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Senior Development Chemist
Are you a commercially astute senior development chemist within the cosmetic and personal care industry?
Are you currently or wanting to lead your own small team of chemists and technicians?
Still want to be hands on, innovating products and sharing your wealth of cosmetic chemistry knowledge, but have a flair for commercially focussed customer contact?
Want to be a part of a growing business in a beautiful part of the UK?
….This could be exactly what you are looking for…
An expanding manufacturer of cosmetic and personal care products has partnered with Woodstock Recruitment to help them hire a technical manager / senior chemist to their team.
The successful applicant will hold several years as a senior formulator, likely have some team management responsibility and be looking for their next step, whilst retaining the desire to be a hands on chemist.
What you will do:
1. Product Development
* Lead end-to-end formulation across skincare and personal care.
* Work quickly, iterate smartly
* Make sure everything scales: you’ll work closely with production to get it right the first time.
* Stay sharp on trends, actives, and compliance.
2. Client Relationships
* Be the go-to chemist in key meetings.
* Build strong relationships — clients should want to work with you again.
* Flag new opportunities. If you hear a need, pitch a solution.
* Support the sales team by giving them smart, technical ideas they can run with.
3. Business Development
* Turn briefs into bigger briefs. Spot where you can add value.
* Help shape new concepts and drive the NPD pipeline from the lab side.
* Translate what’s happening in the market into things that can be commercialised.
* Stay close to top clients — the best development chemists are trusted partners, not order takers.
4. Lab Leadership
* Set the bar high — on formulation quality, lab housekeeping, and pace of work.
* Mentor junior team members, show them how it’s done.
* Keep lab systems tight — keeping visibility across projects and priorities.
* Help build a lab that wins and keeps serious business
What you will need:
* Real formulation expertise — ideally across skincare, hair, body, etc.
* Confidence in front of clients. You speak clearly and back yourself technically.
* A commercial mindset
* Process discipline, but you’re not rigid. You know when to move fast.
* Strong attention to detail and a sense of pride in your work.
Bonus if you also have:
* Experience in a client-facing or commercially-focused chemist role
* Existing client relationships
* Knowledge of cosmetic compliance (UK, EU, global)
* A finger on the pulse of what’s hot — TikTok to trade shows