Senior Manager, Technical Consumer Data Research

Role Type: Individual Contributor The Senior Manager, Technical Consumer Data Research (TCDR) reports to the Senior Director, Technical Consumer Data Research (TCDR), APAC and leads consumer research for Japan and South Korea Operating Unit (JSK OU) and Global Categories, delivering front end, consumer centric insights to drive a prioritized innovation pipeline across Product, Packaging, and Equipment for right first time, high impact outcomes. Organizationally, the TCDR function sits within the Innovation, Technology & Strategy team, ensuring strong integration of consumer insights into broader innovation and strategic decision-making processes. This role serves as a critical business partner shaping strategic, end-to-end consumer centric innovation learning plans and comprehensive research for the OU and Global categories whilst collaborating closely with Marketing, Human Insights, Local and Global Development & Innovation teams, within the innovation centers to deliver present-forward and future-back research strategies, that drive exceptional consumer experiences in alignment with consumer trends and our business strategies whilst delivering business growth. What You'll Do for Us : TCDR lead for the JSK OU and Global Categories , accountable for end-to-end delivery of research projects and initiatives, including robust cross-functional stakeholder engagement, governance, and alignment. Drives global TCDR community initiatives while standardizing and embedding best practices across markets and categories. Strategic business partner shaping and influencing the innovation pipeline for the OU and Global Categories and the broader global TCDR community. Aligns diverse cross-functional teams (SRA, HI, Marketing, GDI, PD, ITS, Strategy) to embed a consumer-first mindset and leverage deep business understanding to drive impactful, insight-led decisions. Owns and leads critical innovation research initiatives as a strategic, empowering consumer-centric, technical business partner, driving end-to-end TCDR research excellence with a 'right-first time' mindset, and influencing decisions to deliver strong, measurable business outcomes. Translate business needs into an actionable sensory and consumer research plans . Build and lead end-to-end consumer research learning plans, with appropriate future forward consumer and sensory approaches and methodologies, utilizing digital capabilities, grounded in sound data & insights, to enable effective business decisions. Demonstrates deep functional expertise across TCDR disciplines , including sensory science, human behavioral science, consumer research, and advanced statistical and data science methodologies and sophisticated modeling techniques (e.g., AI, ML, LLMs, PLS regression) leveraging AI capability. Utilizes rigorous statistical methodologies and advanced analytical techniques to design studies, analyze data, and interpret results with precision; synthesize findings into robust, evidence-based conclusions and delivers clear, actionable technical and business recommendations to inform decision-making. Delivers data-driven strategic recommendations to inform business solutions , leveraging deep technical consumer research expertise and a strong understanding of the business and competitive landscape; defines insight-led solutions grounded in consumer needs, proactively identifies and mitigates technical risks, and communicates with clarity through compelling, data-driven storytelling to influence stakeholders and drive confident decision-making. Actively contributes to the GDI Global TCDR community , partnering on research-on-research initiatives to advance methodologies and strengthen functional capabilities. Champions external orientation and innovation , identifying, developing, and adopting new, agile research methodologies and data science approaches in collaboration with the Global TCDR Capabilities team, and scaling relevant solutions within the OU. Drive continuous improvement and innovation in TCDR practices , evolving best practices and methodologies while proactively exploring and implementing cutting-edge, AI-enabled tools to solve complex challenges and deliver competitive advantage. Global Beverage Category knowledge and understanding, with a trained palette for sensory evaluation thereof. Data Analytics & Synthesis Perform advanced statistical analysis for sensory & consumer research, to include interpretation of research data outcomes, and application of appropriate methods (e.g., ANOVA, parametric/non-parametric, modeling), adopting appropriate risk management. Proficient usage of Statistical software and tools such as JMP, SPSS, SAS, Python, R, SQL, Power BI, and Azure ML, parametric and non-parametric methods, ANOVA, factorial analysis, and modeling tools. Apply advanced analytics and statistical modeling to solve complex business problems. Translate data into clear, actionable insights that support business decision-making. Develop and adopt innovative, data-driven solutions to drive competitive advantage. Demonstrate hands-on experience applying analytics to real-world business challenges with measurable impact. Technical Risk Management Skilled in identifying and assessing technical risks, developing strategies in working with the Global TCDR Capabilities team, mitigate these risks, and implementing proactive measures to ensure project continuity and system integrity. Proactively Build category knowledge to support Present-Forward and Future-back Innovation pipeline and OU LRP business planning: Lead a multi-year category research strategy , generating critical product, sensory, and consumer insights to support global and local innovation while optimizing portfolio and identifying growth opportunities. Drive competitive benchmarking and insights , evaluating Product, Packaging, and Equipment to uncover drivers of consumer preference, market trends, and white space opportunities. Execute front-end exploration research , identif