Reports to: Head – Strategy & Insights About the Job: This role leads consumer insights and puts the consumer voice into business strategy, menu strategy and marketing effectiveness. You will turn consumer, category and market data into clear hypotheses, recommendations and plans. You will work closely with Marketing, Menu/NPD, Operations, Finance and Digital, and present to senior leadership. The role suits someone who is research-led and has grown, or wants to grow, into business strategy and planning. Description of Responsibility: Planning:
• Develop the annual consumer research plan, linked to the marketing calendar, menu calendar and business planning cycle.
• Plan the right mix of qualitative and quantitative research to improve marketing effectiveness and business decisions.
• Own the research budget, agency briefs, scope documents and vendor management. Key Functional Responsibilities – Consumer Insights:
• Manage brand tracking (brand health, brand equity, funnel metrics) and deliver monthly and quarterly insights to top management, Marketing and Operations.
• Go deeper on tracker data by age, NCCS, market/region, purchase behavior and equity drivers to find growth opportunities.
• Support advertising development through concept testing, ad pre-testing and campaign post-evaluation.
• Guide new product development before and after launch through qualitative and quantitative research, including product tests and post-launch evaluations (PLE).
• Support menu strategy with regular updates on macro and micro trends, category trends and competitor menus.
• Use social listening,



AI-led research tools and trend platforms to analyse trends.
• Proactively develop hypotheses and drive research for key business questions.
• Lead consumer immersions, store visits and in-store customer connects to understand what is working and what needs to improve.
• Run customer feedback surveys (quality, experience, channel) and push for corrective actions.
• Bring best practices in consumer insights and research methods. Key Functional Responsibilities – Strategy & Planning:
• Help develop the annual and quarterly business strategy, including plans, reviews and governance, working with cross-functional stakeholders.
• Build the consumer, market and competition fact base for the annual plan and the long-range strategic plan.
• Build market sizing, consumer segmentation and persona work to define where to play and size the prize.
• Bring consumer input to Revenue Growth Management (RGM) work, including value perception, key value item (KVI) and pricing research, and promo/value strategy.
• Track business performance together with consumer metrics to explain what is driving results and suggest course corrections.
• Prepare strategy material for leadership reviews written in a clear, story-led way.



Key Functional Responsibilities – Menu Strategy:
• Gather menu trends across categories (burgers, chicken, beverages/coffee, sides, desserts, breakfast) and help shape the menu strategy and roadmap.
• Help run the menu calendar (innovation, renovation, limited-time offers (LTOs)) with NPD, Marketing and Supply Chain, making sure each launch is delivered on time and in full.
• Build the business case for current products: strategic intent, fit with the menu architecture, size of prize, cannibalization and target consumer. Educational Qualification:
• MBA from a reputed institute. Preferred Total

Experience:
• 8–10 years Preferred Relevant

Experience:
• Experience in both qualitative and quantitative research.
• Experience at a market research agency plus a client-side role, and/or
• Experience in consumer insights functions at QSR, food service, FMCG, retail, e-commerce or consumer durables companies.
• Experience in strategy, business planning or category/menu strategy roles is a strong plus.
• Experience presenting to CXO/leadership audiences. Skills Preferred:
• Cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management
• Strategic thinking and hypothesis-driven problem solving
• Turning data into a clear story and recommendation, with strong PowerPoint skills
• Agency and vendor management
• Comfort with ambiguity, speed and multiple priorities at once
• Strong Excel and analytical skills; exposure to Power BI/Tableau and survey or statistical tools such as SPSS is a plus

📌 Consumer Insights Manager (Mumbai)
🏢 Hardcastle Restaurants
📍 Mumbai