Head of Technical & Innovation (Natural Ingredients / Fragrance)

International SME | Natural Ingredients | Fragrance | Technical Leadership & Industrial Innovation

Primary location: South-East Asia. Flexible arrangements may be considered for very senior profiles, provided strong and visible operational involvement .

Role positioning

This position is designed for a senior technical leader coming from the core business of natural ingredients for fragrance , willing to assume a hands-on, operational technical leadership role , close to raw materials, processes, and industrial teams.

This is NOT :

• a commercial role,
• a purchasing, supply chain, or CSR position,
• a governance, advisory, or purely strategic function.

This IS a technical reference role for fragrance , with recognized authority over:

• raw materials,
• processes,
• quality and feasibility trade-offs,
• technical credibility with perfumers and clients.

Company context

An independent international SME based in South-East Asia , specialized in the production of natural ingredients for perfumery , with extensions into flavours, cosmetics, and wellness .

The company controls a fully integrated value chain :

• responsible sourcing (Africa / Asia),
• extraction and transformation,
• quality and regulatory compliance,
• delivery to demanding international clients (composition houses, brands).

Currently in a key structuring phase, the company aims to:

• internalize its technical leadership,
• secure and strengthen its fragrance portfolio,
• reduce dependency on external expertise,
• build a robust, long-term technical organization .

Your role

As Head of Technical & Innovation , you are the central technical authority for the Natural Ingredients – Fragrance activity.

You hold end-to-end technical responsibility for ingredients, processes, and critical decisions, with a strong focus on:

• industrial delivery,
• fragrance credibility,
• long-term technical robustness.

You operate daily at the interface between:

• innovation and product development,
• production and industrial operations,
• quality, compliance, and supply chain,
• sales teams and fragrance clients.

Key responsibilities

Technical leadership & fragrance portfolio

• Full technical ownership of the natural ingredients fragrance portfolio
• (resins, gums, absolutes, essential oils, botanicals, etc.).
• Translate perfumer and client expectations into:
• raw material selection,
• transformation schemes,
• process parameters,
• blending and finishing decisions.
• Guarantee consistent olfactive and technical quality , within often tight client approval windows.
• Act as the final technical decision-maker on feasibility, quality/cost/time trade-offs.

Innovation & product orientation

• Define technical and innovation priorities aligned with:
• portfolio strategy,
• fragrance market expectations,
• real industrial constraints.
• Work closely with NPD teams to align innovation, industrialization, and business objectives.
• Internalize technical know-how currently outsourced.

Team leadership & capability building

• Structure, develop, and upskill technical, NPD, and industrial teams.
• Transmit critical knowledge related to raw materials, processes, and fragrance criteria.
• Lead with high standards, pragmatism, and pedagogy in an SME environment.