Consumer Insights & Analytics Recruiters
Consumer insights, market research and analytics leaders who turn shopper data, panels and research into decisions a brand or retailer can act on.
Insight functions fail without fanfare. A weak hire in consumer insights does not announce itself the way a missed sales target does. The damage surfaces months later as flawed category decisions, a product development pipeline built on shaky data, and a leadership team that has stopped trusting the research it commissions. When the role sits vacant, or is filled by someone who cannot translate data into commercial direction, the cost compounds across the whole business long before anyone traces it back to the hire.
SundryHall is a specialist recruitment agency focused on the consumer goods and retail sector, working as consumer insights recruiters for brands, manufacturers, and retailers that need managers and senior leaders who turn market research into decisions that move product off shelves. We work across the United States, combining sector knowledge, established candidate networks, and a structured search process to fill management and executive-level insight roles.
Recruitment built around the consumer sector
Consumer insights is one of the most sector-sensitive functions we recruit for. An insights leader at a food and beverage brand works with different data, different retail partners, and different commercial pressures than one at a beauty company or a D2C business. Matching the actual demands of the role takes an understanding of how consumer businesses operate, from seasonality and promotional cycles to the way category reviews shape retail relationships.
That understanding is the core of what we offer. Our consultants work within the consumer sector every day, so a search starts from a view of where strong insight talent sits, what motivates those candidates to move, and what a credible shortlist looks like for a given brief. We speak the language of syndicated data, shopper research, and analytics fluently enough to screen for substance instead of keywords, which is where unsuitable insight candidates often slip through a generic process.
In practice, that means we can tell the difference between a candidate who has sat alongside a category review and one who has genuinely shaped it, between someone who has seen a tracking study and someone who has rebuilt it to answer a sharper commercial question. We assess how candidates turn data into decisions, how they work with marketing, sales, and category teams, and whether they can hold their own in a room where the research needs to translate into a pricing, assortment, or innovation call.
Roles we recruit for
Our consumer insights executive search covers management and leadership positions across the insight and analytics function, as part of our wider marketing and brand recruitment. The positions below are a selection, and the list is not exhaustive. If your opening is not shown here, or combines insight with strategy, customer experience, or commercial planning, tell us what the role needs to deliver and we will tell you directly whether we can help.
Insights managers and senior managers
Insights managers own research programs end to end, manage agency and supplier relationships, and translate findings into brand, product, and category strategy. These are the people who sit between the research and the decision, so we assess as much for commercial judgment and stakeholder influence as for technical research craft.
Heads and directors of consumer insights
We run executive search assignments for the leaders who set the insight agenda, build and develop teams, and advise the board on consumer behavior and market direction. At this level the brief is usually part functional and part cultural: the right candidate has to raise the standard of the work while earning credibility with marketing, commercial, and executive stakeholders from day one.
Analytics and data leadership
We recruit senior analytics leaders who connect consumer data, shopper data, and commercial performance into a single view the business can act on. Typical mandates include customer analytics, marketing effectiveness, and insight functions where survey research and behavioral data sit side by side and need one leader who is fluent in both.
Market research leadership
We search for heads of market research who design studies, manage budgets and supplier panels, and ensure research output earns its place in commercial decision-making. Strong candidates often come from research agencies as well as client-side teams, so the search covers both.
Category and shopper insight leaders
We recruit category and shopper insight managers who turn point-of-sale and panel data into category stories that win distribution and shelf space with retail partners. These searches call for a specific blend of data fluency, retailer knowledge, and the confidence to present a category argument in a buyer meeting, so we screen closely for all three rather than relying on job titles alone.
How our search process works
Every engagement follows a structured process. The steps below reflect how a typical consumer insights executive search runs with SundryHall, from the first scoping conversation through to aftercare once your new hire is in the role.
Role scoping
We meet with you to define the role properly, covering the commercial context, the stakeholders around the role, and the experience a successful candidate actually needs. This is where we agree the brief, the realistic salary range, and the profile of insight leader the business will genuinely back, so the search starts from a shared and accurate picture rather than a job description written in isolation.
Market mapping
We map the talent market for your brief, identifying where suitable candidates sit across relevant consumer businesses and adjacent sectors. That mapping covers client-side insight teams, agencies, and the research and analytics functions that often produce strong crossover candidates, giving you a clear view of the available talent pool before any approaches are made.
Approach and engagement
We approach candidates directly and discreetly, presenting your opportunity with the care that senior and confidential searches demand. Most of the people worth speaking to are not actively looking, so the approach matters: we represent your business accurately, protect confidentiality where the hire is sensitive, and give candidates enough substance to make a considered decision about whether to engage.
Screening and assessment
We interview and assess candidates against the brief, testing both technical research capability and the commercial judgment the role requires. That means probing methodology and analytical depth alongside stakeholder influence, storytelling, and the ability to turn findings into decisions the business will act on.
Shortlist and interviews
We present a focused shortlist with clear reasoning behind each name, including where a candidate is strong, where they will need support, and how they compare with the rest of the market. We then manage your interview process end to end, coordinating calendars, briefing candidates properly, and gathering honest feedback on both sides so momentum is never lost.
Offer and aftercare
We manage offer negotiation, support the candidate through resignation and notice, and stay in contact after placement to confirm the hire is working. Counter-offers and the weeks between resignation and start date are a common point for senior appointments to fall through, so we stay close through that period and continue checking in once the candidate has started.
What a good insight hire delivers
The right insight leader changes how a consumer business makes decisions. Research budgets stop funding reports that sit unread and start producing answers the commercial team actually uses. Product development gets grounded in evidence about what shoppers want, rather than internal opinion or the loudest voice in the room. Category conversations with retail buyers become sharper, because they are backed by credible data on shopper behavior, pricing and assortment. These are the outcomes we recruit toward, and they are why we treat insight roles as commercial appointments rather than back-office ones.
In practice, that means we look beyond technical research skills. Strong insight hires combine rigor with the ability to tell a clear story to a board, a buyer or a brand team, and the confidence to challenge a decision when the evidence points the other way. We assess for commercial judgment, stakeholder influence and the capacity to build an insight function that earns its place at the table.
For candidates, a well-matched move into the right consumer business means working somewhere insight is genuinely valued, with access to decision-makers and a mandate to influence strategy. Our relationship-led approach means we keep in touch with insight professionals across the sector between searches. That continuity lets us approach strong candidates credibly when a brief lands, and keeps our conversations with them honest about whether a move is the right one.
Executive recruiters with national reach
SundryHall recruits across the United States, with offices in Atlanta, Georgia; Marlborough, Massachusetts; Parsippany, New Jersey; and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Our search work is national in scope, so we can support a single appointment at headquarters or a multi-site hiring program wherever your consumer business is based.
Alongside recruitment, we provide market intelligence that helps you hire with confidence. This includes salary benchmarking for insight and analytics roles, talent mapping ahead of a planned restructure, and competitor organization analysis when you need to understand how rival businesses staff their insight functions. This work can run as part of a live search or as standalone advisory work when you are planning ahead instead of reacting to a resignation.
That combination of national coverage and market research means you can brief us once and get a clear picture of who is available, what the role is likely to cost, and where the strongest candidates sit today, before you commit to a hiring decision. Whether you are appointing your first insight leader or strengthening an established function, we can tailor the scope of the search and the supporting research to the stage your business is at.
Engagement conditions
We focus on management and executive-level appointments within the consumer goods and retail sector. We do not handle entry-level, junior or staff-level positions or internships, and we do not place temporary, hourly or staff-level contract workers; contract and interim appointments at manager level and above run through our interim practice. If a brief falls outside that scope, we will say so in the first conversation rather than take on work we are not built to deliver well.
Within that scope, we work on contingent, retained, or exclusive terms. Senior and confidential searches are typically handled on a retained basis, where discretion and depth of market coverage matter most. Exclusive terms suit roles where a single, focused search process gives the best result. Multi-hire campaigns are available for businesses scaling a function quickly, for example when a new consumer insight or analytics capability is being built from scratch.
Before we begin, we agree the scope, the fees and the terms in writing, so both sides know what success looks like.
Frequently asked questions
Which types of companies do you work with?
We partner with businesses whose growth depends on understanding their customers. That includes consumer goods manufacturers, food and beverage brands, beauty and personal care companies, grocery and specialty retailers, and ecommerce and D2C businesses. Whether you are building an insight function from scratch or replacing a long-standing department head, we work to the same standard of rigor.
How do you find passive insight talent?
Most strong insight leaders are not actively looking. They are busy, well-rewarded and rarely browsing job boards, which means the best candidate for your role is unlikely to apply for it. We combine direct headhunting, our established sector candidate network, and detailed market mapping to reach people who would never see a job ad. We then approach them with a credible, confidential conversation about your opportunity.
How long does an insights search take?
Timelines depend on the seniority and scarcity of the profile. A well-populated insights manager market moves faster than a niche director-level brief requiring specific category experience. We agree realistic expectations at the scoping stage and keep you updated transparently throughout, including regular progress reporting on who we have approached and how the market is responding, so a slow market never becomes a silent one.
What support do you give beyond the shortlist?
Our involvement does not end when the shortlist lands. We manage offers and negotiation, advise on salary positioning using current benchmarking data, and handle counter-offer and resignation conversations where needed. After the placement we follow up with both client and candidate to make sure the appointment settles well and delivers the impact you hired for.
Start the conversation
If you are hiring an insights manager, appointing the first leader of an analytics function, or searching for a senior insight leader to own research and decision science, talk to us before the vacancy starts costing you decisions. Every month a seat sits empty is a month of slower reporting, weaker customer understanding, and commercial choices made on instinct rather than evidence.
Call us at +1 888-202-9809 or email [email protected], and we will give you a straight answer on the market, the brief, and how we would approach the search. That includes what the role is realistically worth, who is likely to move, and where the competition for that profile is strongest.
If you would rather start with a conversation than a brief, that works too. Tell us what the team needs to deliver over the next twelve months and we will tell you honestly whether the shape of the role you have in mind will attract the people you want, and what to change if it won't.
Brief us on the role you need to fill
Tell us about the position, the location and the timeline. A consultant who works your sector will follow up to talk through how we would run the search.