Head of Sales, Europe - Bioactive Ingredients, Beauty & Personal Care

You'll take on the founding commercial role for Debut in Europe, reporting directly to the CEO. You'll own the European go-to-market for the bioactive ingredient portfolio, selling into contract manufacturers and EU-based beauty brands, proving the thesis, and building the team and office behind you. You'll sell with two complementary propositions: Debut's catalog of clinically validated bioactive ingredients and an ingredient discovery program that creates proprietary, ownable ingredient complexes for brands and CMs in roughly 12 weeks. This is an ingredient sales role rather than a formulation sales role — you're selling the actives themselves into formulators and brands, backed by an internal formulation team that provides technical and application support. You'll travel extensively across Europe and occasionally to the US to meet clients, attend industry events, and close business.

Responsibilities

• Own and execute the commercial strategy for ingredient sales across Europe
• Achieve deep integration of Debut's active ingredient portfolio into contract manufacturer formulation libraries
• Drive market penetration of novel biotechnology-derived ingredients across EU-based beauty brands
• Build commercial infrastructure to support future formulation expansion
• Identify, engage, and develop partnerships with contract manufacturers and beauty brands across Europe
• Serve as the primary relationship holder and commercial point of contact for CMs and beauty brands
• Drive ingredient specification, formulation integration, and long-term ingredient supply agreements
• Travel to meet clients, attend industry events, conduct product presentations, and close business
• Plan and organize regional trade shows and industry events with the marketing team
• Translate local market intelligence into actionable insights for global commercial strategy
• Develop and maintain a robust sales pipeline with clear forecasting
• Report to the CEO on pipeline health, market intelligence, and partnership development
• Work autonomously to capitalize on market opportunities
• Collaborate with R&D, formulations, marketing, and operations teams
• Represent Debut at trade shows, industry conferences, and customer events
• Build a team for broader penetration across the European market

Requirements

• 10+ years selling specialty cosmetic actives or functional ingredients into the European beauty and personal care industry
• An active, current network of formulators and procurement contacts at major EU contract manufacturers (France, Italy, Germany, Iberia)
• Direct relationships with R&D and product development leaders at European beauty brands
• Track record of opening new accounts and closing technical sales with long evaluation cycles
• Comfort operating as the first person on the ground building process rather than inheriting it
• Fluent English plus French or German; additional European languages a plus
• Willingness to travel extensively across Europe, plus 1–2 trips per year to Debut HQ in the US
• Experience launching a novel ingredient platform preferred
• Scientific background in biochemistry, cosmetic science, or chemistry preferred
• Prior experience building a team or a regional office preferred