Department: Solution & Innovation buinsess Position: External Innovation Director Accountable to: R&D Head Effective Date: 2026.02.12 Job Summary: - Translate global VMS (Vitamins, Minerals, and Supplements) trends, new dosage forms, and consumer insights into actionable business opportunities and competitive advantages. - Collaborate with the commercial team to understand consumers, identify potential food forms in each key market, and build an innovation pipeline. - Partner with third parties or FMCG companies to develop new dosage forms. - Develop a robust moat strategy and accumulate know-how for each food dosage form. - Enhance user experience for the developed dosage forms. - Lead end-to-end project management from concept through to launch of new food dosage forms. Responsibilities / Daily Tasks: - Monitor and analyze global VMS trends, emerging dosage forms, new technologies, and consumer insights to identify actionable business opportunities and maintain competitive advantage. - Collaborate with the commercial team to understand consumer needs, map them to potential food forms across key markets, and build an innovation pipeline. - Manage partnerships with third-party vendors or FMCG companies to co-develop and validate new dosage forms. - Design and implement a robust business moat strategy, capturing critical know-how and intellectual property for each food dosage form. - Lead efforts to optimize user experience and usability for developed dosage forms. - Drive end-to-end project management, including concept ideation, feasibility assessments, development, testing, regulatory considerations, and successful launch of new food dosage forms. - Define project milestones, timelines, budgets, and resource plans; monitor progress and adjust plans as needed. - Coordinate cross-functional teams (R&D, regulatory, marketing, supply chain, QA) to ensure integrated execution. - Maintain strong vendor relationships, negotiate agreements, and manage risk throughout development programs. - Document learnings and build internal know-how repositories to support scalable replication across markets. Qualifications: Education and Age: - Bachelor’s degree or above in Food Science, Nutrition, Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy, or related fields. - Age: typically 35–45 years old; male candidates in good condition may be considered up to 50. Work Experience: - More than 10 years of product R&D experience in FMCG food & beverage companies or equivalent application experience in ingredients B2B. - At least 3 years of team leadership experience. - No less than 6 years of hands-on R&D practice. - At least 3 years of project management experience. - Proven hands-on and managerial experience in new product development projects. Competencies and Qualities: - Open mindset and innovative thinking with the ability to learn rapidly, adapt to change, and a proactive, curious attitude toward new domains. - Strong communication and coordination skills. - Straightforward, collaborative, positive work attitude; a track record of professional integrity. - Excellent verbal and written English; able to use English as a working language. Business Travel: - Willingness to travel internationally and domestically: at least 2 weeks per month. Key Stakeholders: - Internal: cross-functional teams including Business Development, Marketing, Supply Chain and Procurement, Quality, Finance, and R&D. - External: co-manufacturers, third parties (e.g., flavor houses, ingredients application labs).