Senior Specialist Product Insights

Foods you love. Brands you trust. And a career that empowers you to grow. At Nestlé USA, we’re all working towards the same goal – to delight and deliver for our consumers. With a rich portfolio of beloved brands, including DiGiorno, Toll House, and Coffee mate, in 97% of U.S. households, we have a unique opportunity – and responsibility – to be there for every moment in our consumers’ lives. Joining Nestlé means becoming part of an inclusive workplace that inspires innovation, encourages strategic thinking and creativity, and celebrates your achievements. No matter where you work within the organization, you are empowered to challenge the status quo, embrace risk-taking, and pioneer new ideas. Our supportive and collaborative environment encourages bold ambitions and continuous learning so that everyone can grow and thrive. This position is not eligible for Visa Sponsorship. The Senior Specialist Product Insights is responsible for leading, organizing and maintaining quality product testing practices and serving as the connector and integrator between research vendors, R&D, consumer insight managers and business teams. Success in this role includes identifying and making actionable recommendations to drive consumer preference vs. competitors, ultimately driving market share gains. Primary Responsibilities: Leadership & Consulting • Serve as the product testing expert by providing thought partnership to brand management and R&D. • Focus on influencing business partners’ decisions and aligning the research agenda to them, then tailor communications of research findings to support upcoming decisions. Proactively communicate product testing results with R&D and Business partners. • Identify efficient testing practices that meet the needs of the business while optimizing the spend. • Work with business partners to identify unknowns around which to engineer insightful meta-analyses. • Use transparent, strategy aligned criteria to assess the value of projects to the business. • Collaborate with sensory and technical team on product testing and leverage learning to inform product formulas. • Proactively communicate product testing results with R&D and Business partners. • Redefine medium-value requests and eliminate or outsource low-value requests; challenge the need for learning as appropriate vs having courage to decide and go. Develop Product Understanding • Communicate and embed learning to minimize testing redundancies and optimize product opportunities • Leverage opportunities within product testing to meet Good Taste (product superiority) requirements within the goals of testing. • Develop a holistic view of the products by understanding product use, product experience and sensory profile. Manage Product Testing Logistics • Learn and apply all Product Testing rules when it comes to Product Procurement (e.g. same factory code to be used for Consumer Testing and Sensory Evaluation). • Oversee Product Shipping to make sure the right product arrive at the right testing sites at the right time. Budget and Vendor Management • Manage projects within budget • Provide suppliers with access to all information needed to ensure intimacy with NUSA • Use strategic assets to build non-monetary, reciprocally valuable relationship with suppliers, motivating above-and beyond support and true partnership Requirements & Education: • Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science, Statistics, Marketing, Economics, Psychology, Sociology or related field required; Relevant Master’s degree preferred • Minimum of 3+ years of consumer research experience with budget responsibility in a consumer packaged goods company. • Working knowledge of expert sensory evaluation • Experience in Product testing via IHUT or CLT • Strong drive for results with a passion for the consumer • Experience leading projects with ownership of suppliers, research, test logistics and schedule • Strong sense of curiosity and desire to seek opportunities to self-educate on new methodologies and techniques, and general research and business news. C&B