Job Description:Associate Director, Discovery InsightsAre you passionate about understanding human behavior and turning deep consumer empathy into breakthrough innovation?
As the Associate Director, Discovery Insights, you will serve as a vital catalyst in Mars Snacking's internal entrepreneurship engine-championing the front-end of innovation. In this role, you will live and breathe consumer tensions, uncovering rich behavioral insights and translating them into high-impact value propositions for next-generation products and experiences.
Operating at the intersection of human intelligence and rapid experimentation, you'll lead lean, agile learning loops to test, learn, and iterate bold ideas. If you are an inspiring storyteller and strategic thinker eager to shape the future of snacking, this is your opportunity to make a lasting global impact.
What are we looking for?- Bachelor's degree in Market Research, Behavioral Science, Anthropology, Psychology, Marketing, Business Administration, or a related field (Master's or advanced degree preferred).
- 5-8 years of experience in consumer insights, innovation research, or a related strategic insights discipline.
- Deep qualitative expertise across ethnography, in-depth interviews (IDIs), immersions, and collaborative co-creation sessions.
- Proven application of Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) frameworks and hands-on experience driving agile innovation pipelines.
- Compelling storytelling & communication skills with a demonstrated ability to influence senior cross-functional stakeholders.
- Demonstrated experience facilitating workshops and design sprints that bridge consumer discovery with product concepting.
- Strong analytical acumen to synthesize unstructured behavioral data into clear, actionable business opportunities.
- Nice-to-have: Experience working in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG/CPG) or venture/incubator environments.
- Nice-to-have: Familiarity with quantitative validation tools to complement qualitative discovery.
What will be your key responsibilities?- Lead human-centric discovery: Uncover unmet consumer needs, latent pain points, and whitespace opportunities through immersive, multi-method qualitative research.
- Drive agile experimentation: Design and execute lean concept tests, rapid prototyping, and pilot learning loops to validate innovation hypotheses quickly.
- Translate insights into value propositions: Shape compelling product narratives, user personas, and innovation territories anchored in authentic human behavior.
- Cross-functional co-creation: Partner closely with R&D, Brand Marketing, and Design to facilitate ideation workshops and translate raw insights into bold, scalable concepts.
- Champion iterative learning: Embed a "test, learn, adapt" mindset across the front-end innovation team, establishing best practices for early-stage discovery.
- Influence strategic roadmap: Serve as the authoritative voice of the consumer, guiding leadership on portfolio bets and long-term innovation strategy.
- Upskill organizational capability: Mentor team members and build enterprise-wide toolkits for qualitative intelligence and human-centered design.
What can you expect from Mars?- Work with diverse and talented Associates, all guided by The Five Principles (Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency, and Freedom).
- Join a purpose-driven company, where we're striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.
- Best-in-class learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.
- An industry-competitive salary and benefits package, including annual company bonus opportunities and comprehensive health/wellness programs.
#TBdigital
The base pay range for this position at commencement of employment is between the range listed below, however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position will include variable pay, medical and dental benefits, participation in 401k plan, and paid time off benefits. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an applicant receives an offer of employment.
The pay range shown is applicable to all US locations listed within the job posting:USD 169,840.00 - USD 233,530.00
