Head of Consumer Insights

Career Guide
Leads the strategy and execution of consumer and market research to inform product, brand, and customer experience decisions. Oversees primary and secondary research, turns insights into recommendations, and partners with executives to guide growth.

Key Responsibilities

  • Define insights strategy and research roadmap aligned to business goals
  • Lead primary research (surveys, focus groups, ethnography) and secondary analysis
  • Translate findings into clear recommendations for product, marketing, and CX
  • Own research budget, vendor selection, and contract management
  • Develop customer segmentation, personas, and brand tracking programs
  • Build, mentor, and scale the insights team and operations
  • Present executive-level readouts and influence go-to-market decisions

Career Progression

Can Lead To
VP of Consumer Insights
Head of Insights & Analytics
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
Transition Opportunities
Director of Product Marketing
Director of Brand Strategy
Director of Customer Experience (CX)
Director of Growth/Marketing Analytics

Common Skill Gaps

Often Missing Skills
Advanced quantitative research (conjoint/choice modeling)Robust survey programming and data quality controlsExperimental design and causal inferenceEnd-to-end vendor management and research operationsSQL for integrating first-party/customer data
Development SuggestionsComplete an advanced survey methods and choice modeling course; lead a full-cycle pilot study using Qualtrics (or similar), analyze in R/SPSS, and present an executive readout.

Salary & Demand

Median Salary Range
Entry Level$140,000–$170,000
Mid Level$170,000–$210,000
Senior Level$210,000–$260,000
Growth Trend
growing - Brands expanding data-driven decisions and first-party insights capabilities

Companies Hiring

Major Employers
AmazonProcter & GamblePepsiCo
Industry Sectors
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)Retail & E-commerceTechnology

Recommended Next Steps

1
Earn the Professional Researcher Certification (PRC) and publish 2–3 case-study portfolios showcasing end-to-end studies.
2
Upskill in conjoint/segmentation and SQL via courses (e.g., Coursera/edX) and build a dashboard in Tableau/Power BI.
3
Join the Insights Association or attend Quirk’s events to network with vendors and hiring leaders; seek a cross-functional project to lead a key study.