Qualitative Research Analyst, Customer Insights

Position Overview

H-E-B is one of the largest, independently owned food retailers in the nation, operating over 380 stores throughout Texas and Mexico, with annual sales generating over $43 billion. Our Customer Insights team ensures the voice of the customer and partner is represented throughout the organization everyday by using qualitative and quantitative research, geospatial insights, analytics, and sensory research. Our approach to insights makes H-E-B well‑known for tailoring and serving our customers better than anyone else.

As a Qualitative Research Analyst for Own Brand, you’ll work cross‑functionally with the Own Brand (private label) and Merchant organization to design, execute, and analyze end-to‑end qualitative consumer research studies that inform brand, product, and design of our world‑class private label product portfolio. Your contributions will include project scoping, methodology planning, recruitment oversight, in‑person and virtual focus group moderating, survey development, and qual‑based reporting.

• Willing to work with others to capture the voice of Texas families
• Know how to use research to answer complex business questions
• Drive to customize your research and think outside the box to capture insights needed

• Bachelor’s or Master’s in related fields (advertising, marketing, communications, sociology, psychology, etc.)
• 5+ years of experience in consumer research / qualitative research / strategy consulting (preferably in a retail, CPG or other consumer‑facing industry)
• Experience in brand planning, brand strategy, or product development a plus
• Experience working with a range of stakeholders (strategy, brand, marketing, design, product development, merchant, etc.)
• Regular exposure to or first‑hand experience with focus groups or IDI moderation
• Regular exposure to or first‑hand experience with quantitative research / mixed methods

• Leads multi‑faced brand strategy, product strategy, and design research studies from the initial project request through research planning, fielding, and final analysis and reporting with little supervision
• Facilitates any qualitative research method needed for the projects, including but not limited to moderating focus groups and in‑aisle interviews or designing surveys
• Leads activation meetings to identify research objectives, goals, target customers, timelines, and potential implications of findings
• Develops research proposals with refined research objectives and detailed methodologies, facilitating group alignment on next steps
• Coordinates/schedules the research and identifies/coordinates needed deliverables
• Creates recruitment screeners and reviews results, collaborating with in‑house recruitment to identify the right participants for the research
• Leads the planning, writing, designing, and programming of research questionnaires, ensuring survey functionality, question integrity, and data accuracy, with minimal direction
• Leads the development of qualitative discussion guides and creative testing materials for dynamic and insightful focus group discussions
• Synthesizes qualitative data into clear themes, trends, and actionable insights – connecting learnings back to the objectives and delivering recommendations that inspire strategic decisions rather than prescriptive tactical fixes
• Creates and presents research reports that provide a clear, comprehensive, motivating, and actionable data story
• Presents findings to stakeholders and influences business decisions based upon the learnings
• Actively participates as the VOC in any internal brand, product, and design strategy meetings – influencing customer‑led decision making, voicing customer‑led design feedback and advocating for adequate concept differentiation / stress‑test visuals for customer testing
• Collaborates with quantitative counterparts on any mixed‑method or multi‑phased research initiatives
• Supports lower‑level analysts on the team, providing guidance, coaching, and development
• Continuous learning, keeping up with industry trends, and thinking outside the box

• You can…