Senior Cosmetic Formulation Chemist - Arcaea

Arcaea is seeking an experienced Cosmetic Formulation Chemist to join our team and play a critical role in developing world class products containing our novel ingredients. 

No candidate will meet every single desired qualification. If your experience looks a little different from what we've identified and you think you can bring value to the role, we'd love to learn more about you!

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead the formulation of world class skincare products, including cleansers, creams, lotions, serums, sunscreens, and other topical applications while ensuring that formulas align to project briefs, adhere to prescribed timetables, and fall within required cost targets.
• Develop and optimize formulations at the bench in close collaboration with the Future Society™Director of Product Development and the novel ingredients formulation chemistry team, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, safety standards and that meet manufacturing capabilities.
• Identify technical insights on new formulas to establish a clear scientific mode-of-action that builds into strong product concepts and claims and support the Future Society product brief
• Conduct stability and compatibility testing of formulations, evaluate the performance, efficacy, and safety, and make necessary adjustments.
• Support on packaging selection. 
• Evaluate formula design and performance of competitive products
• Drive continuous improvement and innovation in product formulations, staying on top of new technologies and scientific advancements in the cosmetic industry. 
• Conduct research on new raw materials, key active ingredients, and technologies to enhance product performance and market appeal.
• Generate new ideas for product concepts and assess them for implementation.
• Collaborate with quality control to establish and maintain product quality standards.
• Troubleshoot laboratory and production batch issues, including attendance in regular meetings for direct communication with relevant outside contract manufacturers.
• Actively formulate to anticipate and avoid potential scale-up and manufacturing challenges by establishing batch making procedures and define product specifications for transfer to scale up pilot line testing
• Work closely with contract manufacturers to tech transfer and scale up formulations from lab to production. This will require travel to be onsite with the CM for pilot batches and mass production.
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously, delivering high quality products on time.
• Prepare and maintain accurate documentation including formulation records, technical data sheets, formulation records, batching/mixing instructions, and SOPs.  
• Engage with customers and research social media to understand their needs, improving products, and identifying white space.
• Stay up to date with industry trends, regulatory changes, and advancements in skin- and suncare science.
• Support identifying, selecting, verifying, and working closely with contract manufacturers. 

WHAT WE SEEK: 

• Bachelor's or master's degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Cosmetic Science, or a related field
• Must have 5+ years of beauty/personal care downstream product formulation expertise, with at least 5 years of experience in skincare formulations.
• Familiarity with function and technical challenges of various packaging delivery systems; pump sprays, tubes, squeeze bottles, air-less packs, lotion pumps, etc. to inform product packaging selection
• Proven track record of developing successful skincare products from concept to market.
• 1+ years of experience at a contract manufacturer is preferred.
• Passionate about formulation chemistry and spending time at the bench creating new products.
• Experienced with tech transfers, including scaling up to large scale manufacturing equipment.
• Passion and knowledge about the beauty industry and a belief in the biology-first approach
• Deep understanding of key active ingredients, raw materials, product development, product efficacy/performance, and regulatory compliance.
• Possesses a consumer-first and global mindset. 
• High emotional intelligence and self-awareness, which encourages positive energy, kindness, and passion throughout the organization.
• Persuasive written and oral communication skills with the ability to distill and articulate key messages to executives and stakeholders.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, negotiation, problem-solving, and influencing skills to work effectively with all internal stakeholders.
• Self starter who loves working in an agile, startup environment.
• Familiarity with regulatory requirements for cosmetic product and raw materials in major markets (e.g., FDA, MOCRA, NA, EU in priority)
• Familiarity  with GLP, cGMP, and QA/QC personal care industry best practices.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to think creatively.
• Strong project management skills and the ability to prioritize tasks effectively amongst multiple ongoing projects.
• Knowledge of sustainable and eco-friendly ingredient sourcing.
• Experience with mentoring others is a plus.
• Travel requirement: 10%