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Director, User & Market Insights

Reports To: Vice President, Strategy & Execution (Insights & Category Management)
Location: Vernon Hills, IL
Travel: Up to 15-20%

Position Summary

Rust-Oleum is seeking a strategic, business-focused leader to serve as Director, User & Market Insights. This role will lead the development and execution of insight strategies that drive profitable growth across multiple product platforms, brands, channels, and customer segments.

The Director will champion the voice of the user, shopper, and market across the organization, translating qualitative and quantitative research into actionable business recommendations that inform innovation, portfolio strategy, pricing, brand development, commercialization, and go-to-market decisions.

As a key member of the Strategy & Execution organization, this leader will build an insights-driven culture by partnering closely with Product Management, Marketing, Sales, R&D, Finance, Category Management, and Executive Leadership to identify growth opportunities and influence strategic decisions.

The ideal candidate combines strong research expertise, business acumen, exceptional storytelling ability, and proven experience leading teams that transform data into competitive advantage. 

Key Responsibilities

Insights Leadership & Strategy

• Develop and lead the enterprise research agenda aligned with business growth priorities and platform strategies.
• Establish a fact-based understanding of users, shoppers, category dynamics, competitive activity, and emerging trends.
• Lead the identification of critical business questions and knowledge gaps requiring research and analysis.
• Ensure insights activities directly support innovation, brand growth, pricing strategy, commercialization, demand generation, and customer engagement.
• Create a long-term roadmap that prioritizes research investments based on business impact and growth opportunities. 

Research & Analytics

• Provide oversight for all qualitative and quantitative research initiatives.
• Determine appropriate methodologies and research designs to address strategic business questions.
• Lead advanced research programs including: 
  • Segmentation
  • Concept and innovation testing
  • Packaging evaluation
  • Shopper journey research
  • Brand health tracking
  • Price elasticity studies
  • Customer and user experience studies
  • Competitive benchmarking
• Integrate insights from internal data, syndicated sources, custom research, and secondary intelligence to create holistic business recommendations.
• Ensure research quality, methodological rigor, and actionable deliverables. 

Business Partnership & Strategy

• Serve as a strategic advisor to executive leadership and functional teams.
• Translate complex consumer, shopper, and market information into clear business implications.
• Develop executive-ready insights stories that influence organizational priorities and investment decisions.
• Lead quarterly insights reviews and strategic learning sessions across business platforms.
• Advocate for the end-user and shopper perspective in innovation, portfolio planning, and commercialization discussions. 

Team Leadership

• Recruit, develop, coach, and mentor a high-performing insights team.
• Create clear development plans and learning opportunities for team members.
• Establish best practices, processes, and governance for research execution and knowledge management.
• Foster a culture of curiosity, continuous learning, strategic thinking, and business impact.
• Manage workload prioritization, resource allocation, and vendor partnerships. [ 

Vendor & Knowledge Management

• Lead strategic relationships with research suppliers and analytics partners.
• Evaluate and onboard research vendors to ensure access to best-in-class capabilities.
• Optimize research spending and ensure efficient use of budget.
• Build and maintain a centralized insights repository that enables access to historical learning and accelerates decision-making across the organization. 

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Consumer Insights, Market Research, Analytics, Statistics, Psychology, Sociology, Economics, or related field.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in market research, consumer insights, shopper insights, customer analytics, or related disciplines.
• 3+ years of people leadership experience.
• Expertise designing and interpreting both qualitative and quantitative research.
• Experience managing external research agencies and vendor partnerships.
• Strong strategic thinking and business acumen.
• Exceptional presentation and storytelling capabilities.
• Proven ability to influence senior leaders and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to synthesize multiple data sources into actionable business recommendations. 

Preferred

• Consumer Packaged Goods experience.
• Home Improvement, Hardware, Paint, Building Materials, or Cleaning category experience.
• Familiarity with innovation research, pricing research, and category management applications.
• Experience using modern insight platforms and advanced analytics tools. 

Leadership Competencies

Strategic Mindset

Anticipates future market opportunities and translates insights into growth strategies.

Business Acumen

Understands commercial drivers, customer needs, competitive dynamics, and profitability levers.

Influence & Communication

Creates compelling narratives that drive action and organizational alignment.

Learning Agility

Embraces new approaches, methodologies, technologies, and changing business conditions.

Talent Development

Builds and develops high-performing teams through coaching and mentorship.

Cross-Functional Leadership

Collaborates effectively across Product Management, Marketing, Sales, Category Management, Finance, and R&D.

Accountability

Delivers measurable business outcomes through disciplined execution and prioritization. 

Salary Target Range: $140,000 - $160,000, bonus eligible 

From big benefits to small, we take care of our associates!  After 30 days of employment, you will be eligible for a benefits package that includes medical, dental, life, disability and business travel insurance, flexible spending accounts, EAP, stock purchases and vacation/sick days/parental leave. We also offer a 401(k) plan after three months of employment. Rust-Oleum offers 9.5 paid holidays and one floating holiday per year.  You are also eligible to earn three weeks of vacation on an annualized basis.

Rust-Oleum is an equal opportunity employer. Employment selection and related decisions are made without regard to sex, race, age, disability, religion, national origin, color, or any other protected class.