Our client is a large, established manufacturer making a significant investment in new product development and innovation across a growing portfolio of products serving contractors and skilled trades professionals.
As part of this investment, we are seeking a Consumer & Product Insights Lead to play an important role in shaping how new products are identified, developed and brought to market.
This individual will work directly with contractors and end users to understand how products are used in real-world environments, identify unmet needs and opportunities, and translate those findings into actionable recommendations for Product Management, Engineering and senior leadership.
The position offers a unique combination of customer interaction, field research, analytics and product development. Rather than working exclusively with existing datasets or third-party research, this person will have the opportunity to get close to the customer, understand their challenges firsthand and use those insights to directly influence product strategy and new product development. The majority of the role will support new product development and innovation.
Key Responsibilities
- Design and execute customer and end-user research, including interviews, field observations, surveys, Voice of Customer initiatives and product testing.
- Spend time directly with contractors, tradespeople and other end users to understand product usage, workflow challenges, pain points and unmet needs.
- Gather and synthesize qualitative and quantitative information from multiple customer touchpoints and translate it into clear, actionable insights.
- Identify opportunities for new products, product enhancements and differentiated features based on customer needs and market feedback.
- Partner closely with Product Management and Engineering throughout the new product development process.
- Help evaluate new product concepts and prototypes through field testing and direct customer feedback.
- Translate research findings into recommendations around product requirements, features, customer value and market opportunities.
- Help inform go/no-go decisions for new product concepts using customer research and supporting data.
- Evaluate competitive products and identify changes in customer needs, behaviors and market expectations.
- Present research findings and recommendations to Product, Engineering, commercial and senior leadership teams.
- Help further develop the organization's approach to customer and product insights as investment in innovation continues to grow.
Qualifications- Bachelor's degree required.
- 5+ years of relevant professional experience in consumer insights, customer insights, Voice of Customer, market research, product research, product management or a related function.
- Hands-on experience conducting primary research directly with customers or end users.
- Experience using both qualitative and quantitative research to support product or business decisions.
- Experience working with physical products and exposure to new product development, product testing or product innovation.
- Ability to take customer feedback and research findings and translate them into clear recommendations for Product Management, Engineering and business leadership.
- Strong communication and presentation skills with the ability to engage effectively with a wide range of audiences.
- Comfortable working independently while collaborating across Product, Engineering, Sales and other functions.
- Willingness to spend meaningful time in the field with customers and travel domestically as needed to support research and product-development initiatives.
Experience working directly with contractors, tradespeople or other professional end users is strongly preferred. Backgrounds in tools, contractor equipment, building products, electrical products, plumbing, HVAC, industrial products or other construction-related products would be particularly relevant.
Product Management professionals with significant experience in customer research, Voice of Customer, field testing and data-driven product development are also encouraged to apply.
Additional Details
- No direct reports
- Up to 50% domestic travel
- Relocation assistance available
- Opportunity to have a direct impact on product strategy, customer experience, and business growth
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