About Foxtale

Foxtale is one of India's fastest-growing D2C skincare brands, focused on creating science

backed, efficacy-driven skincare and personal care products tailored to Indian skin concerns

and climate conditions. The company was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in Mumbai,

India.

Role Overview

We are looking for a highly skilled, hands-on Senior Manager - R&D to lead our

formulation and product development initiatives in the Beauty & Personal Care (BPC) space.

In this role, you will own the entire product lifecycle—from initial concept to commercial

launch. You will not just execute briefs, but actively shape our formulation strategy, reverse

engineer complex products, and troubleshoot stability or scale-up challenges from first

principles. If you are a technical expert who views science through a user-first lens and

thrives in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment, we want you on our team.

Key Responsibilities

Formulation & Technical Excellence: Independently design, formulate, and

reverse-engineer high-performance personal care products. Apply deep expertise in

emulsion architecture (HLB, phase behavior, emulsifier selection) and rheology to

engineer specific, consumer-perceivable sensory attributes.

Active & Sunscreen Innovation: Manage complex active ingredients

(solubilization, penetration, pH-dependent stability) and design advanced sunscreen

systems, including UV filter combinations, boosting systems, and SPF/UVAPF

testing.

Quality & Stability Assurance: Oversee robust stability testing (forced

degradation), make independent go/no-go decisions, and design robust preservative

systems, ensuring success in challenge test interpretations.

NPD & Consumer Insights: Drive products through the NPD stage-gate process.

Partner actively with Consumer Technical Insights (CTI) to design Home Use Tests

(HUTs), translate sensory diagnostics into formulation hypotheses, and maintain a

user-first lens throughout development.

Regulatory Compliance: Ensure all formulations comply with BIS/CDSCO

requirements for India, as well as maintaining a working knowledge of EU Cosmetics

Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009.

Cross-Functional Leadership: Communicate technical trade-offs, formulation

strategies, and data-backed decisions clearly to non-technical stakeholders and

marketing teams.

Ideal Candidate Background

Experience: 6–9 years of hands-on experience in personal care formulation, with a

proven track record of independently taking products from concept to launch (strong

preference for the BPC/D2C space).

Technical Mastery: Deep understanding of raw materials beyond technical data

sheets (TDS), including an understanding of supplier variability and lot-to-lot impact

on final formulas.

Problem Solving: Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot product failures unassisted

and a proven history of reformulating failing products with clear diagnosis and fixes.

Strategic Mindset: Proven ability to independently scope a formulation strategy

from scratch rather than just executing a handed-down brief.

Confidence & Ownership: Strong candidates will know when to critically evaluate

or push back on a product brief, defending formulation decisions using robust

technical data.