Estée Lauder completes executive team with new Chief Research & Innovation Officer

The Estée Lauder Companies has appointed René Lammers as Executive Vice President, Chief Research & Innovation Officer, effective 1 October.

Lammers brings nearly 30 years of global leadership experience, combining scientific expertise with a passion for innovation and consumer-centric solutions.

He joins Estée Lauder from PepsiCo, where he most recently served as EVP and Chief Science Officer, leading a global R&D organisation of 3,000 people.

During his tenure, he drove scientific advancements and oversaw a broad portfolio of innovation initiatives.

Prior to this, he held senior leadership roles at Unilever, where he led the development of technologies across personal care, home care, and laundry. He also established innovation hubs across Europe and Asia.

In his new role at Estée Lauder, Lammers will lead the continued evolution of the company’s global Research & Innovation (R&I) function, with responsibility for product and clinical innovation, scientific affairs, regulatory strategy, and upstream technology development across the company’s portfolio of brands.

He will report directly to Stéphane de La Faverie, President and Chief Executive Officer, and will join the US-based company’s executive leadership team.

"René is an exceptional and innovative leader whose deep scientific expertise, global perspective, and passion for cutting-edge product development will be instrumental as we transform our approach to research and innovation to more fully align with our focus on consumer centricity," said de La Faverie.

"Creating innovation is integral to our strategic vision of Beauty Reimagined, and with René’s leadership, we are elevating our capabilities to deliver even more breakthrough new products as well as on-trend innovation more quickly across prestige price tiers.

"With this appointment, I am excited that my executive team is now complete and positioned to lead ELC into its next chapter of growth and transformation."

It comes after Estée Lauder confirmed it had cut 3,200 jobs with a further 3,800 roles at risk, as the beauty giant’s 'Beauty Reimagined' restructuring gathers pace following a sharp downturn in sales.