Senior Director - Enterprise Insights - Consumer & Client

About The Job

Serves as Northwestern Mutual's expert in the integration of consumer and client information and insights across the consumer decision journey — from awareness to purchase — to optimize the marketing funnel and experience. You will ensure the voice of the consumer and client (messaging and targeting) is appropriately represented in all aspects of marketing, acting as the organization's chief storyteller and a proactive, respected advocate for consumer and client perspectives across the enterprise.

You will act as a strategic partner and consumer insight consultant in support of marketing planning, strategy, and advertising campaign development. You will also partner with digital product and product teams to provide insights on product development and innovation.

• Develop annual consumer and client research plan and budget based on learning objectives and key initiatives, encompassing both ongoing tracking programs and highly custom, high-impact research engagements
• Build and lead a team to deliver the full scope of consumer and client research projects, including deeply understanding business issues, identifying specific questions to address for different stakeholders, determining best research methodology and vendor, negotiating best price, and delivering actionable learning to drive business growth within needed timelines
• Serve as the organization's chief storyteller proactively translating consumer and client data into compelling, memorable narratives that inform strategy, inspire action, and elevate the voice of the consumer and client at all levels of the organization
• Deliver research expertise by succinctly interpreting and synthesizing multi-source data into insights that lead to actionable marketing strategies and plans for the brand; continually innovate richer research capabilities
• Apply deep knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to understand and predict consumer and client behavior, purchase motivation, and to identify category, channel, product, and marketing opportunities
• Address broader business issues and provide macro learning and thought leadership as a secondary function
• Oversee ongoing consumer, client, and brand tracking programs including continuous and wave-based trackers providing actionable insights, reporting, and presentation of results to key stakeholders
• Oversee the execution and provide leadership support for the Planning & Progress Study Northwestern Mutual's highly successful, long-running flagship research program ensuring its continued rigor, relevance, and strategic impact
• Lead the design and execution of PR-focused surveys and Strategic Communications research, providing the consumer and client data that fuels impactful earned media and communications initiatives
• Deliver deep consumer and client understanding for the financial services category, adjacent categories, and brands; provide clear, actionable recommendations and consult to ensure activation of learning
• Oversee and manage the team's research project pipeline in JIRA, ensuring all projects are appropriately tracked, prioritized, and progressing on time and within scope
• Develop and manage the research budget

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree a plus
• 8–10 years of research experience specifically with brand, consumer, and client marketing communication research, including tracking (continuous and wave), copy-testing, concept-testing, and segmentation, positioning, and brand architecture development; B2C category experience strongly preferred
• 5+ years of experience analyzing consumer and client data and providing insights that drive business, including mastery of research methods and statistics
• Demonstrated experience owning and evolving large-scale, longitudinal research programs (e.g., brand or consumer tracking studies, PR/communications-focused surveys)
• Experience building, leading, and managing a high-performing team; a proactive self-starter with a proven track record of getting things done
• Exceptional storytelling ability capable of translating complex data into clear, compelling narratives that resonate with diverse audiences, from…