POSITION SUMMARYThe Associate Director, Category Insights, will partner with our Americas Zone Marketing, Americas Zone R&D, and related Business Unit to unlock category growth. This person will drive category and portfolio strategy, innovation, and brand communication by translating market trends, consumer behavior, culinary insights, and competitive intelligence into clear, actionable direction. The Director, Category Insights, will also play a key role on our global business analytics and insights team - contributing to shared knowledge, best practices, methodologies, and frameworks that elevate how we work across the organization.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONSReasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- Serve as the consumer advocate, ensuring that category-level insights are the foundation of marketing strategy and execution.
- Lead an insights-driven "where to play" journey - from cross-category landscape mapping (market, category, and competitiveness) to identify white space opportunities, consumer trends, and taste/flavor/cooking preferences that inform portfolio priorities and innovation direction.
- Lead insights throughout the innovation development process - from concept through product, packaging, pricing, and go-to-market qualification.
- Support product value proposition development and marketing storytelling by providing consumer-backed insights and communication assets.
- Contribute to post-launch reviews, delivering insights-driven recommendations to optimize products, messaging, and go-to-market execution.
- Champion product superiority by partnering with the business analytics team to define benchmarks, align cross-functional teams (Marketing, R&D, and Business) on product performance, and help identify pathways to differentiation through formula refinement, communication sharpening, and value equation clarity.
- Manage ad hoc research projects end-to-end: framing the business question, designing the learning plan, managing agencies, synthesizing findings, and delivering actionable recommendations at both global and regional levels.
- Any other insights and analytical projects and initiatives as assigned.
QUALIFICATIONSTo perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- 10+ years of experience in category, portfolio, and consumer insights within the food and beverage industry is required. Experience in flavors, sauces, or foodservice/restaurant menu is a strong plus.
- Proven, hands-on experience building consumer and category insights methodology and capability in retail business from scratch is non-negotiable. Additional experience in restaurant menu/flavor innovation or digital commerce is a plus.
- Deep expertise in human, innovation, and product insights across both qualitative and quantitative methodologies; strong project management skills including writing briefs, managing agency partners, and delivering on time and within budget.
- Solid working knowledge of syndicated and continuous data sources (retail scan data, consumer panels, brand tracking, media measurement, demand generation analytics, etc.).
- Strong business acumen with the ability to navigate across business units and functions effectively. Able to facilitate multi-functional teams on consensus building and driving results.
- Collaborative team player who is self-motivated, organized, and comfortable working across time zones and cross-functional teams.
- Well-organized and with proven experience in project management.
- Detail-oriented without losing sight of the big picture.
- "CAN-DO" attitude. Pursuing innovation and change with a mindset of continuous improvement.
- Ability to work under pressure, meet deadlines and be flexible in work schedule.
- A genuine passion for food - curiosity and enthusiasm for flavor, menu trends, textures, and what drives everyday cooking and eating decisions is essential.
