Estée Lauder Cos. Appoints Chief R&I Officer

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. appointed René Lammers PhD as executive vice president, chief research & innovation officer, effective October 1, 2025. Lammers will report directly to Stéphane de La Faverie, president and chief executive officer, and will join the company’s executive team.

Lammers joins ELC from PepsiCo, where he most recently served as executive vice president and chief science officer, overseeing a 3,000-person global research & development organization. There, he created and scaled leading food and beverage products, shaping innovations that reached and delighted diverse consumers across the globe. He spearheaded PepsiCo’s science and technology agenda, scaling billion-dollar platforms, and driving breakthrough innovation and sustainability advances that blended scientific rigor with consumer insights. Prior to PepsiCo, Lammers held senior leadership positions at Unilever, where he developed pioneering technologies across personal care, home care and laundry, and established innovation hubs across Europe and Asia.

An Exceptional and Innovative Leader

“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 transformative 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 the company into its next chapter of growth and transformation.”

As chief research & innovation officer, Lammers will lead the evolution of The Estée Lauder Companies’ global research & innovation capabilities, including product and clinical innovation, scientific affairs, regulatory strategy, and upstream technologies across the company’s brand portfolio. He will help advance the company’s high-touch innovation model, bringing forward disruptive technologies and new science-based platforms that elevate performance, quality, safety and sustainability. He will oversee the company’s research and innovation centers worldwide and place a focus on delivering fast-to-market, on-trend innovation across in-demand subcategories, benefits and occasions. He will also advance collaborations with leading global scientific and academic institutions, and drive further external innovation with strategic partners, particularly in critical areas like biotechnology and longevity science.

Thirty Years of Experience

Drawing on nearly 30 years of experience, Lammers brings a rare blend of deep scientific expertise with a passion for serving consumers, making him an ideal leader to create transformative innovation, which is one of the Thiraction plan priorities of Beauty Reimagined. His consumer-first mindset and proven ability to develop and scale global innovations will help unlock new growth across categories and channels while reinforcing its legacy of scientific excellence and consumer trust, according to ELC.

Lammers holds a PhD in organic chemistry from Delft University of Technology and a master’s degree from Leiden University. He currently serves on the Board of the New York Hall of Science and is a Commissioner for the National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness Frontiers, an initiative of the US Council on Competitiveness.