Shopper Insights Lead - Meats, Cheese, Coffee and Snacking

Shopper Insights Lead – Meat, Cheese, Coffee & Snacking (MCCS) 

At Kraft Heinz, our Meat, Cheese, Coffee & Snacking (MCCS) portfolio plays an essential role in consumers’ everyday lives—from breakfast and lunch to afternoon snacks and on-the-go moments. Across iconic brands and category-leading products, we have a unique opportunity to shape the future of eating occasions through innovation, shopper understanding, and commercial excellence. 

As the Shopper Insights Lead for MCCS, you will serve as the strategic voice of the shopper for one of Kraft Heinz’s largest and most diverse business units. Working across multiple categories and brands, you will transform shopper insights into business strategies that accelerate growth, strengthen customer partnerships, and drive competitive advantage. 

Position Overview 

The Shopper Insights Lead – MCCS is a senior leadership role responsible for developing shopper-centric growth strategies across the Meat, Cheese, Coffee & Snacking portfolio. This individual serves as the primary shopper insights partner to Business Unit Leadership, Brand Marketing, Sales, Category Leadership, Revenue Growth Management, Innovation, and Customer Teams. 

The role requires balancing portfolio-level strategy with category-specific expertise to uncover growth opportunities across brands, channels, retailers, and consumption occasions while ensuring shopper insights are embedded throughout the stories and strategies we develop. 

Key Responsibilities 

Business Unit Strategy & Leadership 

• Serve as the shopper insights leader for the Meat, Cheese, Coffee & Snacking business unit. 

• Partner with Business Unit leadership to shape annual operating plans, long-range strategic planning, and portfolio growth strategies. 

• Represent the voice of the shopper in key business decisions spanning innovation, brand investment, commercialization, and customer strategy. 

• Identify enterprise opportunities that accelerate growth across multiple categories and brands within the portfolio for key retailers and channels. 

Portfolio & Category Growth 

• Develop a deep understanding of shopper behaviors across meat, cheese, coffee, and snacking categories, identifying common needs as well as unique category dynamics. 

• Translate shopper insights into actionable strategies that improve household penetration, purchase frequency, basket size, and loyalty. 

• Identify whitespace opportunities across categories, brands, and consumption occasions. 

• Support portfolio optimization by identifying emerging trends, evolving shopper needs, and competitive opportunities. 

Innovation & Commercialization 

• Partner with Innovation, Marketing, and Consumer Insights teams to ensure shopper needs are embedded throughout the product development process. 

• Evaluate innovation performance and identify opportunities to maximize retail adoption and shopper engagement. 

• Influence launch strategies by identifying the optimal channels, retailers, and activation plans for new products. 

Customer & Channel Strategy 

• Collaborate with Channel Shopper Insights Leads and Customer Teams to tailor portfolio strategies for key retailers and channels. 

• Provide shopper perspectives that strengthen customer selling stories and joint business planning. 

• Ensure business unit priorities are effectively translated into customer-specific activation strategies while maintaining a consistent portfolio vision. 

Advanced Insight Generation 

• Design and lead quantitative and qualitative research addressing strategic business questions. 

• Integrate syndicated data, household panel, retailer loyalty data, shopper research, and custom analytics into compelling business narratives. 

• Identify emerging trends in food culture, health and wellness, convenience, premiumization, and value that impact portfolio growth. 

• Develop predictive insights to inform future category and brand strategies. 

Cross-Functional Leadership 

• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leaders across Marketing, Innovation, Sales, Finance, Category Leadership, and Revenue Growth Management. 

• Influence decisions through compelling storytelling and data-driven recommendations. 

• Champion a shopper-first mindset throughout the business unit. 

• Mentor junior insights professionals and contribute to capability development across the Shopper Insights organization. 

Qualifications 

Required 

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Behavioral Science, Statistics, or related field. 

• 10–12+ years of experience in shopper insights, consumer insights, category leadership, or related CPG roles. 

• Strong experience in food & beverage, especially across meat, cheese, coffee, snacking. 

• Demonstrated ability to influence senior executives and shape enterprise-level strategy. 

• Deep expertise in qualitative and quantitative research, as well as advanced analytics. 

• Experience working with major U.S. retailers across omnichannel environments. 

• Exceptional storytelling, communication, and leadership skills. 

Preferred 

• Master’s degree (MBA, MS in Marketing Research, or similar). 

• Experience across multiple category types (e.g., beverage + meals + indulgence). 

• Proven track record of building and leading high-performing teams. 

• Experience driving transformation or building new insights capabilities. 

What Success Looks Like 

• A clearly defined shopper strategy that drives growth across MCCS. 

• Measurable impact on penetration, frequency, and basket size across multiple consumption occasions. 

• Strong influence on innovation pipelines, commercial strategies, and omnichannel activation. 

• Elevated retailer partnerships through compelling, insight-led storytelling. 

• A high-performing team and a deeply embedded shopper-first mindset across the business.