Beauty Executive Recruiting Year in Review

2022 was a strong year in executive recruiting for beauty companies, especially those looking to take advantage of a post-pandemic return to public life in offices, restaurants and nightclubs. Beauty companies — both established Fortune 500 companies and newer, venture-backed companies are always looking to capture new markets, especially younger consumers.

As we reflect back on the past year, here are some of our takeaways from our experience recruiting for the beauty industry in New York, Los Angeles and Miami and across the globe.

Trends Driving the Beauty Industry for 2023

2022 marked an enormous upswing in visits to beauty retailers such as Sephora and many retail department stores. In addition, we noticed several trends in beauty that are driving hiring, especially executive recruiting, in the industry.

Social shopping, along with individuals who excel in creating “experiential” environments that encourage users to try out and explore products.
Amazon specialists: The pandemic taught luxury sellers the power of the “lipstick effect,” that is, customers are happy to add in a small luxury item or two into a more quotidian purchase of groceries or toilet paper if it gave them a brief hit of dopamine. Therefore more and more beauty brans are looking to leverage Amazon in their sales strategies.
Clean Beauty: younger consumers are driving a demand for so-called “clean beauty,” or cosmetic and skincare products with organic and natural ingredients, to the tune of an estimated $22 billion in 2022.
Products for Men: The men’s personal care industry seems poised for growth to many venture funds looking for new growth potential. In recent year, venture funding has poured into brands like Harry’s, which sends razors and skincare products to consumers through a subscription service, and Hims, a provider of health and wellness products.
Diverse founders: Venture capital funds such as Harlem Capital Partners look to invest early in women and minority founded companies such as Lumin Skin, a brand that is targeted toward men.
Digitally Native Vertical Brands: these are brands like Glossier, which were born online and control product sales, production and customer experience, and they are a prime source of growth in the sector.

Top Titles in Beauty Executive Recruiting

According to our data around recruiting for the beauty, cosmetics and skincare industries, these were some of the top titles sought in 2022:

Global Marketing Director
Skin Care Product Development and Formulation Manager
Area Sales Manager Travel Retail
E-commerce Director
Junior Global Marketing Manager
Regional Marketing Manager
Senior Global Marketing Manager
US Sales Director
US Managing Director

Strong Presence for Private-Equity Backed Beauty Companies

70% of our searches were for private equity backed beauty companies. These companies are normally focused on growth and product innovation.

Additionally, private equity firms in beauty and cosmetics look for the following skills in executive hires, in our experience:

At a stable part of their career.
Obsessed with the customer experience.
Familiar with social shopping and employing social media influencers.
Capable of turning a company around or boosting revenue at a company at a key stage of growth.
Entrepreneurially-minded.
Experienced in major beauty and cosmetics companies.
Open to tying their compensation to the growth they are able to spearhead.

How We Work to Recruit Executives for Beauty and Cosmetic Companies

We at ACCUR Recruiting Services have extensive experience in assisting major beauty and luxury brands as well as private equity firms staff their portfolio companies. Over time we have developed an expertise in selecting seasoned executives from Fortune 500 companies who have the mindset and skills to engineer successful outcomes in PE-backed entities in various stages of growth.