Front-End Innovation Insights & Design Research Manager / Sr. Manager

Job ID: 5448 

Location: Atlanta, GA 

Newell Brands is a leading consumer products company with a portfolio of iconic brands like Graco®, Coleman®, Oster®, Rubbermaid®, Sharpie® and Yankee Candle® - and 24,000 talented teammates around the world. Our culture is built on values in action: Integrity, Teamwork, Passion for Winning, Ownership, and Leadership. We work together to win, grow, and make a real impact—supported by a high-performing, inclusive, and collaborative environment where you can be your best, every day. 

The Front-End Innovation (FEI) Insights & Design Research Manager / Sr. Manger will play a key role within the business FEI team. Working collaboratively with multi-functional POD partners, this individual will identify opportunity spaces, scan cultural and category trends, identify human truths and tensions, assess appeal and market potential, and craft and execute early-stage learning plans.

Bringing a design research and human-centered design mindset, they will synthesize cultural signals, consumer behaviors, and market dynamics into actionable insight, fueling ideation and informing business model development, including volume estimates and forecasts.

Essential Functions & Duties

Functions and duties of this role include, but are not limited to:

• Lead landscaping, foresight, and trend scanning to uncover cultural, category, and behavioral shifts that fuel the broader innovation strategy, inspire opportunity spaces, and create a strong funnel of FEI innovation ideas and programs, while shaping early assumptions for business model development
• Design and run consumer learning plans that use lean, rapid methods (DIY surveys, guerrilla testing, rapid ethnography, AI/data mining, co-creation) in the early stages and transition to robust validation methods as concepts mature
• Apply design research methods (observation, in-context immersion, journey mapping) to translate human needs into insights that inspire and guide product, brand, and business model concepts
• Lead consumer/WHO hypothesis development and target understanding, shaping early assumptions and design targets that guide FEI projects
• Design and facilitate ideation workshops and screening processes that leverage human-centered design techniques to generate and refine early concepts
• Partner with the Business Model lead to shape key consumer-driven assumptions that will be pressure-tested through financial modeling
• Design and lead research that informs early volume estimates and evolves into robust forecast models to support business case development
• Translate insights into compelling narratives that bring the consumer to life for business partners and stakeholders.

Qualifications

The successful candidate will have the following qualifications:

• Manager level: 5+ years of experience in Insights with 3+ years in innovation in CPG
• Sr. Manager level: 8+ years of experience in Insights with 3+ years in innovation in CPG
• Experience with a wide range of research and design tools, including qualitative, quantitative, observational, AI and data mining, lean experiments, rapid ethnography, and simulated test markets, with comfort using both structured and unstructured data to uncover insights and test concepts
• Background in design research, design strategy, service design, or human-centered design preferred
• Proven ability to operate at both the strategic foresight level and in the details of lean, scrappy research
• Proven ability to translate insights into business model implications, with forecasting fluency
• Experience designing and executing learning plans that balance lean, rapid methods with robust validation, including in-context, iterative, and test-and-learn approaches
• Proven track record of working successfully cross-functionally across R&D, Marketing, Design, Finance, and Brand
• Experience assessing and selecting suppliers and methodologies and managing research partners through project sprints
• Strong communication skills and comfort advocating for the consumer/shopper, and conveying feeling and meaning to others, including senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders
• Experience with navigating ambiguity and adapting learning, forecasting, and landscaping as new information emerges
• Experience working in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment, with proven experience with rapid, hypothesis-based iterative learning and testing
• Has a curious, agile, and “whole-brain” mindset

WORK ENVIRONMENT

A collaborative, small, dedicated innovation team comprised of multi-functional experts. Co-located with POD members in Atlanta.

*Note: This position has the ability to be a Manager or a Senior Manager level position, depending on the candidate’s qualifications and experience.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ: NWL) is a leading global consumer goods company with a strong portfolio of well-known brands, including Rubbermaid, Sharpie, Graco, Coleman, Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Yankee Candle, Paper Mate, FoodSaver, Dymo, EXPO, Elmer’s, Oster, NUK, Spontex and Campingaz. We are focused on delighting consumers by lighting up everyday moments. Newell Brands and its subsidiaries are Equal Opportunity Employers and comply with applicable employment laws. EOE/M/F/Vet/Disabled are encouraged to apply.