Job Title: Senior Manager - Formulation

Location: Lower Parel, Mumbai

Work Mode: Hybrid (4 Days WFO + 1 Day WFH)

About Us:

Join our dynamic and innovative startup skincare brand that is committed to redefining beauty standards with clean, effective, and sustainable products. Founded by beauty influencer Diipa Büller-Khosla, the brand emphasizes authenticity, and transparency, offering vegan and cruelty-free products that cater to diverse skin types while celebrating cultural heritage.

Brand: https://india.indewild.com

About the Role:

At indē wild, creating science-backed, culturally rooted products is our core. As the Senior Manager of Formulation, you will drive the end-to-end formulation process from ideation to the first commercial batch sign-off. Your primary objective is to develop and optimize innovative, high-performance, IP-ownable cosmetic formulations that meet brand standards for sensorial experience, performance, safety, and efficacy—validated through clinical and consumer testing. You will provide critical technical leadership and act as the vital bridge between our NPD team and OEM factories to create technically viable, groundbreaking formulas.

What You'll Do

Lead Formulation Development & Innovation

• Create and optimize unique, IP-ownable formulations aligned with our clean, clinical, and sustainable brand positioning.
• Develop bench samples with clear documentation of ingredient rationale, concentration ranges, and stability parameters.
• Provide alternative formulations or texture variants (e.g., cream vs. gel, serum vs. emulsion) to support sensory and performance preferences.
• Stay updated on market trends to recommend next-gen actives (e.g., biomimetic peptides, fermented extracts) and identify sustainability improvements such as waterless formats or biodegradable bases.

Drive Ingredient Strategy & Sensorial Excellence

• Identify best-in-class raw materials, actives, and functional ingredients from reputable global suppliers.
• Build a preferred supplier matrix with contacts, lead times, and MOQs to support seamless scale-up.
• Develop texture prototypes tailored to brand sensorial goals (lightweight, rich, fast-absorbing, silicone-free slip) and lead internal sensory evaluation sessions.
• Evaluate ingredient synergies to enhance efficacy, bioavailability, and texture.

Oversee Efficacy, Compliance & Documentation

• Design formulations with clear claim potential (hydration, barrier repair, oil control, etc.) and recommend active combinations for clinical studies.
• Support regulatory documentation for PIF, INCI, safety assessments, and claims validation to ensure compliance with UK/EU/US standards.
• All formulas strictly align with the indē wild ethos: Clean @ Sephora, non-endocrine disrupting, vegan, and high natural percentage.
• Maintain comprehensive formulation records, stability/compatibility reports (1M, 3M, 6M, accelerated), and IP documentation highlighting novelty for patents.

Manage Factory Liaison & Scale-Up

• Partner with manufacturing sites and contract labs to ensure a smooth lab-to-plant transfer.
• Review and validate batch records, pilot batch results, and stability testing at scale.
• Troubleshoot scale-up deviations in texture, color, viscosity, or performance, and supervise pre-production trials (PPT).
• Collaborate with NPD, Brand, Packaging, and Regulatory teams to align formula design with product concepts, maintaining a strict Gantt chart timeline (formulas must be locked within 2 months of project start).

What We're Looking

• For Strong technical background in cosmetic chemistry, formulation development, and end-to-end concept-to-launch ownership.
• Deep expertise in global regulatory compliance (UK/EU/US standards) and formulating to strict clean beauty standards (Clean @ Sephora, vegan, non-endocrine disrupting).
• Proven ability to act as a technical liaison between internal product teams and external OEM factories.
• Exceptional project management skills to maintain timelines and ensure milestone completion from brief to production.
• A highly analytical yet creative mindset capable of balancing clinical efficacy with premium sensorial experiences.
• Understanding that all formulations, data, and supplier connections generated remain the intellectual property of the brand.

What Success Looks Like

• High percentage of formulations meeting clinical efficacy benchmarks.
• Exceptional texture and sensorial satisfaction scores from consumer panel studies.
• Timely delivery of samples and documentation against the NPD schedule (locking formulations within 2 months).
• A robust pipeline of unique, IP-worthy formulations developed per category.
• High level of supplier innovation integration and seamless scalability feasibility.

Why This Role at Inde Wild

• Be part of a fast-growing, community-first beauty brand
• Direct impact on how customers experience and trust the brand.
• Opportunity to influence product, marketing, and operations through real customer insights.

If this sounds like you please share your updated resume on Sidharth@indewild.com.