Consumer Insights E2E Associate Manager

Overview

Own Consumer Insights agenda delivery for Sustain Growth / Walkers PC portfolio, translating human understanding into strategic choices that restore performance and unlock sustainable growth.

Influence the business's most critical PC decisions by anchoring in ‘where to play’ and unlocking the ‘how to win’ from occasions/ needs to JTBD and 5STS (five steps to smiles) superiority.

Operate as a decision-making partner rather than a research provider, maximizing existing knowledge, accelerating learning through agile and AI-enabled approaches, and converting evidence into clear actions that drive growth.

Connect and mobilize Marketing and X-functional teams (eg: Commercialisation, Sales, R&D, RGM and global partners) behind Consumer Insight agenda to ensure learning is optimally scoped, delivered and impact orientated.

Responsibilities

Own the E2E Consumer Insight agenda for Sustain Growth / Walkers PC

Align efforts behind the most important turnaround and sustainable-growth choices rather than a list of brand requests. Translate business priorities into focused learning plans and decision-making impact. (Accountable)

Help to diagnose what is driving performance and bring the Consumer "why"

Integrate Consumer and Shopper evidence to explain what is happening, why and what the business should do next. Use 5 Steps to Smiles to identify highest-value problems to solve across Marketing Levers. (Accountable / Consult)

Lead critical insight initiatives for priority Turnaround workstreams

Shape clear hypotheses, critical unknowns and proportionate learning plans for agreed priorities. Move at pace, mobilise existing assets first, and land a decisive recommendation rather than a research read-out. (Accountable)

Make every PC initiative needs-first and connected to growth strategy

Pivot business from brand-out to outside-in, embedding Demand Spaces and Category / Portfolio strategy as common fact base. Clarify brand PTS and unlock right activation across eg: NPD, Vis/pack, Comms, Channel, OBPPA (Accountable)

Close the loop through live learning and performance evaluation

Define success measures and learning plans before launch, then connect in-market performance, equity and consumer / shopper response to determine whether to scale/ stop/ course-correct. Reuse learning vs one offs. (Co-accountable)

Modernise how insight work gets done

Apply knowledge-first and AI-enabled approach: reuse evidence, build cumulative knowledge assets, use agile and cost-efficient methods, simplifying recurring outputs. Protect capacity for the biggest growth choices. (Co-accountable)

Strengthen one integrated UK Insights team

Work fluidly across Consumer, Shopper, Strategic and E2E Commercial Insights, drawing on the best expertise regardless of team boundaries. Contribute to business forums, score-carding, team culture and capability. (Co-accountable)

Growth Partner: Can connect diagnosis, strategy, activation and multi-data source learning into one clear point of view to influence business decisions, rather than treating insight as a research exercise or series of disconnected inputs.

Strategic fluency: Understands how brands grow; the role of penetration, portfolio choices and brand roles; how to translate ‘where to play’ into practical ‘how to win’ actions, with levers that will move the business most.

Activation able: Understands full growth mix and knows how to turn JTBD into right proposition (product/pack), brand-building and comms, working with x-functions on availability (channel/shopper) and value (pricing, PPA etc).

Solid researcher: Strong qual and quant foundation with judgement to choose the right approach for the question, balancing pace, cost and rigour. Can independently design learning plans and challenge agency recommendations.

Stakeholder Leadership: Credible with senior stakeholders, able to build strong partnerships and act as a strategic thought partner. Challenges constructively for Consumer, builds alignment and keeps teams anchored in evidence.

Simplifies complex: Able to cut through wealth of data and information to find crux of insight and narrative, communicating this clearly and compellingly. Comfortable adopting and blending capability / segmentation frameworks

Decision-led, not research-Led: Starts with the business decision, not the research question. Works backwards to what needs to be answered and delivered, with eye to output from the off. Leaders seek out as a thought partner

Human-centric orientation: Naturally empathetic, able to talk from the Consumer’s shoes, coming at growth from the perspective of people, occasions and needs rather than brands, functions or channels. Reframes conversation this way.

Connects the Growth System: Sees connections across category, portfolio, brand, shopper and commercial drivers and can move seamlessly from diagnosis to where-to-play and how-to-win as a ‘red thread’.

Simplifies complexity into action: Can distil lots of information and potentially conflicting sources into a handful of insights and a story that people remember and act upon; comfortable to workshop this through as well as type up.

Influences through challenge and partnership: Builds trust quickly, challenges constructively and aligns diverse stakeholders around a shared direction. Knows when to lead, when to coach and when to bring others with them.