Head of Business-to-Business Customer and Market Research

Job Description:

Director Market Intelligence

Collaborate with Innovative 3Mers Around the World

Choosing where to start and grow your career has a major impact on your professional and personal life, so it's equally important you know that the company that you choose to work at, and its leaders, will support and guide you. With a wide variety of people, global locations, technologies and products, 3M is a place where you can collaborate with other curious, creative 3Mers.

This position provides an opportunity to transition from other private, public, government or military experience to a 3M career.

The Impact You'll Make in this Role

As the head of B2B Customer and Market Research, you will have the opportunity to tap into your curiosity and collaborate with some of the most innovative people around the world. In this role, you will lead the development of an enterprise-wide customer and market insights discipline, with a strong focus on B2B research. This leader will establish the vision, frameworks, and operating model for a modern insights function that delivers rigorous qualitative and quantitative research, enabling data-driven decisions across strategy, commercial operations, product development, and go-to-market execution. This role requires a seasoned expert with deep experience transforming customer understanding into strategic action, capable of working across senior leadership teams and driving measurable business impact. Here, you will make an impact by:

• Build and operationalize an enterprise insights capability encompassing customer needs analysis, segmentation, Voice of Customer programs, and value proposition research, customer journey understanding, and commercial-related insights.
• Create scalable and agile research approaches that balance speed with rigor, enabling rapid delivery of insights for high-priority strategic decisions.
• Lead end-to-end research programs, from design through analysis and synthesis, ensuring findings are distilled into clear recommendations with commercial relevance.
• Embed insights into core business processes by partnering with commercial, marketing, product, analytics, and strategy teams.
• Establish governance standards, research protocols, and vendor management structures to ensure high-quality, consistent delivery across the enterprise.
• Oversee studies across a diverse set of markets, including highly specialized or niche industrial categories.
• Lead and develop a team of insights professionals and third-party vendors/agencies and foster a culture of curiosity, analytical rigor, and business-oriented storytelling.
• Create organizational capability through training, reusable tools, and knowledge systems that elevate insights maturity across functions.
• Represent the insights function to senior executives and serve as a trusted advisor on customer behavior, market shifts, and emerging commercial opportunities.

Your Skills and Expertise

To set you up for success in this role from day one, 3M requires (at a minimum) the following qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or higher (completed and verified prior to start)
• Ten (10) years of customer insights or market research experience in a private, public, government, or military environment

Additional qualifications that could help you succeed even further in this role include:

• Experieance in B2B markets including industrial, transportation, or technology sectors.
• Demonstrated success advising senior business leaders and shaping commercial or go-to-market strategy through customer and market understanding.
• Advanced skills in qualitative and quantitative research methods, including needs assessment, segmentation, customer experience, brand and value proposition analysis, and pricing-related research.
• Experience leading large-scale, multi-market research programs and managing cross-functional internal and external delivery teams.
• Proven ability to turn complex research into concise, actionable guidance for business decision makers.
• Proven experience in identifying and managing best in class third party vendors specialized in quantitative and qualitative market research and surveys.
• Strong track record building new capabilities, scaling research operations, and establishing enterprise research standards.
• Experience working across a wide variety of industries such as industrial/manufacturing, retail, technology, and transportation.
• Advanced degree required.
• Multilingual capabilities and experience working in global research settings are beneficial.
• Demonstrated leadership experience in coaching teams, driving knowledge sharing, and building organizational insight capabilities.

Work location:

• Work location: This role follows an on-site working model, requiring the employee to work at least four days a week at the 3M Center in Maplewood, MN.

Travel: May include up to 5% domestic/international

Relocation: May be authorized

Must be legally authorized to work in country of employment without sponsorship for employment visa status (e.g., H1B status).

Supporting Your Well-being

3M offers many programs to help you live your best life - both physically and financially. To ensure competitive pay and benefits, 3M regularly benchmarks with other companies that are comparable in size and scope.

Chat with Max

For assistance with searching through our current job openings or for more information about all things 3M, visit Max, our virtual recruiting assistant on 3M.com/careers.

Applicable to US Applicants Only:The expected compensation range for this position is $250,253 - $305,864, which includes base pay plus variable incentive pay, if eligible. This range represents a good faith estimate for this position. The specific compensation offered to a candidate may vary based on factors including, but not limited to, the candidate's relevant knowledge, training, skills, work location, and/or experience. In addition, this position may be eligible for a range of benefits (e.g., Medical, Dental & Vision, Health Savings Accounts, Health Care & Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts, Disability Benefits, Life Insurance, Voluntary Benefits, Paid Absences and Retirement Benefits, etc.). Additional information is available at:

All US-based 3M full time employees will need to sign an employee agreement as a condition of employment with 3M. This agreement lays out key terms on using 3M Confidential Information and Trade Secrets. It also has provisions discussing conflicts of interest and how inventions are assigned. Employees that are Job Grade 7 or equivalent and above may also have obligations to not compete against 3M or solicit its employees or customers, both during their employment, and for a period after they leave 3M.

Learn more about 3M's creative solutions to the world's problems at or on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @3M.

Responsibilities of this position include that corporate policies, procedures and security standards are complied with while performing assigned duties.

Safety is a core value at 3M. All employees are expected to contribute to a strong Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) culture by following safety policies, identifying hazards, and engaging in continuous improvement.

Pay & Benefits Overview:

3M does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Please note: your application may not be considered if you do not provide your education and work history, either by: 1) uploading a resume, or 2) entering the information into the application fields directly.

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