Senior Manager, Insights & Analytics

The Opportunity:

ML6 is partnering with a leading North American food manufacturing organization to identify a Senior Manager, Commercial Insights & Analytics to lead its commercial intelligence and consumer insights function.

This is a highly visible, strategic role responsible for turning market intelligence, consumer behaviour and commercial performance data into actionable business recommendations. Working across both Canadian and U.S. markets, this individual will help shape customer strategies, brand positioning, product innovation and overall commercial growth.

The successful candidate will bring a combination of analytical expertise, consumer research experience and strong commercial instincts. They will be responsible for connecting information from multiple sources, identifying emerging market opportunities and developing compelling insights that influence decision-making across sales, marketing, category management and leadership teams.

Beyond analyzing data, this individual must be an effective storyteller who can translate complex findings into clear business narratives, influence stakeholders and help the organization better understand where to compete and how to grow.

What You'll Be Doing:

• Lead the development of market and category insights across North American retail and foodservice channels, identifying consumer trends, competitive activity, distribution shifts and emerging growth opportunities.
• Translate market intelligence, consumer behaviour and internal performance data into recommendations that influence commercial strategies, brand priorities, product development and customer planning.
• Develop data-driven presentations and compelling business narratives to support retailer discussions, customer line reviews, joint business planning and distributor growth initiatives.
• Oversee qualitative and quantitative research projects from initial business requirements through research design, agency selection, execution and final recommendations.
• Bring together syndicated market data, retailer insights, distributor information, consumer research and internal sales performance to develop a comprehensive view of business performance and market dynamics.
• Partner with marketing and product development teams to incorporate consumer insights into brand strategies, product innovation, assortment decisions and annual business planning.
• Develop and enhance dashboards, performance metrics and reporting capabilities to improve visibility into commercial performance and ensure consistency in how business results are measured.
• Manage relationships with research agencies, data providers and analytics partners, including contracts, budgets, negotiations and ongoing platform utilization.
• Work closely with Sales, Marketing, Category Management and senior leadership to ensure insights are effectively communicated and incorporated into key business decisions.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen analytical capabilities, improve access to market intelligence and introduce more effective approaches to commercial reporting and decision support.

What You'll Need to Be Successful:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Advertising or a related discipline.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in consumer insights, commercial analytics, market research or marketing intelligence, ideally within the CPG industry.
• Experience supporting retail and foodservice channels, preferably across both Canadian and U.S. markets.
• Strong understanding of consumer behaviour, shopper insights, category dynamics and the broader retail landscape.
• Proven ability to independently manage qualitative and quantitative research initiatives, including developing research briefs, selecting methodologies and managing external research agencies.
• Hands-on experience with syndicated market data and analytics platforms such as Circana/IRI, NielsenIQ, SupplyTrack, 84.51, Scintilla, dunnhumby or similar tools.
• Strong analytical capabilities, with experience interpreting complex datasets, identifying trends, testing hypotheses and developing commercially relevant recommendations.
• Demonstrated ability to connect market intelligence and consumer research to broader business strategies, including brand development, innovation, assortment and customer growth.
• Exceptional presentation and storytelling skills, with the ability to communicate complex findings in a clear, engaging and actionable manner.
• Strong commercial acumen and the confidence to challenge existing thinking, identify opportunities and influence decisions across multiple business functions.
• Excellent project management and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and build productive relationships across the organization.
• A collaborative leadership style, supported by strong communication, negotiation and relationship-building capabilities.

Compensation Range: $120,000 - $150,000 base salary