Director, Human Insights and Strategy

The Director, Human Insights & Strategy will be a core driver of the category and brand’s growth trajectory, responsible for driving the deep consumer understanding into brand/category development and shaping business decision-making, steering long-term growth plans, and enhancing consumer connection. This role will be responsible for translating deep human insights into actionable strategies that fuel brand relevance, category growth, and long-term business success. This role will also require leveraging advanced analytics, AI tools, and global best practices to elevate decision-making and organizational impact.

1. Strategic Business Analysis & Growth Opportunity Unlock

• Lead end-to-end analysis of category, brand, and competitive performance to identify growth levels and unlock new opportunities.
• Integrate diverse data sources (e.g., consumer panels, retail data, social listening, campaign tracking, brand equity tracking) into cohesive, actionable insights.
• Partner with category and commercial teams to shape Annual Business Plans (ABP) and long-term strategic road maps.
• Monitor market dynamics and consumer trends to proactively identify whitespace and growth opportunities.

2. Deep Consumer Understanding to Power Brand Strategy

• Design and lead research programs to uncover deep consumer motivations, tensions, and unmet needs to drive the growth.
• Translate insights into compelling brand narratives that guide positioning, communication, and creative development.
• Identify occasion-based marketing opportunities and help brands connect with consumers in meaningful, culturally relevant ways.
• Collaborate with creative and media teams to optimize messaging and campaign effectiveness, continuously to generate learnings.

3. Innovation & Product Development Insights

• Drive the consumer insight agenda across the full innovation funnel—from early-stage exploration to in-market validation.
• Apply a wide range of research methodologies (e.g., U&A, concept testing, pack testing, sensory testing, in-home usage tests) to guide product development.
• Partner with R&D, marketing, and commercial teams to optimize the 6Ps (Product, Pack, Price, Place, Promotion, Proposition) for new launches.
• Ensure consumer-centricity is embedded in every stage of the innovation process to maximize launch success.

4. Digital Transformation & AI-Driven Insight Activation

• Champion the use of advanced AI tools to modernize research workflows, e.g: digital POSM testing to evaluate shopper impact and optimize in-store execution.
• AI-powered packaging testing / creative assets effectiveness and consumer appeal.
• Foresight and future-back insight exploration using predictive analytics and scenario modeling.
• Localization and implementation of global insight tools, ensuring relevance and effectiveness in the GCM OU.
• Drive the digitization of the insights function, enhancing agility, speed-to-insight, and data democratization across teams.

5. Cross-functional Collaboration & Organizational Influence

• Act as a strategic partner to cross-functional teams, including global insights, marketing, R&D, and commercial functions.
• Influence senior stakeholders with insight-driven recommendations and thought leadership.
• Build a culture of consumer obsession and insight-led decision-making across the organization.

Experience

• 12+ years of experience including Consumer Insights, Market Research, Strategic Analysis, preference for additional Marketing / Business Strategy

Profile

• Always obsess for and stay connected on the new ways of driving insight
• Be a key partner to enable better business decision making found deep insight.
• Collaborative in nature, comfortable both contributing to and utilizing global insights, strategies and activations from around the network
• Be a visible and proactive contributor.
• Be a fact-based voice, gaining a seat at the table in business process and decision making. 

Work Focus

• Able to work on frameworks and research models for diverse marketing and consumer insights problems.
• Required to tackle structured and unstructured problems coordinating all phases of analysis from formulation to conclusions / recommendations.
• Ability to orchestrate multiple stakeholders, delivering the highest priority in a holistic approach.
• Ability to analyze complex issues and bring together multiple solutions across functions to define the strategic opportunities for the business.

Communication Focus

• Good to be a clear and inspiring communicator. Must be able to translate insights into compelling business implications and call to action/ recommendation to the business.
• Good in multipoint / multilevel communication. Comfortable interaction with Marketing and Category leads, and IMX, Front Line teams, commercial team.
• Comfortable in high pressure and uncertain environments including contract negotiation, strategy and business review discussions. Communication style: Calm / collected under pressure. Fact based argumentation.
• The role communicates internally across OU Mkt (category team, IMX, Frontline), the global insights community (Global category team + platform service), and OU HR.

Key Knowledge Requirements

• MASTERY OF (REQUIRED)
• CONSUMER & SHOPPER RESEARCH TECHNIQUES
• STRONG DATA ANALYTICS SKILLS, INCLUDES BIG DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES
• AGENCY AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Broad Expertise (Good to Have)

• EXPERIENCE IN INSIGHT/STRATEGY TEAM IN FMCG
• EXPERIENCE IN FMCG MARKETING
• EXPERIENCE IN RESEARCH AGENCY

Skills:

Media Planning; Sponsorships; Local Advertising; Shopper Marketing; Online Marketing; Marketing Activation; Consumer Segmentation; Competitive Assessments; Creative Briefs; Digital Media Strategy; Marketing Strategies; SWOT Analysis; Brand Positioning; Group Problem Solving; Social Media Strategies; Brand Architecture; Channel Management; Team Management