Senior Scent Design Manager

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Scent Design Manager

Company: IFF

Location: Nucleos, Singapore

Job Type: Full time

Category: Fragrance Design & Strategy

Date Posted: 2026-07-28

Experience Level: 8-10 years

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the strategic development and execution of innovative fragrance concepts, aligning olfactive direction with customer needs, market trends, and business profitability.

• Drive the creative fragrance development process by providing expert olfactive guidance, mentoring perfumers, and identifying optimal fragrance solutions through a deep understanding of scent profiles.

• Leverage comprehensive fragrance expertise and resources, including fragrance banks, olfactive terminology, and sensory insights, to foster innovation and deliver unique scent experiences.

• Manage complex projects by orchestrating cross-functional teams, meticulously tracking progress, ensuring timely delivery, and maintaining transparent stakeholder communication.

• Apply in-depth market, consumer, and brand insights to inform fragrance development, anticipate emerging trends, and uncover future business growth opportunities.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role title "Senior Scent Design Manager" strongly suggests a focus on the strategic and creative aspects of fragrance development within a product lifecycle, rather than a purely R&D or technical role. The emphasis on "strategy," "customer needs," and "business profitability" indicates a commercial and market-facing component, typical of GTM (Go-To-Market) operations. The requirement for 8-10 years of experience points to a senior-level position requiring significant autonomy and strategic input.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Develop and execute comprehensive fragrance strategies that are directly aligned with customer objectives, current market dynamics, and overarching business profitability targets.

• Spearhead the creative fragrance development lifecycle, offering precise olfactive direction, guiding perfumers through the creative process, and identifying winning fragrance solutions that meet diverse client briefs.

• Utilize a deep reservoir of fragrance expertise and proprietary resources, including extensive fragrance banks, refined olfactive terminology, detailed fragrance genealogy, and cutting-edge sensory insights, to drive impactful innovation.

• Effectively manage multiple projects concurrently by coordinating diverse cross-functional teams (e.g., R&D, Marketing, Sales, Regulatory), diligently tracking project milestones, adhering to strict deadlines, and ensuring seamless, clear communication with all key stakeholders.

• Integrate robust market analysis, detailed consumer intelligence, and specific brand insights to strategically support fragrance development initiatives, proactively identify emerging trends, and uncover promising future business opportunities.

• Ensure stringent adherence to technical specifications, regulatory compliance, and cost management by thoroughly understanding raw material economics, navigating complex regulatory landscapes, and optimizing resource allocation for maximum efficiency.

• Cultivate and maintain strong, collaborative relationships with both customers and internal stakeholders through proactive engagement, compelling presentations, and clear, effective communication of fragrance strategies, development progress, and finalized solutions.

• Foster a culture of continuous improvement and knowledge dissemination through systematic fragrance evaluations, rigorous project reviews, effective troubleshooting, comprehensive reporting, and the consistent application of industry best practices.

• Champion innovation and accelerate commercialization by strategically leveraging emerging technologies, understanding evolving consumer preferences, and applying holistic scent design principles to deliver highly competitive and differentiated fragrance solutions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities outline a blend of creative leadership, strategic planning, project management, and commercial acumen. This role requires not just artistic vision but also the ability to translate that vision into marketable products that meet business objectives. The emphasis on "customer needs," "business profitability," and "stakeholder communication" highlights a strong GTM operations component.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

• Master’s or Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Fragrance Science, Marketing, Business Administration, or a related relevant discipline. Experience:

• A minimum of 8 to 10 years of progressive, relevant professional experience, preferably within an international and dynamic business environment. Required Skills:

• Excellent Olfactive Communication: Demonstrated ability to discriminate, accurately describe (using associative language), and recall a wide range of scents, which is fundamental to the creative process and effective collaboration with perfumers.

• Fragrance Strategy Development: Proven capability to conceptualize, develop, and articulate strategic fragrance directions that align with market opportunities and client requirements.

• Market Trend Analysis: Strong ability to identify and interpret relevant market trends, consumer preferences, and competitive landscapes to inform fragrance development.

• Project Management: Proficient in managing complex projects from inception to completion, including scope definition, resource allocation, timeline management, and risk mitigation.

• Consumer Insights Application: Ability to leverage consumer research and insights to shape fragrance concepts and ensure market relevance.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Proven success in working effectively with diverse teams across different departments (e.g., R&D, Marketing, Sales, Regulatory) to achieve common goals.

• Stakeholder Management: Skilled in building and maintaining relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including clear and persuasive communication.

Preferred Skills:

• Scent Design Expertise: Deep understanding of the principles and practices of scent design, including olfactive palettes and consumer perception.

• Regulatory Acumen: Familiarity with relevant industry regulations and compliance standards pertaining to fragrance ingredients and product safety.

• Business & Profitability Acumen: Ability to understand the commercial aspects of fragrance development, including cost implications and profitability drivers.

• Innovation Management: Experience in driving innovation initiatives and bringing new concepts to market effectively.

• Global Market Knowledge: Experience working with or understanding diverse international markets and their unique consumer preferences.

📝 Enhancement Note: The qualifications emphasize a unique blend of scientific understanding (Chemistry, Olfactive Communication) and business/market orientation (Marketing, Business, Consumer Insights, Market Trends). The "8-10 years" requirement positions this as a senior role, suggesting candidates should have a proven track record of strategic impact and leadership in fragrance development.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Olfactive Strategy Case Studies: Showcase examples of fragrance strategies developed, detailing the market rationale, target consumer, and the resulting olfactive direction.

• Creative Development Process Documentation: Present case studies that illustrate your role in guiding perfumers, managing the creative brief, and iterating on fragrance development to achieve successful outcomes.

• Market Trend Integration Examples: Provide evidence of how market and consumer insights were successfully integrated into fragrance concepts, leading to commercially viable solutions.

• Cross-functional Project Leadership: Highlight projects where you effectively coordinated diverse teams, demonstrating your ability to manage timelines, resources, and stakeholder expectations to deliver fragrance solutions.

• Commercial Impact Demonstration: Include examples of fragrances developed or strategies executed that directly contributed to business growth, customer satisfaction, or market penetration.

Process Documentation:

• Fragrance Briefing & Development Workflow: Document your approach to translating client needs into actionable creative briefs and managing the subsequent