Hannah Joo Diaz

New York City, NY, United States0

Beauty Product Innovation & Development Lead @aruen | MBA @UCLA | Ingredient, Formula, Shade Research & Development | K-beauty Skincare & Makeup

My career began in the heart of global beauty innovation at Estée Lauder's Korea Innovation Hub, developing prestige products for brands like MAC and Estée Lauder. But I wanted to understand what actually moves a product in today's market. So, I stepped into venture capital and tech, earned a UCLA Anderson MBA, and learned how data, digital channels, and consumer behavior really drive growth. That detour is now my edge. I came back to beauty with a wider lens: I can sit with an R&D chemist on formula direction, read Amazon and TikTok Shop data to find where the market is heading, and connect both to how a product is actually positioned and sold. Today I lead end-to-end product development, from whitespace to launch, combining the rigor of a global R&D house with the speed of an indie startup. Most recently, at a founder-led K-beauty brand, I took two net-new products from concept to production-ready as sole product owner: naming, formula direction with our ODM, claims, on-pack copy, and packaging. Before we even launched, the lineup earned a retail pop-up with a premium Korean grocer. What I bring, built over 6+ years: ・Data-driven product discovery — Finding durable market whitespace (not short-term hype) by combining internal data with AI-assisted research across Amazon and TikTok Shop. ・End-to-end development — Carrying a product from concept through formula direction, ODM benchmarking, and packaging, with US consumer preferences built in from the start. ・Claims & messaging — Drafting product claims and on-pack copy written to minimize regulatory risk ahead of formal legal review, and aligning PDP messaging with what the formula actually does (2x ROAS on a product turnaround, no added ad spend). ・Beauty × AI — Serving as a beauty subject-matter expert: designing color-science evaluation rubrics (PCCS) and expert annotations that help AI models read shade, finish, and texture from INCI data. ・Bridging Korea and the US — Translating world-class Korean product capability into products built for the US consumer, across both languages and both markets. I work at the intersection of the lab, the data, and the market. I'm the rare product person who can talk formulas with R&D, brief an ODM, and back a decision with data. I turn chemistry and consumer signals into products that are built to sell. Bilingual (English/Korean) · Open to product development & innovation roles in beauty. Color Science | Shade Development | Data Analytics | Skincare Product Development | Makeup Product Development | Competitive Research | NPD

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Experience

Lead, Product Development & Innovation

Aruen

Feb 2025 — Present · San Francisco Bay Area

・Led end-to-end development of 2 net-new SKUs as sole product owner, from whitespace and product brief through formulation strategy, ODM management, COGS targets, and packaging, securing a retail pop-up with a premium Korean grocer ahead of launch. ・Directed in-depth ingredient research and formula feasibility analysis, filtering out incompatible active ingredients and packages, to deliver revision requests to an ODM, reducing submission cycles by 40% and accelerating product launch timeline. ・Drove the US positioning strategy by defining the brand identity and unifying the brand/product narrative across all touchpoints, validated by selection into the Stanford Consumer Accelerator (Spring 2026 Cohort). ・Developed FDA/FTC-compliant product claims and on-pack copy for net-new products, front-loading regulatory compliance to streamline legal review, and scoped the consumer perception studies and clinical testing needed to substantiate target efficacy claims. ・Orchestrated a strategic product turnaround by identifying a high-intent consumer whitespace and realigning PDP messaging with core formula benefits, driving a 2x increase in ROAS and >2x MoM new customer acquisition without increasing ad spend.

AI Subject Matter Expert (Beauty)

Mercor Intelligence

Oct 2025 — Dec 2025 · San Francisco Bay Area

・Partnered with a top leading AI lab through Mercor to build more human, inclusive product recommendations across skincare and makeup. ・Designed evaluation rubrics grounded in the PCCS Color System to assess an AI model's ability to distinguish complex shade nuances and map tone attributes to personal color classification, sharpening shade evaluation for personalized makeup. ・Provided expert annotations on product finish, color payoff, and texture from INCI data, generating training inputs that reduced reliance on physical swatching and strengthened competitive benchmark analysis.

Product Innovation & Development, Principal

themissingfox

Aug 2023 — Dec 2025 · San Francisco Bay Area

Key Projects ・Orchestrated a global accelerator for Hyundai Asan Nanum Foundation, supporting 20+ startups, facilitating 100+ expert sessions while implementing Al-driven workflows (Notion, Gemini) that boosted operational reporting efficiency by 60%. (2025) ・Created executive-level pitch decks and business development proposals to communicate UAE’s flagship global investment forum value propositions to Korean governmental agencies, strengthening international stakeholder engagement. (2024) ・Spearheaded US market entry strategies by cultivating high-level relationships with key tech partners (NVIDIA, Al Fund) and refining B2B product core features and go-to-market pitch narratives to align with local market needs. (2023)

Market Launch, Program Manager

500 Global

Jun 2024 — Dec 2024 · Palo Alto, CA

• Managed ~$1M budget for an accelerator program by developing budget models to optimize resource allocation and coordinating timelines with cross-functional stakeholders; delivered 8% cost savings without compromising program quality (NPS 87). • Evaluated K-beauty startups across beauty tech (e.g., AI manufacturing, Beauty IoT device, oral care) by analyzing consumer insights, regional trends, and their technological moats, recommending high-potential startups to VC partners for review. • Structured and delivered a GTM program for 45+ global startups, developing workshops, curriculum, and hands-on guides to support faster market entry. • Drove operational excellence by implementing Al-enabled automation tools(Zapier, Excel, NotebookLM) to synthesize performance KPls, reducing manual reporting time by 40% and providing data-driven insights for external key stakeholders. • Launched a 287-attendee event from conception to execution in just 4 weeks; authored a global playbook and managed all aspects of logistics, resource planning, and vendor negotiations.