Director, Makeup Foresight

Location: New York

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. is one of the world’s leading manufacturers, marketers, and sellers of quality skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products, and is a steward of luxury and prestige brands globally. The company’s products are sold in approximately 150 countries and territories under brand names including:
Estée Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Lab Series, Origins, M
· A·C, La Mer, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Aveda, Jo Malone London, Bumble and bumble, Darphin Paris, TOM FORD, Smashbox, AERIN Beauty, Le Labo, Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, GLAMGLOW, KILIAN PARIS, Too Faced, Dr.Jart+, the DECIEM family of brands, including The Ordinary and NIOD, and BALMAIN Beauty.

Description The Director, Makeup Consumer Intelligence serves as a strategic and analytical partner responsible for translating consumer, market, competitive, social and cultural intelligence into actionable growth strategies for ELC’s global makeup portfolio. Working closely with the Executive Director - Makeup Consumer Intelligence, Brand Presidents, Global Marketing, Product Development, Regions and cross-functional partners, this role will help shape category strategy, brand planning, innovation priorities and commercial activation.

The Director will independently lead complex analytical and consumer intelligence work streams, with particular strength in market share, category performance and competitive analysis. This individual is expected to move beyond reporting data to identify the business story, propose the strategic framing and analytical approach, and develop clear implications and recommendations for senior stakeholders. Success in this role requires strong analytical rigor, category & consumer curiosity, strategic storytelling, social and cultural intelligence, and the learning agility to flex across a wide range of projects, data sources, methodologies and emerging business priorities.

Spearhead Category and Market Intelligence:
Independently analyze global prestige makeup performance, including market share, category growth, subcategory dynamics, channels, geographies, and competitive activity.  Translate Data into Strategic Direction:
Move beyond reporting to develop the framing, hypotheses, implications, and recommended actions for category, brand, and regional business questions.  Shape Category Strategy:
Partner with the Executive Director to support global makeup category strategy, identifying growth opportunities, risks, and clear where-to-play and how-to-win choices.  Lead Consumer Research:
Design and oversee qualitative and quantitative learning plans across innovation, positioning, communications, portfolio strategy, and consumer experience.  Integrate Consumer and Cultural Intelligence:
Combine primary research, syndicated data, social listening, search behavior, ratings and reviews, and competitive intelligence into a holistic view of the consumer and category.  Develop Executive-Ready Storytelling:
Synthesize complex information into clear, compelling narratives that communicate what is happening, why it matters, and what the business should do next.  Partner with Global Brands:
Work closely with global brand leadership and cross-functional teams to translate category, consumer, and market insights into brand strategy, innovation priorities, annual planning, and commercial activation. Partner Cross-Functionally:
Collaborate with Brands, Regions, Marketing, Product Development, Finance, R&D, Supply Chain, Digital, and other functions to embed consumer intelligence into planning and execution.  Operate with Independence and Agility:
Lead complex work streams with limited direction, anticipate stakeholder needs, flex across different project types, and rapidly build knowledge in new…