Beauty Product Technologist - Skincare

Are you passionate about developing innovative skincare products that customers love? We’re looking for a Product Development Technologist to join our Beauty team and play a key role in creating market-leading, customer-focused skincare products. In this role, you’ll be responsible for technically developing safe, legal, ethical, and price-competitive skincare ranges that set M&S apart from the competition. You’ll manage the product development process from concept to shelf, ensuring all products align with our brand values and performance standards.

To stay close to customers, our support teams are in the office three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected.

What’s in it for you: Being a part of M&S is exactly that – playing your part to bring the magic of M&S to our customers every day. We’re an inclusive, dynamic, exciting, and ever-evolving business built on doing the right thing and bringing exceptional quality, value, and service to every customer, whenever, wherever, and however they want to shop with us. Here are some of the benefits we offer that make working for M&S just that little bit more special:

• After completing your probationary period, you’ll receive 20% colleague discount across all M&S products and many of our third-party brands for you and a member of your household.
• Competitive holiday entitlement with the potential to buy extra holiday days!
• Discretionary bonus schemes awarded based on how you achieve your personal objectives and our performance as a business.
• A generous Defined Contribution Pension Scheme and Life Assurance.
• A dedicated welcome to our teams with a tailored induction and a wide range of training programmes to develop your skills.
• Amazing perks and discounts via our M&S Choices portal to maximise your financial and personal wellbeing.
• Industry-leading parental, adoption, and neonatal policies, providing support and flexibility for your family.
• Access to a fantastic range of wellbeing support for all colleagues including access to our 24/7 Virtual GP and PAM Assist to support you and your family.
• A charity volunteer day to support a charity or cause you're passionate about through a dedicated day away from work.

Your key accountabilities will include:

• Technically accountable for department/departments and representing M&S technology externally and across the business.
• Develop great quality products in collaboration with buying and design teams.
• Developing junior members of the technical team.
• Deliver clear briefs for new product development & relevant tenders, to include raw materials, claims, texture, required product testing and M&S Compliance Requirements.
• Critical path - ensure all technical deadlines are met in line with BU critical path and continually working to optimise Leadtime whilst maintaining product technical standards.
• Working closely with raw material suppliers where relevant, to ensure quality feedback and innovation is embedded into the seasonal strategy.
• Keep abreast of the latest technology trends in raw materials, claims, manufacturing techniques and relevant packaging.
• Feeding into the product development process.

Your skills and experience will include:

• Expert in the field of developing beauty products with a focus on skincare.
• Excellent communication skills within Beauty Technical Function, Design and Buying, Supply Base and Global Sourcing Offices.
• Multi-tasked orientated working to tight deadlines while maintaining entrepreneurialism.
• Capable of interpreting customer data to shape future product development strategy.
• Ability to embrace change and strive to embed new processes and ways of working.

Everyone’s welcome: We are ambitious about the future of retail. We’re disrupting, innovating, and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We’re transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted, and admired by our colleagues, customers, and suppliers. Join us and make change happen. We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together. If you feel you’d benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don’t hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.