Consumer & Portfolio Insights Lead - Foods

Overview

The Consumer Insights Lead is a critical role within the East Europe Insights organization, responsible for shaping the Consumer Insights and Category Growth agenda across Poland and the broader East Europe Operating Unit.

The role has been elevated to reflect the company's strategic priorities, with consumer centricity, portfolio of the future, and an ecosystem of growth identified as key enablers. As the voice of the consumer, the job holder is expected to act as a trusted advisor and consumer ambassador, translating consumer needs, tensions, barriers, and emerging trends into actionable demand opportunities, portfolio strategies, and growth initiatives.

The successful candidate will uncover human truths and distill locally relevant insights that can be transformed into impactful creative briefs, innovation platforms, and commercial opportunities. The role plays a pivotal part in maximizing the effectiveness of brand calendars, global-to-local program adaptation, and consumer resonance across markets.

Operating at a highly strategic level, the Consumer Insights Lead will partner closely with senior leadership, including the Category CMO, Country Board of Directors, and MIC Senior Leadership Team, influencing key business decisions through insight-driven recommendations.

The role holds a seat at several critical decision-making forums, including:

• East Europe Marketing Insights Commercialization Leadership Board
• Extended East Europe OU Leadership Team
• Creative & Growth Forums / Platforms
• Operational meetings

Success in this role requires a unique combination of consumer empathy, strategic thinking, analytical rigor, storytelling excellence, and the ability to influence senior stakeholders to drive sustainable business growth.

Responsibilities

Champion Category Growth Insights and Marketing Capabilities

• Own and operationalize Quality Growth Metrics. Ensure clear governance, Balance of Year plans / actions via Business Review Cycle / Cluster Category Meetings with Europe Teams progress tracking.
• Lead Growth ‘does-different’ assessments to identify growth opportunities and drive continuous improvement through relevant forums
• Growth Navigator to action: own updates, translate findings into x-function growth actions in Marketing Reviews/ Growth Council, maximize utilization, track progress.
• Contract ‘global-to-local’ capabilities: ensure effective adoption, partner closely with Global, Sector teams to identify capability gaps, roadmap and accelerate deployment of the Growth Ecosystem in OU.
• Partner with commercialization to embed Consumer (Growth) KPIs to strengthen NPD pipeline, execution, stickability and impact. Run deep-dives, “sense & respond” analyses of NPD market performance.
• Partner with Media teams to leverage audience insights, optimize media effectiveness, and maximize A&M ROI.

Power Local Insights to max response, “Global to Local” Calendar / Programs

• Shape, own, elevate Consumer Empathy Program. Leverage both traditional and cutting-edge methodologies, online & offline tools to “bring the outside in” for Operational PMR/MBR and MIC forums, Consumer Always-On.
• Set up and leverage Instant insights maximizing online platforms and social listening tools for 24hrs consumer sensing and ‘fit-for-use’ briefs
• Partner with marketing teams / creative agencies to feed local insights into creative briefs, drive creative excellence. Codify & leverage meta learning, consumer ques, competitive benchmarks.
• Own NPD / calendars qualification E2E (with Poland being a learning market), enable to deliver calendar OTIF.

2030 Foods Strategy and Portfolio Insights

• Supervise and envision Category pockets of growth, Consumer shifts, Shape of Demand evolution. Drive How To Win/ Where To Play choices, leverage local Demand Maps to define big bets, glidepath to land Foods 2030 Growth Strategy.
• Lead ‘future back’ thinking, bring the outside in. Define 3-5Y category, portfolio growth ambition. Manage 2030/ Strategic inputs to support long-term Algo buildup.
• Partner with S&T, OU leadership to anchor OU transformation with anticipated external pivots. Feed and support OU, Portfolio of the Future streams
• Local insights to support portfolio transformation (Simplification, portfolio futureproof following EMEA / EE roadmap)
• Strategy reviews governance, be a trusted advisor to Foods CMO on glidepath, strategy building blocks: Portfolio Pillars, Core vs More, White Spaces, A&M pivots, Customer E2E.

Consumer-centric ICP and Brand Growth Insights

• Perform, own and deploy integrated Brand diagnostics, cascade into relevant forums and teams, ensure actions aligned to diagnostics outputs.
• Brand Health / target setting cell by cell
• Integrated Commercial Planning hands on responsibility incl. foundational insights, brand reviews to get translated and enable Brand JTBD, MWB.
• Leverage online / digital / social licensing / AI tools to maintain strong pulse on funnel, churn, perceptions, DBAs, communication

Managing people and budget

• Manage, grow and coach a direct report -Foods Insights Manager
• Own category (Food) research masterplan, manage a budget
• Manage external suppliers, agencies, consumer data

Qualifications

• 10-15 years’ overall experience in brand building, marketing, insights. Preference goes to candidates with the experience both on a client (a top tier FMCG) and on an agency side (marketing or creative).
• Deep experience of leading consumer, brand, portfolio insights agenda and partnering with senior leaders to drive insights to action.
• Proven experience, successful track record working with creative side of marketing. Able to tie /translate local insights into marketing brief and creative solutions.
• Evidence of inspiring others to take on new ideas and adopt change.
• Powerful influencer, able to build coalitions and gain support without ‘hard’ power
• Self-starter, able to operate independently without precedent and create completely new approaches.
• Ability to synthesize and persuasively communicate highly complex findings to focus on critical issues and actionable growth opportunities.
• Actively creates, promotes and fosters a culture of cross-function integration and collaboration to get things done.
• Logic/ analytical thinker- can dissect a question/problem to get to a clear brief and turn analysis into a tight, compelling story.
• Ability to see connections across different data, insight sources from category consumption, brands drivers, big trends, future forces of consumer change
• Operates efficiently, effectively in a matrixed environment. Demonstrates effective collaboration across layers, builds coalitions, gains support without ‘hard’ power.
• Actively creates, promotes, and fosters a culture of cross-function/ market integration and collaboration to get things done
• Leadership and coaching - ability to inspire, develop and grow others, to unleash potential/ their impact.
• Polish & English fluent required

Compensation and Benefits:• The expected starting compensation range for this position is 334,200 PLN annually (gross).• Location, confirmed job-related skills, experience, and education will be considered in setting actual starting salary. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range during the hiring process.• This role is eligible for an annual bonus, based on performance and eligibility.• In addition to salary, PepsiCo offers a comprehensive benefits package to support our employees and their families, subject to elections and eligibility."