Sr. Director, Consumer Strategy, Innovation & Intelligence

Position Summary

Sr. Director, Consumer Strategy, Innovation & Intelligence – responsible for building and scaling the company’s foundational understanding of consumers, culture, and future growth opportunities. Owns insight engines that fuel strategy and innovation, including trends and cultural listening, segmentation and demand space mapping, concept development, innovation validation, and in‑market learning. Ensures consumer understanding is systematic, predictive, and embedded across brand, innovation, and portfolio decisions.

Reports to the VP of Strategy & Intelligence and partners closely with Brand, Innovation/R&D, Marketing, and Regional teams. May directly manage a team of insights specialists and external research partners.

• Lead enterprise‑wide consumer understanding across the Americas and sometimes global markets.
• Own trend, cultural, and behavioral intelligence—integrating social listening, cultural analysis, desk research, and emerging signals.
• Translate macro and micro trends into foresight frameworks that inform long‑term strategy and innovation pipelines.
• Serve as the authority on why consumers behave as they do and where future growth will come from.

• Lead the design and refresh of consumer, need‑state, and occasion‑based segmentations.
• Develop demand space and Jobs‑to‑be‑Done (JTBD) frameworks to identify whitespace opportunities.
• Ensure segmentation is actionable—embedded into brand strategy, innovation briefs, portfolio architecture, and go‑to‑market decisions.
• Partner with Strategy and Analytics leaders to connect segments to sizing, prioritization, and investment decisions.

• Own the consumer intelligence agenda supporting innovation—from early ideation to post‑launch optimization.
• Lead concept development, screening, and refinement using both qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Guide innovation pipelines with clear consumer‑backed rationale, trade‑offs, and success criteria.
• Partner with R&D, Brand, and Commercial teams to ensure innovation is both desirable, differentiated, and scalable.

• Establish systems for ongoing in‑market learning—tracking brand health, communication effectiveness, and innovation performance.
• Integrate post‑launch insights to refine positioning, claims, and execution.
• Ensure learning loops are fast, actionable, and directly inform course correction.
• Balance rigor with agility, enabling test‑and‑learn cultures across brands and markets.

• Set standards for research quality, innovation, and relevance across quantitative and qualitative methods.
• Oversee the design and execution of foundational and ad‑hoc research (U&A, segmentation, brand health, pricing, innovation).
• Champion modern approaches including social intelligence, behavioral science, and hybrid qual‑quant‑AI methods.
• Manage internal capabilities, relationships with research vendors, platforms, and partners to ensure best‑in‑class delivery.

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of consumer insights and innovation intelligence professionals (as applicable).
• Build a culture of curiosity, rigor, and strategic impact.
• Partner with other Directors within Strategy & Intelligence to ensure seamless integration of consumer insight, analytics, and commercial strategy.
• Act as a visible thought leader internally, elevating how the organization understands and applies consumer insight.

• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leadership on consumer‑led growth and innovation decisions.
• Present insights and foresight clearly to executive audiences, shaping strategic alignment.
• Facilitate workshops and strategic sessions to translate insight into action.
• Ensure Strategy & Intelligence is viewed as a growth partner, not a research service.

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Psychology, Anthropology, Economics, or related field (Master’s, MBA, or PhD equivalent preferred).
• 13+ years of experience in Consumer Insights, Strategy,…