Senior Manager Consumer Insights

Senior Manager, Consumer Insights – Food & Beverage CPG

Westlake Village, CA | Hybrid (3 days/week in office)

Relocation assistance available

We’re partnering with a global food and beverage company with a portfolio of beloved consumer brands to identify a Senior Manager, Consumer Insights .

This is a strategic, high-visibility role for an insights leader who excels at uncovering consumer truths, identifying growth opportunities, and influencing business decisions across Marketing, Innovation, Sales, and Strategy.

Important: This role requires client-side consumer insights experience . Candidates who began their careers in agency research and successfully transitioned into an in-house consumer insights function are encouraged to apply, but agency-only backgrounds will not be considered.

Why This Role Stands Out

• Be the voice of the consumer for a portfolio of nationally recognized brands
• Shape innovation, brand strategy, and long-term business growth
• Partner directly with senior leaders across multiple functions
• Lead the consumer learning agenda and influence enterprise-level decisions
• Join a purpose-driven organization with a strong commitment to innovation and consumer-centricity

What You'll Own

Consumer & Market Intelligence

• Identify and interpret emerging consumer, category, and cultural trends
• Uncover insights around changing consumer behaviors, attitudes, motivations, and unmet needs
• Monitor shifts across health, wellness, sustainability, packaging, flavor, and purchasing trends

Segmentation & Consumer Understanding

• Develop and evolve consumer segmentation frameworks
• Define key target audiences, need states, occasions, and purchase drivers
• Translate consumer understanding into actionable business strategies

Market Opportunity Identification

• Conduct market landscape assessments and competitive analyses
• Identify whitespace opportunities, non-consumption occasions, and future growth platforms
• Provide strategic recommendations that guide innovation and portfolio development

Consumer Journey & Decision Mapping

• Build consumer journey maps across retail and eCommerce environments
• Identify barriers, triggers, and conversion opportunities throughout the purchase journey

Research Leadership

• Own the consumer insights learning agenda and research roadmap
• Lead qualitative and quantitative research initiatives
• Oversee innovation testing, concept testing, packaging research, and product validation studies
• Manage external research agency relationships and maximize research investments

Strategic Storytelling & Influence

• Synthesize multiple data sources into compelling, actionable narratives
• Present insights and recommendations to senior leadership
• Influence cross-functional stakeholders by connecting consumer understanding to business outcomes

✅ What We're Looking For

• Consumer Insights, Market Research, or Consumer Strategy experience within CPG
• Client-side (in-house) consumer insights experience is required
• Agency experience is welcome when combined with meaningful in-house experience
• Deep expertise in both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies
• Experience with segmentation, innovation research, product testing, and consumer behavior analysis
• Strong experience with consumer and market data platforms (Nielsen, Numerator, SPSS, or similar)
• Exceptional storytelling and executive presentation skills
• Ability to translate complex data into strategic business recommendations
• Bachelor's degree required
• Master's degree preferred

Ideal Profile

You are:

• Naturally curious and consumer-obsessed
• A strategic thinker who sees patterns others miss
• Comfortable influencing senior leaders and cross-functional teams
• Equally skilled in research design, analysis, and storytelling
• Passionate about turning insights into business impact