Consumer Insights and Strategy Senior Manager (CPG Manufacturing)

KP Recruiting Group is a consulting firm that provides leadership and exceptional talent to some of the world’s leading companies. Headquartered in the Midwest, KP Recruiting Group has successfully completed countless engagements in the United States, Europe and Latin America. We represent clients in all industries and all sizes. Our mission is to provide exceptional client and candidate experiences in order to get the best possible results. On behalf of our client, we are excited to present the following confidential role. We look forward to hearing from you and discussing the opportunity!

The Role:

The Senior Manager, Consumer Insights will lead the consumer learning agenda to develop a strong pipeline against key innovation growth priorities for Retail Innovation.  They will work collaboratively with Marketing and R&D to develop an innovation strategy that is grounded in consumer understanding.  They should be a forward thinker; challenging the status quo and leveraging research to support previously unidentified space and strategic decisions. This individual will report into the Sr. Director, Consumer Insights.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Demonstrate holistic thinking, strategic agility, and leadership with core team members and leadership team within Retail Innovation.
  
• Lead the consumer learning agenda to address business objectives, using agile tools and methods.
  
• Collect, analyze, and synthesize consumer learning to tell a cohesive and actionable story.
  
• Execute primary research, and source syndicated sources including scanner and panel data,
  
• Provide Consumer Insight leadership with cross-functional teams, and act as a strategic partner with Marketing, R&D, Sales, on-site suppliers, agencies, and consultants.
  
• Manage external suppliers to execute research projects efficiently.
  
• Effectively manage consumer insights budget to proactively address both immediate and forward-looking strategic needs.
  
• Communicate consumer insights, recommendations, and point of view in a clear and concise manner, both through written and verbal communication.
  
• Proactively uncover innovation research methods to enable quicker, consumer-informed decision making.
  

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in marketing, Psychology, Marketing Research or related field required. Master’s degree preferred.
  
• 8 years of relevant experience, preferably on manufacturer-side and with a branded, consumer-packaged-goods company, or combination of supplier-side and manufacturer-side experience.  Innovation experience a plus.
  
• Demonstrated success in leveraging consumer insights to drive business results.
  
• Must be able to develop objective point-of-view and feel very comfortable sharing it, be seen as strategic thought leader on team, build constructive rapport with internal clients and outside research suppliers and be comfortable dealing with ambiguity.
  
• Excellent planning and project management skills.
  
• Strong knowledge of marketing and market research fundamentals including experimental design, and statistics.
  
• A highly motivated leader, eager to learn, with the ability to devise an effective solution in unstructured situations. Is able to demonstrate agility and can pivot focus based on changes in business needs/conditions.
  
• Travel as needed
  

ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Working knowledge of the following:

• Consumer and need state segmentation, profiling, and immersion
  
• Meal Occasion landscaping and A&U, category assessments, category choice drivers/barriers
  
• Jobs to Be Done
  
• Concept/Product ideation, development and validation
  
• Packaging and Name development
  
• Test and learn approaches
  
• Nielsen/IRI Scanner and Panel Data, Familiarity with Datassential and Technomic
  
• Cultural/Lifestyle trends, eating trends and food industry reports
  
• Ideal candidate will be comfortable with DIY and managed service approaches to executing consumer research.
  

Benefits

Our client offers a comprehensive benefits package including:

401k Matching

Family and Individual Insurance Packages (Health, Life, Dental, and Vision)

Paid Time Off & Paid Holidays

Long & Short-Term Disability

Identity Theft Plans

Retirement & Pension Plans

Employee Assistance Program

Employee Referral Program

Tuition Reimbursement Programs

Advancement & Professional Growth opportunities 

Parental Leave

& More