Operating at the intersection of Research & Innovation, Procurement and Legal/Intellectual Property, the Executive Director creates the processes, criteria, governance, and engagement models required to move supplier opportunities from initial discovery through evaluation, development, and commercialization readiness.

Requirements

MS or PhD or PharmD - PhD or PharmD strongly preferred in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Biotechnology, Pharmacology, Cosmetic Science, Dermatology, Materials Science, or related field.
15+ years of experience in R&I, Advanced Research, Ingredient Innovation, or related domains.
Proven track record building and leading external innovation and/or strategic partnership programs.
Demonstrated success translating external technologies into commercial innovation outcomes.
Deep expertise in cosmetic science, formulation, claims, regulatory, and commercialization pathways.
5+ years experience in the Beauty industry.
Experience working with global suppliers, biotech/startup firms, CROs and academic partners.
Strong ability to influence senior stakeholders in a complex, matrixed organization.

Responsibilities

Champion a Strategic External Innovation Mindset Across Advanced Technologies
Partner with Priority Pillar scientific leaders to identify future scientific needs, capability gaps, technology requirements, and innovation opportunities that can be accelerated through external supplier partnerships.
Influence and enable internal scientific teams to engage partners strategically as sources of innovation, capabilities, and co-development opportunities rather than solely as providers of commercially available ingredients.
Drive a proactive approach to external innovation by identifying, targeting, and cultivating relationships with suppliers whose technology roadmaps align with ELC's long-term innovation priorities.
Build and manage a transparent portfolio of external partners and opportunities, tracking status, priorities, risks, decisions, milestones, and expected value. Use, refine, deploy a scorecard to continuously assess external suppliers, and their areas of expertise.
Help establish a culture of scientific scouting and external engagement, within the strategic Supplier ecosystem, that prioritizes early access, collaborative development, and strategic partnership over opportunistic evaluation of technologies nearing commercial launch.
Create visibility into emerging supplier pipelines, platform technologies, and future innovation roadmaps to strengthen the competitiveness and differentiation of ELC's innovation portfolio.
Partner with Legal and Procurement to support agreement structures that reflect the intended collaboration model and business objectives. Help ensure objectives, success criteria, milestones, confidentiality requirements, exclusivity needs, ownership rights, and IP terms are clearly defined before collaboration begins.
Develop Strategic Scientific Partnerships that Create Competitive Advantage
Serve as the senior R&I scientific owner for strategic external partnerships related to actives, working in close partnership with Open Innovation team to shape scouting priorities, evaluate partner technologies, and lead the execution of selected collaborations. Ensure that external opportunities are not only discovered, but scientifically validated, internally sponsored, operationally governed, and translated into differentiated capabilities, proprietary technologies, and pipeline impact for ELC.
Establish and maintain senior scientific and innovation relationships with key suppliers, technology developers, biotech organizations, research institutions, and other external partners relevant to ELC's Priority Pillars.
Position ELC as a preferred innovation partner by building trusted, long-term relationships that encourage early sharing of emerging technologies, research platforms, and future development plans.
Partner with Procurement, Global Supplier Management to incorporate R&I innovation objectives into the overall supplier strategy.
Identify opportunities for joint development programs, custom technology initiatives, and collaborative research efforts that address ELC-defined scientific challenges and innovation priorities.
Facilitate the creation of bespoke supplier collaborations that generate differentiated capabilities, proprietary insights, novel ingredients, enhanced claims support, or exclusive innovation opportunities.
Ensure strategic partnerships are actively cultivated and managed to maximize scientific value creation, relationship strength, and long-term innovation impact.
Drive Cross-Functional Alignment. Act as the central connector between external partners and internal stakeholders across R&I (including formulation, safety, regulatory, clinical), Legal and Procurement.