Director, Consumer & Category Insights
Director, Consumer & Category Insights
Location: Philadelphia, PA (Hybrid, 4 days onsite per week)
Department: Sales
Reports To: Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
Status: Full-Time, Exempt
Team Leadership: Leads a small team of insights and category professionals.
About the Company
Position Overview
My client is seeking a strategic and analytically driven Director, Consumer & Category Insights to build and lead a best-in-class insights function that helps drive growth across a portfolio of consumer products. This individual will serve as the voice of the consumer and shopper, translating complex data into compelling business stories that influence brand strategy, innovation, category growth, retail execution, and commercial planning.
This role requires a unique combination of expertise in syndicated data, category management, consumer research, and executive storytelling. The ideal candidate understands not only what consumers are doing, but why they are doing it, and can convert those insights into actionable business decisions.
Key Responsibilities
Consumer & Category Strategy
- Serve as the internal expert on consumer, shopper, and category trends.
- Develop strategic category narratives that identify growth opportunities and support retailer engagement.
- Partner with brand, innovation, and commercial teams to create compelling category and innovation stories.
- Support category leadership and retailer discussions through data-driven insights and recommendations.
Insights & Analytics
- Conduct deep-dive analysis of category, shopper, retailer, and consumer trends.
- Leverage syndicated data, retailer POS data, loyalty and panel data, eCommerce metrics, and internal performance data to identify opportunities and risks.
- Design and lead primary research initiatives, including:
- Consumer segmentation
- Usage & attitude studies
- Concept and claims testing
- Brand health tracking
- Shopper behavior research
- Monitor competitive activity and identify category whitespace opportunities.
- Provide data-driven recommendations that inform innovation, marketing, and commercial strategies.
Data Management & Commercial Excellence
- Own relationships with syndicated data providers and research partners.
- Manage insights budgets, vendor contracts, and data investments.
- Establish governance and reporting standards that create a single source of truth across the organization.
- Evaluate and implement business intelligence, automation, and AI-enabled analytics tools.
- Train cross-functional teams on data platforms, dashboards, and self-service analytics capabilities.
Cross-Functional Leadership
- Partner closely with Marketing, Innovation, Sales, Revenue Growth Management, and Commercial Strategy teams.
- Support annual planning processes with category forecasts and strategic insights.
- Deliver executive-level reporting and presentations to senior leadership.
- Translate complex analysis into actionable recommendations that drive business results.
Team Leadership
- Build, mentor, and develop an insights organization focused on analytical rigor and strategic storytelling.
- Establish best practices across consumer insights, category management, and commercial analytics.
- Foster a culture of curiosity, data-driven decision making, and continuous improvement.
Qualifications
Required
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Economics, Statistics, or a related discipline.
- 10+ years of experience in Category Management, Consumer Insights, Shopper Insights, or Commercial Analytics within CPG.
- 3+ years of people leadership experience, including building or scaling teams.
- Advanced experience with syndicated data platforms such as NielsenIQ and/or Circana.
- Strong understanding of retailer reporting portals and category management tools.
- Experience leading category strategy and retailer-facing insight initiatives.
- Demonstrated ability to influence business decisions through data-driven storytelling.
- Advanced proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint.
- Experience with business intelligence platforms such as Power BI or Tableau.
FAQs
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