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For more than 115 years, Ferrara has created sugar confections that enable moments of sweetness, celebration, and connection for candy lovers of all generations. Today, the company is the #1 sugar confectioner in the United States. Ferrara boasts a passionate team of nearly 9,000 employees creating and delivering hundreds of products sold under 20 popular brands like Brach’s®, NERDS®, SweeTARTS®, Laffy Taffy®, and Trolli® to more than 66 million U.S. households annually and popular Dori snacking products under brands such as Dori, Gomets, Pettiz, and Yogurte 100 in Brazil. Additionally, Jelly Belly, known world-wide for its confections, was acquired in November of 2023.

Manager, Consumer Insights

Job Location: ​Chicago​

Want to make an impact?

Ferrara has realized incredible growth and is on the path to sustain, with the top priority of the organization being the consumer as our focus. The primary role of the Manager of Consumer Insights is to instill consumer centricity throughout the organization. The Manager role will support the development and delivery of consumer-led research, evangelize market trends, conduct data analyses, and provide strategic thought leadership across functions. The Manager will be responsible for managing one headcount and will coach the Analyst role in supporting projects from kick-off to insights dissemination. Reporting directly to the Senior Director of Insights & Analytics, this individual will be responsible for managing a research budget to deliver against important company and brand initiatives, while connecting the dots across studies and projects to ensure the ‘big picture’ for the category and the consumer. The role will continue to advance our agenda around leveraging new and different vendors and methodologies to ensure an innovative and authentic read on the consumer and consumer behavior. 

 

We are looking for someone who is motivated by being the voice of the consumer, drives action from insights to impact the business, and gets excited about bringing new ideas or ways of thinking and doing to our team.
 

Ways you will make a difference

  • Working with cross-functional stakeholders to develop learn plans for foundational and ad hoc consumer insights research across the portfolio (examples include: mega trends, consumer segmentations, consumption occasions understanding, upstream innovation opportunities) 
  • Defining major research objectives, developing project plans and approaches, and delivering on timelines to meet objectives. Managing overall project execution, deliverables, and internal activations of results
  • Activating consumer learnings across the Marketing, InTech, Growth, and Sales teams and up through senior leadership, while using strong storytelling skills and other compelling methods 
  • Leading the continuous evolution of the Insights function within Ferrara and shaping the future of how we effectively learn about and deliver compelling consumer insights 
  • Establishing yourself as a strategic business partner to the Marketing, Intech, Growth, Category Leadership, Sales, and other cross-functional teams by being the ultimate subject matter expert on the consumer 
  • Uncovering strategic insights utilizing consumer research, trends, data, and business performance helping shape strategy alongside the Growth and Marketing teams to accelerate the business
  • Managing and coaching an Analyst, providing the appropriate support to help grow their career as an Insights professional and within Ferrara 
  • Maintaining a mindset of continuous improvement in techniques and cost, and identifying tools / vendors / technology to increase effectiveness of consumer understanding 
  • Possessing and growing knowledge of multiple consumer data sets, research methods and techniques, internal and external consumer engagement tools, and foundational research types
  • Devising effective solutions in unstructured situations and navigating through ambiguity where not everything is black and white
     

Skills that will make you successful

  • Ability to deliver actionable and fact-based business recommendations rooted in the consumer,
  • Ability to tell a story with data and research while going beyond the “what” to the “so what”, 
  • Motivation and intellectual curiosity to dig into research and data findings to uncover insight, 
  • Strong attention to detail and the ability to devise solutions for questions and problems,
  • Strong analytical acumen,
  • Strong oral/written communication skills,
  • Strong creative and problem-solving ability,
  • Ability to learn quickly, and then act with agility,
  • Having an ownership mentality with a drive to be a partner to the business,
  • Comfort working independently and through ambiguity,
  • Desire to operate in fast-paced, hands-on environment,
  • Bias for action and passion for delivering results
     

Experiences that will support your success

  • Bachelor's degree in Market Research, Business Administration or related field; Master’s degree preferred
  • 5+ years of CPG relevant experience/area of Consumer Insights / Market Research 
  • Experience in managing an individual or small teams 
  • Advanced experience in quantitative and qualitative research methods
  • Experience in managing research budgets
  • Experience in managing multiple vendors and experimenting with new vendors 
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office
  • Experience with IRI (POS data and Consumer Panel data)
  • Experience with NPD in-home consumption data
     

Ferrara’s success in industry-leading innovation has been driven by deep consumer insights, strong retailer co-creation and partnerships, and a dedication to diversity of thought, experience, and people. A privately held company, Ferrara has its global headquarters in Chicago and an operational network of more than 27 locations in North America, Brazil, and China that includes manufacturing, distribution, sales, and R&D facilities. Ferrara is a privately held Ferrero related company. Learn more at www.ferrara.com or www.linkedin.com/company/ferrara-.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. In order to provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees, employment decisions and opportunities at Ferrara will be based on merit, qualifications, and abilities, without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, marital or civil union status, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, military or veteran status, disability, handicap, genetic information, pregnancy (childbirth or related medical condition), or on any other basis prohibited by law. This policy governs all aspects of employment, including selection, job assignment, compensation, discipline, termination, and access to benefits and training.

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