The posting
Job Description:
The Manager, Global Integrated Intelligence – Chocolate, Salty, or Gum Innovation plays a pivotal role in unlocking the next wave of growth and innovation by translating emerging trends, consumer needs, behaviors, and cultural shifts into breakthrough opportunities for Mars’ iconic chocolate, salty or gum brands.
Acting as a strategic co-pilot to the Pod Intrapreneur and an advocate for the consumer, this role owns the end-to-end insights and learning agenda for assigned Pods - from problem framing and agile experimentation through to in-market learning, serving as the connective tissue that wires human truth into Pod decisions.
Key Responsibilities:
Consumer at the Core
- End-to-End Experimentation: Design and lead qualitative, quantitative, and behavioral learning plans across the full innovation funnel—including need-state exploration, pain point discovery, concept screening, product/packaging optimization, and in-market learning.
- Agile Problem Framing & Sizing: Partner with Pod Intrapreneurs and cross-functional teams to identify, frame, and size pain-point-led innovation opportunities, anchoring early briefs in real consumer tension.
- Evidence-Based Decision Gates: Establish clear action standards and decision criteria to objectively validate winning propositions and confidently challenge or deprioritize non-viable ideas early.
- Portfolio Learning Agenda: Support the broader Chocolate, Salty or Gum Portfolio Strategy by connecting Pod learnings to macro category ’where to play / how to win’ choices.
Agile Mindset
- Fit-for-Purpose Agile Tools: Source, evaluate, and deploy state-of-the-art agile research platforms, automated tools, and digital communities to accelerate sprint cycles without compromising rigor.
- Actionable Synthesis: Distill complex multi-source data into compelling ’what → so what → now what’ strategic narratives that drive decision-making and cross-functional alignment.
- Champion Best Practices: Champion research best practices, emerging methodologies, and new tools within the Pod and across the broader Integrated Intelligence community to future-proof innovation insights capabilities.
- Continuous Knowledge Codification: Capture, codify, and scale rapid sprint learnings to ensure shared visibility and cross-team capability building.
A curious mindset is a must. Operating as an individual contributor in a fast-paced, matrixed global organization, this role combines passion and research expertise to deliver optimal results, serving as a trusted advisor to cross-functional partners in Innovation, R&D, and Brand Marketing.
The Manager bridges agile Pod sprint teams with central Integrated Intelligence, Portfolio Strategy, and brand ways of working. They balance rapid learning with rigorous research standards, guiding cross-functional teams from early ideation and exploration to concept validation and commercial handoff. Additionally, they partner closely with the Director Global Integrated Intelligence to promote and embed strategic learnings across the chocolate, salty or gum category.
Qualifications & Experience Required:
- Bachelor’s degree in marketing, Business, Psychology, Sociology, or related field
- Minimum 5 years of experience in consumer insights, innovation insights, market research or strategy, preferably within a CPG company.
- Consumer Centricity: Strong passion for championing the voice of the consumer, anchoring innovation briefs, creative exploration, and trade-offs in real human friction and unmet needs.
- Mixed-Method Research Design: Proven track record in designing and steering fit-for-purpose qualitative, quantitative, and behavioral insights across the entire front end of innovation (early discovery, Jobs to be Done, pack design testing, concept validation, etc…)
- Rapid Experimentation: Hands on experience with agile research tools/platforms and running test-and-learn cycles to validate hypotheses, test concepts, and quickly de-risk early-stage ideas.
- Synthesis & Storytelling: Synthesizes disparate data streams (syndicated POS, panel metrics, custom research, cultural and consumer trends/signals) into a cohesive, structured ’what → so what → now what’ narrative that cuts through complexity.
- Comfort with Ambiguity: High adaptability in fast-evolving, loosely defined spaces—skilled at turning broad challenges into structured plans and pivoting as new signals emerge.
- Nimble Learning: Continuous learner who actively extracts insights from both wins and fast failures, applying learnings to inform next steps without losing momentum.
- Collaborative Influence: Proven ability to collaborate with cross-functional partners in fast-moving environment. Strong stakeholder alignment skills, leveraging objective consumer data and clear evidence to build consensus and guide go/no-go decisions.
What to Expect from Mars
- Work with diverse and talented Associates, all guided by the Five Principles.
- Join a purpose driven company, where we’re striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.
- A strong focus on learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.
- An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.
#TBdigital
The base pay range for this position at commencement of employment is between the range listed below, however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position will include variable pay, medical and dental benefits, participation in 401k plan, and paid time off benefits. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an applicant receives an offer of employment.
The pay range shown is applicable to all US locations listed within the job posting:USD 119,040.00 - USD 163,680.00
