Senior Consumer Insights Manager, Smart Home Hardware

TP-Link Systems Inc. • Irvine, CA

7d

About The Position

We are looking for a Sr. Consumer Insights Manager to support our Smart Home Hardware product organization. This role will uncover consumer needs, purchase decision drivers, usage pain points, willingness to pay, and emerging market opportunities across smart home categories such as security cameras, video doorbells, smart locks, sensors, smart electrical products, robot vacuums, and other connected home devices. This is a business-oriented consumer insights role, not a traditional UX research role limited to app or web experiences. The ideal candidate will study the full hardware consumer journey, including product discovery, purchase, unboxing, installation, setup, daily usage, maintenance, subscription consideration, replacement, and repurchase. You will work closely with Product Management, Industrial Design, UX/UI, Engineering, Marketing, Sales, and Regional Teams to translate consumer insights into product strategy, feature prioritization, pricing, positioning, and roadmap recommendations. The ideal candidate thrives in fast-paced, startup-like environments, demonstrates creativity and strong problem-solving skills, and can effectively drive alignment across cross-functional teams and stakeholders. Candidates who may not yet hold a Senior title but demonstrate strong alignment with this profile are encouraged to apply.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electronics, Communications, or a related technical field required
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in consumer insights, user research, market research, product research, product strategy, or a related field
• Experience researching consumer hardware, consumer electronics, smart home, home appliances, IoT devices, security products, or other physical products.
• Experience with qualitative research methods such as user interviews, in-home research, ethnographic research, usability studies, concept testing, shop-alongs, or journey mapping.
• Ability to design surveys, analyze consumer feedback, interpret market data, and translate findings into actionable product recommendations.
• Strong business judgment and ability to connect consumer needs with product feasibility, market size, pricing, retail channels, and commercial outcomes.
• Excellent communication, storytelling, and presentation skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, cross-functional, and global organization.
• Strong analytical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to adapt quickly in fast-paced environments
• Deep understanding of user experience principles and the ability to anticipate customer and end-user needs
• Self-motivated, highly organized, and capable of managing multiple priorities simultaneously
• Strong sense of ownership, accountability, and urgency in delivering results
• Passion for continuous learning, innovation, and emerging smart home technologies

Nice To Haves

• Experience in smart home, security camera, video doorbell, smart lock, robot vacuum, smart electrical, home networking, or connected device categories.
• Experience working directly with Product Managers, Industrial Designers, Engineers, Sales, Marketing, and Regional Teams.
• Experience with North American and European consumer markets.
• Experience using research or analytics tools such as UserTesting, Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, Numerator, Circana/NPD, GfK, Similarweb, Amazon review analytics, or social listening platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead consumer research to understand user needs, pain points, purchase drivers, usage barriers, and satisfaction factors.
• Study how consumers discover, compare, purchase, install, use, and replace smart home hardware products.
• Identify key household decision makers and understand how they influence product purchase and usage.
• Support Product Managers in identifying new product opportunities and validating product concepts before development.
• Evaluate whether a user need is niche, mainstream, or scalable, and help estimate audience size and market potential.
• Conduct pricing, willingness-to-pay, concept testing, survey, and competitive research to support product and business decisions.
• Analyze customer reviews, ratings, returns, sales trends, competitor products, and market data to identify actionable insights.
• Partner with product, design, engineering, marketing, and sales teams to turn research findings into product recommendations.
• Present insights to product leaders and senior management in a clear, structured, and business-oriented way.

Benefits

• Fully paid medical, dental, and vision insurance (partial premium coverage for dependents)
• Employer quarterly contributions to 401k funds
• 15 days accrued vacation
• 11 paid holidays
• Bi-annual reviews, and annual pay increases
• Health and wellness benefits, including free gym membership
• Quarterly team-building event

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior