Director of Manufacturing and Procurement

Who we are

Fueled by passion, KAYALI was founded in 2018 by beauty mogul and fragrance fanatic, Mona Kattan. Translating to ‘my imagination’ in Arabic, KAYALI provides a modern fragrance experience inspired by Mona’s rich Middle Eastern heritage and the art of layering scents to help you create your mood; where sharing scents is a ritual and smelling good is both an act of goodwill and self-love. Mona collaborates with some of the world’s most renowned perfumers and sources the finest ingredients to create unique juices that are infinitely memorable, long-lasting, and cruelty-free. Each luxurious fragrance is an ode to true craftsmanship and tells a special story, from the addictive notes to the multi-faceted jeweled bottles.

Our mission

To make everyone feel like the diamond they are! To build a global community of fragrance lovers through the power of scent and by providing them with the most innovative & luxurious fragrances, education and sharing our Middle Eastern fragrance rituals with the world.

Summary

The Director of Manufacturing & Procurement leads Kayali’s external manufacturing, procurement, and quality functions, owning the end-to-end journey from supplier sourcing, through industrialization at contract manufacturers, to the delivery of finished, compliant product. Reporting to the Global VP of Operations, this role leads the Purchasing and Quality teams as its operating core, while building the industrialization and external-manufacturing capability Kayali needs to scale across new geographies.

2026 - 2028 are build years. The role will lead Kayali’s conversion from toll to contract manufacturing, the launch of a new external manufacturing partner, and the establishment of business continuity planning across the full supplier base. Design authority for formula and packaging sits with Product Development; this role owns making it, at scale, on cost, and to standard.

1. Strategic leadership & operational excellence

• Define and drive the vision for Kayali’s external manufacturing, procurement, and quality operations, aligned to the brand’s global expansion.
• Shift the operating model from a reactive to a proactive footing, embedding forward-looking planning and risk anticipation into the manufacturing, procurement, and quality strategy and roadmap.
• Lead operational transformation, including the toll-to-contract manufacturing conversion and the multi-region external network build.
• Develop risk-mitigation and business continuity plans that ensure supply resilience across all suppliers and geographies.
• Build high-value partnerships with contract manufacturers and suppliers to optimise cost, quality, and scalability.

2. Procurement & supplier management

• Lead the Purchasing team and own the strategic sourcing roadmap across direct materials, indirect goods and services, and contract-manufactured finished goods. Manage the shift in commercial model from component buying (toll) to finished-goods cost management (contract), including should-cost and open-book negotiation and margin transparency with Finance.
• Lead supplier negotiations, contracts, and performance management, balancing cost, quality, and continuity.
• Drive value engineering and supplier innovation to enhance product competitiveness.

3. Quality & compliance

• Lead the Quality team and the global quality assurance strategy for externally manufactured product.
• Establish supplier-quality and audit capability to qualify and govern new contract manufacturers across regions.
• Ensure full regulatory compliance across geographies, including GMP, ISO, IFRA, and REACH, and US requirements such as MoCRA facility and product obligations and TTB/denatured-alcohol controls.
• Own product-integrity and illicit-trade risk: controlled and denatured-alcohol inputs, restricted aroma chemicals, anti-counterfeit and grey-market mitigation, and the secure destruction of non-conforming and obsolete stock so it cannot enter illicit channels.
• Define and track quality KPIs aligned across internal teams and external partners.

4. Manufacturing network & industrialization

• Build and own Kayali’s external manufacturing network: site-selection support, qualification, validation, audit, and ramp-up, starting with the new US partner and the Asia pipeline.
• Own industrialization and technology transfer from PD design handoff through scaled production, including pilot and first-article batches and launch-readiness gates.
• Lead the toll-to-contract technology and BOM transfer across the contract-manufacturing base.
• Optimise manufacturability, lead times, and production cost within the design parameters set by Product Development.
• Establish data-driven production and network performance tracking.

5. Cross-functional collaboration (Product Development & Finance)

• Product Development: serve as PD’s industrialization partner. Receive design handoffs, feed back manufacturability constraints, and co-own the design-to-production gate. PD retains authority over formula and packaging design.
• Finance: partner on standard costing, COGS, margin, business cases, and capital decisions for the manufacturing network; own the operational inputs to financial planning.
• Act as the connective tissue across PD, Finance, Supply Chain, and Commercial to ensure seamless launch execution.

6. Project & program management

• Lead manufacturing, procurement, and quality programs end to end: charters, stage gates, RACI, timelines, budgets, and risk logs.
• Run the toll-to-contract conversion, US factory launch, and BCP rollout as governed programs with clear milestones and reporting.
• Manage concurrent workstreams and cross-functional dependencies, surfacing risk early with clear options.

7. Leadership & organizational development

• Build, mentor, and inspire a high-performing team across procurement, quality, and industrialization.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and operational excellence.
• Develop succession planning and leadership development to grow future talent within Kayali.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Supply Chain, Industrial Engineering, Operations, Business, or a related field. MBA a plus.

• 10+ years in manufacturing operations, procurement, or supply chain, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role in the beauty/fragrance industry.
• Proven experience managing outsourced/contract manufacturing networks, ideally in fragrance, cosmetics, or consumer goods.
• Direct experience with toll-to-contract or contract-manufacturing model transitions strongly preferred.
• Strong project and program management track record; PMP or equivalent a plus.
• Demonstrated cross-functional leadership, particularly with Product Development and Finance.
• Financial acumen: should-costing, COGS, margin, and business-case development.
• Experience managing product-integrity and illicit-trade risk, including controlled and denatured-alcohol inputs (e.g. US TTB/SDA permitting and diversion controls), restricted aroma chemicals, anti-counterfeit and grey-market mitigation, and secure destruction of non-conforming stock.
• Working knowledge of multi-geography regulatory compliance (GMP, ISO, IFRA, REACH; US MoCRA an advantage).
• Knowledge of lean manufacturing principles, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement methodologies.

Benefits

• Premium medical/dental/vision coverage
• Find your magic days
• Volunteer day
• Professional development days
• Birthday leave
• Egg freezing benefits
• Employee discounts on Kayali products
• Quarterly product gifting

Kayali is committed to building diverse and inclusive teams and upholding an equal employment workplace that is free from discrimination. We hire stellar individuals regardless of their race, color, ancestry, religion, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, medical conditions, disability, or veteran status. If you need reasonable accommodations at any point in the application or interview process, please let us know.