Manager, Marketing Insights, Front End Innovation
Dole Packaged Foods is a purpose‑led organization championing accessible fruit nutrition and building a brighter future through fruit. Our culture is driven by core values that transform work into a meaningful journey toward a brighter future together. Here, you will be part of a respectful, inclusive culture that values colleagues, customers, and communities, fostering excellence, collaboration, and innovation.
As the Manager of Front‑End Innovation, you will identify opportunity spaces, scan cultural and category trends, identify consumer needs, assess appeal and market potential, and craft business cases that inform the short‑ and long‑term innovation pipeline.
This role offers flexibility to work in a hybrid environment: three days a week in the Westlake Village, CA office and the rest of the time from home.
Responsibilities
- Track Trends – Lead landscaping, foresight, and trend scanning to uncover cultural, category, and behavioral shifts that fuel the broader innovation strategy and create a strong funnel of innovation ideas.
- Gather Competitive Intelligence – Monitor top‑performing brands, new product launches, and potential competitive threats in current and new categories.
- Synthesize Insights – Distill cultural signals, consumer behaviors, and market dynamics into actionable insight, fueling ideation and informing business cases.
- Manage Innovation Pipeline – Gather and track innovation ideas from different sources to generate and refine early concepts in preparation for the screening phase.
- Champion Ideation – Collaborate with internal and external partners to prepare inputs and outputs for ideation workshops.
- Size Business Opportunities – Influence and shape early assumptions for business model development, including volume estimates and forecasts.
- Create Business Cases – Use data to identify opportunities for category expansion, new product introductions, and improvements to product assortment.
- Build Stories – Translate insights into compelling narratives and presentations that communicate opportunities to business partners and stakeholders.
- Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience in insights, innovation, or business development in the CPG industry (food or beverage).
- Proven ability to translate insights into business model implications, with forecasting fluency.
- Track record of working successfully cross‑functionally (Brand, Marketing, R&D, Finance).
- Proficient communication skills, with experience presenting to key stakeholders and leadership.
- Skilled in advocating the intersection of trends, consumer needs and competitive landscape through business case development.
- Strong analytical skills with proficiency in category data and consumer research.
- Ability to synthesize complex data into clear, actionable insights.
Preferred Skills
- Sales analytics – knowledge of retail analytics, pricing strategies and category management.
- Consumer research – understanding of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.
- Vendor management – experience working with external agencies or vendors specializing in ideation and innovation processes.
What You’ll Need to Succeed
- Passionate about a purpose‑driven career.
- Committed to fostering inclusive environments that support employee development and well‑being.
- Sets clear expectations, encourages innovation, and drives continuous improvement.
- Models and coaches toward transparency and integrity in decision‑making.
- Effectively facilitates cross‑team communication and teamwork.
Education & Certification
- Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Statistics, or a related field (Master’s preferred).
Physical Requirements
- Ability to sit and use the computer for extended periods; answer phones and use various office equipment; lift up to 15 pounds and reach overhead.
Travel Requirements
- Occasional travel may be required.
EEO Statement
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or on the basis of disability.
Hiring Pay Scale (California)
$105,000 to $130,000.
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