Innovation & Strategic Insights Partner

Masco•Carmel, IN

5d•$103,700 - $163,020

About The Position

The Innovation and Strategic Insights Partner connects research, innovation learning, pricing strategy, strategic planning, market intelligence, and other business inputs into clear, evidence-based perspectives that support organizational decision-making. The role serves as a trusted Voice of the Customer and Voice of the Market, helping leaders apply existing knowledge to innovation, strategy, brand, product, channel, and growth decisions. Its primary focus is integrating, interpreting, and activating knowledge produced by functions such as Marketing Research, Innovation, Pricing Strategy, Strategic Planning, and Market Analysis/Intelligence, rather than owning or leading individual insight projects. The role helps identify opportunity spaces and growth areas, supports innovation from early exploration through new product development, and facilitates cross-functional sessions that turn customer needs and market signals into concepts and priorities. It also synthesizes customer, consumer, market, channel, competitive, pricing, and business intelligence into executive-ready materials; supports strategic planning; and helps leaders understand what is known, where uncertainty or conflicting information remains, and whether further research is needed. The Partner works across functional boundaries, influencing without direct authority while leaving decisions and execution with the appropriate business leaders. Success means existing knowledge is better connected and reused, customer and market perspectives inform decisions earlier, and fragmented information is translated into actionable business perspectives.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Economics, Analytics, Market Research, Social Sciences, or a related field.
At least 5 years of experience in market research, business insights, analytics, strategy, consulting, innovation insights, or related disciplines.
Demonstrated experience synthesizing complex information from multiple sources into actionable business recommendations.
Experience facilitating cross-functional innovation, ideation, concept-development, or strategic working sessions.
Demonstrated ability to translate customer needs and market evidence into opportunity spaces, concepts, and learning agendas.
Experience influencing multidisciplinary teams without direct authority.
Strong analytical thinking and business acumen.
Strong written, verbal, and presentation communication skills.
Experience working cross-functionally within a matrixed organization.
Proficiency with Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, and related business tools.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting strategic planning, long-range planning, or growth strategy initiatives.
Exposure to consumer products, durable goods, home improvement, or adjacent industries.
Experience leveraging both qualitative and quantitative insights.
Knowledge of competitive intelligence, trend scouting, and opportunity identification methodologies.
Experience developing executive-level presentations and strategic business narratives.

Responsibilities

Help shape opportunity spaces, strategic hypotheses, and areas for exploration using relevant evidence and insights.
Partner with the innovation process from early exploration through new product development teams, grounding decisions in evidence of unmet consumer needs and providing leaders with clear actions.
Use the existing knowledge base and business intelligence to identify growth opportunities in new categories, product extensions, and broader business areas.
Design and facilitate cross-functional working sessions that translate customer needs and market signals into opportunity spaces, ideas, concepts, and strategic priorities.
Support the innovation and growth pipeline by helping teams identify, frame, prioritize, and advance needs-based solutions and concepts.
Monitor market, consumer, channel, and competitive trends and communicate important developments across the organization.
Integrate customer, consumer, market, channel, competitive, pricing, and business intelligence into a clearer organizational point of view.
Create executive-ready summaries, reports, white papers, presentations, and discussion materials that improve organizational understanding and action.
Help insight leaders identify where existing knowledge is sufficient, conflicting, or where additional research or analysis may be needed.
Stay connected to insight foundations such as segmentation, purchase journeys, innovation research, pricing work, brand learning, market intelligence, and strategic planning inputs.
Engage with insight leaders during research and intelligence gathering to guide project scope and help apply findings beyond their immediate stakeholders.
Support strategic planning by collecting, organizing, synthesizing, and communicating concise, fact-based inputs.
Facilitate discussions and workshops with business leaders to contextualize insights for business cases and strategic growth assessments.
Connect with business and insight leaders to ensure customer and market perspectives are incorporated early enough to influence priorities, choices, and plans.
Establish shared understanding of opportunities, supporting evidence, critical assumptions, knowledge gaps, decision criteria, owners, and next actions.
Maintain momentum across functional boundaries while leaving decision-making and execution responsibility with the appropriate business leaders.
Influence without direct authority through objectivity, facilitation, business acumen, and evidence-based judgment.