Job Application for Senior Director of Product Development at The Honest Company

New

We appreciate your interest in employment with The Honest Company! The Honest Company is committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity, and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, age, physical or mental disability, veteran or military status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, or any other legally-recognized protected basis under federal, state, or local law. Applicants with disabilities who need assistance with the application process may be entitled to a reasonable accommodation in accordance with applicable law. If you need assistance in completing this application or with the application process because of a disability, please contact the Human Resources Department at 1.888.862.8818 or 1.310.857.3020.

About Us

The Honest Company (NASDAQ: HNST) is a personal care company dedicated to creating cleanly-formulated and sustainably-designed products spanning categories across diapers, wipes, baby personal care, beauty, apparel, household care and wellness. Launched in 2012, the Company is on a mission to challenge ingredients, ideals, and industries through the power of the Honest brand, the Honest team, and the Honest Standard. For more information about the Honest Standard and the Company, please visit www.honest.com.

Our Mission

We're on a mission to empower people to live happy, healthy lives. We're a wellness brand with values rooted in consciousness, community, transparency, and design. Every day and in every way, we hold ourselves to an Honest standard. We believe that it is our responsibility to do our part to help create a healthy and sustainable future for all.

The Role

You will be fully accountable for steering the multi-year long-term innovation pipeline, driving macro-level category strategy in partnership with Brand, and guiding a dedicated team of in-house chemists to concept, develop, and optimize award-winning products. The Senior Director will ensure all initiatives seamlessly deliver on the company's shared category strategic vision, uncompromising quality standards, and aggressive business growth objectives.

Who we are looking for:

The Honest Company is expanding our Research and Development leadership team! We’re looking for a strategic, visionary, and highly experienced Senior Director of Product Development. As a Senior Director in the Research and Development department, you will serve as the principal strategic leader and primary executive liaison between Research and Development and the cross-functional leadership of the operating units—including Brand, Operations, Sales, and Marketing Communications.

What you’ll do:

Strategic Vision & Portfolio Leadership: Partner directly with Brand and Executive leadership to architect, cultivate, and champion the long-term innovation pipeline and overarching strategic vision for Honest Baby Personal Care, Adult Personal Care, and future adjacent categories.
End-to-End NPD Governance: Direct, optimize, and champion high-impact projects through the Honest NPD stage-gate process from initial concept to commercialized launch, ensuring flawless execution, superior quality, and strict adherence to corporate timelines.
Macro Product Concepting & Strategy: Direct in-depth global reviews of key categories, emerging macro trends, and the competitive landscape to define forward-looking product strategy. Lead and orchestrate cross-functional collaboration among key stakeholders—including formulation, packaging, Claims & Clinicals, brand marketing, and sales—to develop robust, highly differentiated product concepts with undeniable Points of Difference (PODs). Strategically weigh development trade-offs with an executive focus on organizational effort vs. long-term ROI.
Executive Technical Marketing: Serve as the authoritative internal expert on the product portfolio, providing critical technical insights to marketing communications, sales, and investor relations. Cultivate deep, collaborative relationships with R&D technical experts to translate complex ingredient science and clinical claims into powerful, consumer-facing narratives. Champion comprehensive product and brand education across all global consumer touchpoints.
Process & Systems Optimization: Establish, scale, and continually elevate front-end innovation processes, advanced tracking tools, and methodologies to streamline departmental functions, mitigate project complexity, and accelerate rapid prototyping.
Market Intelligence & Insight: Analyze global macro-category dynamics and clean ingredient trends, collaborating closely with consumer insights to draw high-level, actionable conclusions that future-proof product roadmaps.
Industry Representation: Represent The Honest Company as a thought leader at key trade shows and global conferences to spearhead strategic manufacturer and raw material supplier relationships, evaluate competitive landscapes, and maintain cutting-edge industry education.
Travel: Ability to travel up to 15%

What you’ll need:

Education: Bachelor’s degree required; an advanced degree or Bachelor's in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Cosmetics Science, or a related technical field is highly preferred but not required.
Experience: 12+ years of progressive product development experience within a CPG Personal Care environment, paired with an authoritative, deep understanding of R&D operations. Direct formulation or laboratory experience is a distinct plus.
Leadership: Minimum of 6–8+ years of direct people management experience, with a proven track record of leading, mentoring, and influencing scale cross-functional teams and executive stakeholders across a matrixed organization.
Technical Expertise: Proven, expert-level mastery of product development, advanced sensory evaluation, clean beauty standards, and complex stage-gate operational processes.
Business Acumen: Demonstrated mastery in managing substantial departmental budgets, complex financial metrics, and high-volume, high-stakes project portfolios successfully.
Mindset: A powerful combination of creative problem-solving skills, sophisticated consumer-insight comprehension, and an agile aptitude for high-level strategic thinking in a fluid, fast-paced environment.
Soft Skills: Executive-level interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills. A highly collaborative leader possessing an unshakeable sense of ownership, accountability, urgency, and corporate integrity.

The pay range for this role is $220,000 - $260,000. Actual compensation is based on many factors including but not limited to depth of experience, skill level, ability, knowledge, education, certifications, and specific work location. This may be different in other locations due to differences in the cost of labor.

The total rewards package for this position may also include base, annual incentive plan, benefits, retirement plan, equity, and Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

Benefits & Perks

At Honest, we’re all about investing in our people. We’re dedicated to providing a benefits package that supports your well-being, growth, and balance. Check out our benefits and perks we offer to help you thrive both in and out of the office:

Comprehensive Health & Wellness 🏥: We’ve got you covered with top-tier health, dental, and vision plans to keep you and your family feeling great.
401k with Company Match 💰: Your future matters to us. We match your 401k contributions to help you secure a strong financial future.
Wellness & Fitness 💪: Stay healthy with a monthly fitness reimbursement and, for those in our Playa Vista office, an onsite gym to keep you active and energized.
Work-Life Balance ⚖️: We value your time. We provide a generous and flexible vacation policy to relax, recharge, and spend time on what matters most.
Family-Friendly Leave 👶: Growing your family? We offer generous maternity and paternity leave to support you during this exciting journey.
Ownership & Equity 💼: Ownership isn’t just a mindset here—it’s real. Every full time employee is granted equity, giving you a direct stake in our future. When we win, you win.
Education Reimbursement 🎓: We’re committed to your growth—whether it’s for professional development or a new passion, we offer education reimbursement to help you learn and level up.
Pet Insurance 🐾: We love your furry family members too! Our pet insurance ensures your pets are taken care of, because they’re part of the family.

Please note: Benefits offerings may vary based on the position and geographic location.

California Privacy Rights Notice for Californian Job Applicants and Prospective Talent

Effective Date: January 1, 2020

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), The Honest Company, Inc. (“Honest” or “us” or “we”) is required to inform California residents who are our job applicants or prospective talent (together “job applicants” or “you”) about the categories of personal information we may collect about you and the purposes for which we use this information. Click here if you are a California resident to read disclosures required by the CCPA. Note this notice applies only to personal information that is subject to the CCPA.

Categories of Personal Information We Collect. We may collect the following categories of personal information about our job applicants, who are California residents:

Name
Signature
Social Security Number
Email and mailing address
Telephone number
Education
Employment history

How We Use Job Applicants' Personal Data. We use and disclose the personal information we collect for our business purposes. These business purposes include, without limitation:

Processing evaluating your application to determine your qualifications for the role to which you’ve applied, and communicating with you about your application, including to check references or your background, and communicate with you about other jobs that may interest you.
Other business purposes as identified in the CCPA, which include:

Auditing related to our interactions with you;
Legal compliance
Detecting and protecting against security incidents, fraud, and illegal activity;
Debugging;
Performing services for us, such as analytics;
Internal research for technological improvement; and
Internal operations.

Other Interactions with The Honest Company. More information about our privacy practices can be found in our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Contact Us. For questions or concerns about our Privacy Policy, please contact us at privacy@honest.com.

#LIHybrid

Create a Job Alert

Interested in building your career at The Honest Company ? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.

First Name

Last Name

Preferred First Name

Country

Phone

Location (City)

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Degree

Select...

What is your full legal name?

LinkedIn Profile

How did you hear about this job?

Are you authorized to work in the United States? (In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire)

Will you now or in the future require The Honest Company to sponsor an immigration case in order to employ you?

Our team operates on a hybrid schedule and works from our Playa Vista (Los Angeles), CA office two days per week for in-person collaboration. Are you able to commit to this schedule? If you’re not currently in LA, are you open to relocating?

Select...

We know compensation is personal and want to be mindful of your expectations. To help ensure alignment early in the process, please share your target base salary as a specific number (e.g., $75,000) — rather than “negotiable.”

By clicking on the “Submit Application” button below, I am acknowledging and certifying the following: The information I provided on this application (including any attachment), and any other information I provide during the application process, is true, accurate, and complete to the best of my knowledge. I understand that any misrepresentation or omission of facts from this application (including any attachment) or at any point during the application process will impact my eligibility for employment and, if applicable, my continued employment. I understand that this is an application for employment, and not an offer of employment. I further understand that if I am hired by The Honest Company, I will be an at-will employee, meaning that both The Honest Company and I are free to terminate the employment relationship at any time, for any lawful reason or no reason at all, with or without any cause or prior notice. No representative of The Honest Company, other than a Board-elected officer of The Honest Company, has the authority to enter into any expressed or implied agreement for employment for any specified period of time or make any agreement contrary to the foregoing. Any such agreement purporting to alter the at–will nature of employment with The Honest Company in any manner must be in writing and signed by a Board-elected officer of The Honest Company.

Select...

Do you have deep expertise across retail media platforms, particularly Amazon Ads and also including but not limited to Walmart Connect and Target Roundel?

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in The Honest Company ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Gender

Select...

Are you Hispanic/Latino?

Select...

Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Veteran Status

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305

Page 1 of 1

OMB Control Number 1250-0005

Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
Blind or low vision
Cancer (past or present)
Cardiovascular or heart disease
Celiac disease
Cerebral palsy
Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
Diabetes
Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
Intellectual or developmental disability
Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
Short stature (dwarfism)
Traumatic brain injury

Disability Status

Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.

Senior Director of Product Development

Benefits & Perks

Apply for this job

Voluntary Self-Identification

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability