Director Consumer Insights

About the Role

NicheHR Global is seeking a Head of Customer Insights for a fast-growing consumer-focused organization in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This full-time role involves leading the customer and consumer insights agenda for an organization operating in the smoke-free and reduced-risk consumer products space. The Head of Customer Insights will be responsible for transforming consumer, customer, market, and behavioral data into actionable insights that support business strategy, brand development, customer experience, portfolio decisions, and sustainable growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development and execution of the overall customer and consumer insights strategy.
• Develop a deep understanding of consumer behavior, needs, preferences, motivations, and purchasing patterns.
• Identify emerging consumer trends and translate them into actionable business opportunities.
• Develop customer and consumer segmentation frameworks to support targeted strategies.
• Monitor market dynamics, category developments, competitive activity, and emerging trends within the broader consumer and smoke-free product landscape.
• Conduct market sizing, category analysis, competitor benchmarking, and opportunity assessments.
• Lead qualitative and quantitative consumer research initiatives, including surveys, focus groups, interviews, and ethnographic research.
• Define research objectives, methodologies, and analytical frameworks in partnership with internal stakeholders and external research agencies.
• Analyze customer, consumer, sales, market, and behavioral data to identify meaningful trends and insights.
• Partner closely with Marketing, Sales, Product, Commercial, Strategy, and Leadership teams.
• Translate complex research and data into clear, commercially relevant recommendations.
• Build and lead the Customer Insights function and establish best-practice processes.
• Manage external research agencies, consultants, and data partners.

Qualifications and Experience

• Over 12 years of proven experience in a senior leadership role within Consumer/FMCG, Consumer Health, Nicotine, Lifestyle, Retail, or another highly consumer-driven industry.
• Strong track record of leading consumer and customer insight functions, ideally across multiple markets or geographies.
• Experience developing and executing consumer insight strategies, segmentation, market research, and customer analytics.
• Strong experience across both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, including designing research frameworks and interpreting complex datasets.
• Demonstrated ability to translate consumer, market, and behavioral data into commercial and strategic recommendations.
• Experience working closely with senior leadership and cross-functional teams including Marketing, Sales, Product, Strategy, and Commercial functions.
• Experience managing external research agencies, consultants, data providers, and research partners.
• Experience in emerging consumer categories, smoke-free products, reduced-risk products, nicotine, or adjacent categories is an advantage.
• Strong understanding of consumer behavior, market dynamics, category development, competitive intelligence, and trend analysis.

Required Skills

• Strong English communication skills.
• Proficiency in presentation and analytical skills.
• Effective stakeholder management abilities.

Work Environment

This role is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and operates on a full-time basis within a fast-growing consumer-focused organization. The position requires collaboration with various internal teams and external partners to foster an insights-driven culture.