Consumer Insights & Market Research Specialist - Cooking Appliances

Job Description

About Midea America Corp

Midea America Corp., is one of the world’s largest home appliance brands, offering the most comprehensive selection of products in the world to fully serve the needs of day-to-day living at home, at work, or anywhere else you go. In North America we strive to aim high, put the customer first, transform and innovate the marketplace, utilizing our commitment, dedication, inclusion, and partnership with our teams. Midea America is a subsidiary of the Midea Group, a global company with over 150,000 employees and operations in more than 195 countries. As a publicly listed company, we are ranked #231 as a Fortune Global 500 company and offer one of the most comprehensive product portfolios in the industry.

Job Summary

Midea America is seeking a highly motivated Consumer Insights Specialist to help drive the future of cooking appliance innovation across ranges, wall ovens, cooktops, over-the-range microwaves, countertop microwaves, and emerging cooking technologies.

This role is responsible for uncovering deep consumer insights, identifying unmet needs, monitoring market trends, evaluating competitive landscapes, and translating Voice of Customer (VOC) findings into actionable product and business opportunities. The successful candidate will leverage qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to influence product strategy, innovation roadmaps, user experience improvements, and commercialization decisions.

Working closely with Product Management, Engineering, Industrial Design, Marketing, Sales, and Global R&D teams, this position will serve as the consumer advocate throughout the product development process, ensuring that future products address real consumer needs while creating competitive differentiation in the North American market.

This position is full-time and fully on-site. Some domestic and occasional international travel is required.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Consumer Insights & Research

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• Lead qualitative and quantitative consumer research projects to understand consumer behaviors, needs, pain points, and usage habits related to cooking appliances.
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• Design and execute surveys, focus groups, in-home visits, interviews, ethnographic studies, usability testing, and concept validation research.
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• Translate Voice of Customer (VOC) findings into actionable product, marketing, and business recommendations.
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• Develop consumer personas, customer journey maps, and usage scenarios to support consumer-driven product development.
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Market Research & Competitive Intelligence

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• Research market trends, consumer preferences, emerging technologies, and competitive activities within the cooking appliance industry.
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• Conduct competitive benchmarking and analyze product features, pricing, consumer reviews, marketing strategies, and user experiences.
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• Identify market gaps, growth opportunities, and unmet consumer needs that can drive future product innovation and portfolio expansion.
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Product Innovation Support

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• Partner with Product Management, Engineering, and Industrial Design teams to identify innovation opportunities and validate new product concepts.
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• Support Front-End Innovation (FEI) activities through consumer validation of product concepts, features, and user experiences.
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• Translate research findings into product requirements and consumer-driven design recommendations.
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• Participate in product roadmap planning by providing consumer and market insights.
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Data Analytics & Business Insights

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• Analyze consumer, market, and competitive data to identify trends, opportunities, and strategic recommendations.
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• Develop reports, dashboards, presentations, and executive summaries that communicate key findings and business implications.
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• Establish best practices for collecting, storing, managing, and sharing consumer and market intelligence across the organization.
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• Support data-driven decision making through analytical rigor and consumer-focused recommendations.
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Cross-Functional Collaboration

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• Work closely with Product Management, Marketing, Sales, Engineering, Design, and Global R&D teams to ensure consumer insights are integrated throughout the product development process.
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• Support product launches through consumer validation research, messaging feedback, and market readiness assessments.
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• Review and validate consumer-facing materials, including product literature, websites, packaging, user manuals, and promotional content.
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• Travel domestically and internationally to collaborate with global and multicultural teams, driving alignment on consumer insights, product innovation, and strategic business objectives.
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Qualifications

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• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Psychology, Sociology, Business, Human Factors, Product Innovation, or a related field. Master's degree preferred.
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• 5+ years of experience in Consumer Insights, Market Research, Customer Experience, Product Innovation Research, or related fields. Prior experience with consumer insights firm is a plus.
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• Experience within the home appliance, consumer products, durable goods, or kitchen appliance industries preferred.
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• Experience supporting product development and Front-End-Innovation programs through consumer research, market analysis, UI/UX research, ethnography studies, customer journey mapping, design thinking, jobs to be done methodologies, etc.
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• Strong expertise in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies with proficiency in survey design, focus groups, interviews, consumer analytics, and statistical analysis.
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• Ability to transform complex data into clear and actionable business recommendations.
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• Strong communication, storytelling, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.
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• Proven ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional and global teams.
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• Self-motivated, curious, analytical, and consumer focused.
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• Strong project management and organizational skills.
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Disclaimer:

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

EEO Statement:

Midea America Corp. is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.