Marketing Director - Culver City - Intercos America

Description

Intercos Group is a leading Italian cosmetics manufacturer with a legacy of excellence since 1972, spanning color cosmetics, pencils, nail polish, skincare, and personal care. With 15 commercial offices and 15 production facilities across 12 countries, we combine advanced technology, top-tier quality, and global scale with a local, personalized approach—partnering with brands worldwide to shape what's next in beauty.

Position Summary

The Strategic Marketing Director West Coast operates at the crossroads of Marketing, Product Innovation, and Business Development with the mission of accelerating the company growth in the West Coast market. This leader will manage the product innovation developments out of the LA Lab, drive the evolution of the U.S. product portfolio through proactive formula customization tailored to west coast client needs, and collaborate with the Business Development team to elevate the company's position in this local market, building long-term relationships with existing customers and identifying, targeting and on-boarding new ones. This role is also critical in linking the corporate vision in Italy to our local, regional vision, working very closely with all corporate functions such as the Global Marketing Team, Business Units, the Global Creative Team and the Global Packaging Team. The role requires a combination of strategic leadership, product innovation expertise, commercial acumen, and strong client-facing communication skills.

Essential Functions

I. Strategic Leadership & Market Growth

• Take ownership of the Intercos America 3-YEAR OGSM plan and translate it into actionable strategies and projects for their region and area of responsibility.
• Define and set up marketing & product plans to help exceed the annual sales budget targets and drive double‑digit growth for the West Coast region, working in close collaboration and partnership with the West Coast business development and sales teams.
• Ensure strong cross‑functional alignment and collaboration between Marketing, Business Units, Business Development, Sales, R&D and industrialization to ensure seamless and frictionless execution of the regional growth strategies and projects.
• Be the main point of contact and interface for corporate initiatives and corporate events driven by HQ in Italy and by other regions, and their implementation on the West Coast e.g. Global Digital Beauty Vault project, Showroom renovations/updates, Asia Promotional Weeks.
• Shape regional product and brand strategy based on market trends, client insights, and internal capabilities to drive growth of West Coast indie accounts.
• Lead market intelligence initiatives, analyzing competitive launches, product category shifts, and emerging trends to inform product and commercial strategies.
• Conduct data deep dives, gather consumer insights, and develop comprehensive product innovation briefs for global and local innovation plans.
• Develop an ongoing understanding of key client sourcing strategies to identify whitespace and opportunities to increase share of wallet.
• Define the 3‑year, rolling product strategy for the West Coast, working with East Coas to merge into the overall US strategy and securing alignment and execution with Business Units in Italy.
• Lead the US beauty innovation product ideations, briefings, feasibility checks & developments (including formula and packaging), regulatory checks, costing, sample preparation, marketing documentation and support materials, delivery & refills for our internal events.
• Present the US beauty innovation briefs needed for the West Cost during our international innovation roundtable event in Italy.
• Lead the evolution of the U.S. "ready‑to‑go" portfolio, ensuring it reflects market needs and competitive benchmarks while delivering financial performance in terms of gross margin target adherence.
• Proactively identify portfolio gaps and expansion opportunities by analyzing trends, client requests, and competitive movements.
• Work with R&D to customize existing formulas, generate new textures and shades, and adapt packaging to create client‑ready product stories that drive incremental sales.
• Translate client needs into actionable product development briefs, ensuring feasibility and alignment with manufacturing capabilities, partnering with the local lab to build customized samples, develop technical claims, and prepare compelling marketing documentation.

IV. Business Development Support

• Lead the coordination and execution of the product training courses for the West Coast office for both global and local innovation and trend collections, ensuring training samples arrive on time and in full, and training materials and meetings are set up. The director will need to train the business development teams on product positioning, storytelling, trend relevance, and formula attributes, technologies, raw materials, and packaging, as well as industrial readiness.
• Present our global and local product innovation and trend collections to our clients during "Makeup In" trade shows, in‑office open houses and on‑going client meetings.
• Create customized client presentation and pitch decks with a 360‑marketing input covering market and trend insights, brand and product moods and concepts, product pitches and presentations diving into point of differences / reasons to believe.
• Support client projects through formula customization, product adaptation, and alignment with R&D and Operations, as well as providing marketing materials needed to support the sales conversion and development of the client projects.

V: Office & Showroom Management

• Responsible for defining, briefing and executing the West Coast office showroom design, furniture and creative updates working in close collaboration with the global creative team based in Italy.
• Owns the budgeting process of the showroom updates and is responsible for executing the updates in line with the budget and timelines, and coordinating payments with finance.
• Co‑responsible for the maintenance and continuous update and replenishment of the West Coast sample room.

JOB QUALIFICATIONS

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business, Marketing, Sales, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in brand and product marketing, product development, and innovation within the beauty industry in B2B or B2C (makeup and B2B experience preferred).
• Proven track record of driving revenue growth and leading cross‑functional initiatives.
• Strong knowledge of beauty manufacturing, formulation, packaging, regulatory requirements, and product lifecycles.
• Experience in B2B and/or private‑label manufacturing environments strongly preferred.

Leadership & Strategic Skills

• Ability to develop and execute growth‑driven marketing and product strategies.
• Proven leader in cross‑functional environments with strong influencing skills.
• Solid business and financial acumen, including budgeting and P&L understanding.
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and leading change in a fast‑paced environment.
• Strategic thinker with hands‑on execution capability.

Communication & Client Management

• Strong presentation and storytelling skills, with experience presenting to executive‑level audiences.
• Ability to simplify complex technical information for diverse stakeholders.
• Skilled at managing challenging client conversations and resolving issues with professionalism.
• Strong active listening skills to translate client needs into actionable development briefs.
• High emotional intelligence and relationship‑building capability.

Creative & Trend Leadership

• Strong creative intuition with the ability to translate beauty, fashion, cultural, and consumer trends into product concepts.
• Experience developing 360° product experiences, including claims, positioning, naming, and go‑to‑market narratives.
• Ability to synthesize inspiration into commercially viable actions.

Market Insight & Analytical Skills

• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills, including forecasting and modeling.
• Ability to translate data and insights into clear strategic recommendations.

Project & Cross‑Functional Management

• Demonstrated success leading end‑to‑end product development projects.
• Highly organized with the ability to manage multiple complex workstreams simultaneously.
• Collaborative, proactive communicator with the ability to remove obstacles and drive execution.

Additional Requirements

• Fluent in English; Italian is a strong plus.
• Proficient in MS Office, PowerPoint, and Excel.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally as needed.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) with potential company match
• Life and disability insurance
• Paid time off (vacation, sick, personal) and paid holidays (including floating)
• Training and career development opportunities
• Company events and team outings
• Employee Assistance Program (confidential counseling/support)

EEO

Intercos Group is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone is valued and respected. We believe that a wide range of perspectives and experiences enhances our innovation and success. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or any other legally protected status. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to any of these characteristics. We are dedicated to providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment and promotes equal opportunity for all.