Culture and Trend Forecasting Manager

Job Summary

This individual will play a crucial role in identifying, analyzing and articulating Disney cultural & creative signals and broader consumer/industry trends into actionable, relevant, consumer-centric opportunity spaces across all categories for the Disney Parks Retail organization.

This role will report to the Senior Manager - Retail Innovation & Design.

• Track signals and identify trends within Disney Park culture
• Utilize social listening platforms to explore patterns, ownable trends and opportunities for products and experiences.
• Curate and synthesize primary and secondary data and research to identify new ownable spaces across the business
• Synthesize cultural and consumer trends into concise POVs that inform the innovation pipeline, overall organization and, long-term planning.
• Partner with insights and platform partners to continuously refine and expand the tools and methodologies used.
• Understanding emergent behaviors driven by cultural and societal shifts and the ability to delineate and communicate a range of possible futures and make them impactful for multiple areas of the business
• Knows where to find the Visionaries whose behavior and attitudes today can provide an indication of where societies are heading in the future
• Drive Consumer Centricity
• Partner with consumer insights team on primary research needs when required
• Utilize social listening platforms to analyze specific conversations and audiences to identify new retail opportunity spaces from specific consumers
• Create design muses that drive consumer alignment

• Explore and identify how broad, evolving culture and emerging consumer trends translate into relevant product needs
• Provide consumer‑centric creative and cultural support to merchandise, design and creative teams via research deep dives, POVs and trend direction
• Identify and translate relevant creative trends for cross‑category development
• Act as thought partner to product design, merchandising and creative with consumer POVs to help shape products with a consumer‑centric, future‑focused approach
• Ensure insights not only inspire great creative but ladder back broader STEEP factors
• Help with the creation of regular culture and trend reporting for the broader organization, helping teams stay fluent in fast‑changing cultural conversations.

• Proven ability to track and translate cultural signal and trends into actionable opportunities via multiple formats (video, images, presentations, writing)
• Naturally curious with a deep passion understanding how cultural shifts, human behavior, and design impact retail
• Knowledge of Disney parks, experiences and IP
• Experience with trend and research services
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills with the ability to distill ambiguity into clarity.
• Deep understanding of modern culture, media behaviors, and consumer mindsets‑especially in the Gen Z and Millennial cohorts.
• Proven experience of research, analysis, writing, and creating compelling trend content.
• 3+ years of experience trend forecasting, consumer insights at a retailor or trend platform
• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Design Strategy, Data Science, Cultural Studies, Journalism, Anthropology, Sociology, or related field; advanced degree a plus.
• Proven track record of applying cultural and consumer insight to influence creative development and strategic decision‑making.
• Keen eye for design and products with ability to create compelling mood boards
• Skilled at combining research and field observations and utilizing a variety of tools and sources to track emerging lifestyle shifts
• Deep understanding of trend and insights research and methodologies
• Strong fluency with social listening tools (e.g., Meltwater, Sprinklr, etc.), research platforms (Kantar, Mintel, WGSN),
• Demonstrable ability to interpret and present consumer and trends research which results in relevant insights to drive consumer knowledge and product creation.

• Proven knowledge working in the consumer trends across various industries such as fashion, toys, consumables, collectible, etc.
• Proficiency in…