Associate Director, CCI - Pro Color

Global Associate Director, Consumer and Category Insights (CCI) Wella Professionals Hair Color Position Purpose Global Associate Director, Category and Consumer Intelligence (CCI) for Wella Professionals Color is responsible for generating actionable stylist, client, market, and competitive insights that shape growth strategies for the Wella Professionals Color business globally. The role serves as the strategic intelligence partner to Brand, Innovation, R&D, Education, Commercial, and regional teams, generating and transforming insights into clear business recommendations to shape brand innovation, communication and education programs, strengthen brand equity, identify growth opportunities, and maximize innovation success. Key Responsibilities Lead insights generation program for WELLA Professionals hair color with stylists and clients Lead qualitative and quantitative research programs with stylists, salon owners, and consumers to inform innovation, portfolio, education, and communication strategies. Translate insights into actionable recommendations that directly influence business decisions, commercial outcomes and maximize success of the NPDs, commercial activations and education for professional color. Own prioritization of learning agendas and ensure clear connection between insights investments and strategic business priorities. Provide strategic and insights support to Global Marketing, Education, R&D, regional and local teams Serve as a strategic thought partner to cross-functional teams, embedding consumer, stylist, category, and market intelligence into key business decisions Represent the voice of hair stylists and their clients and serve as a go-to person for advanced insights by building deep expertise on stylist and client journeys, behaviors, attitudes, pain points, and decision drivers and ensure business strategies, innovation pipelines, and educational programs are grounded in real-world customer needs Closely monitor trends, market, stylist and competitive landscape evolution to influence necessary business course corrections Support business cases, portfolio reviews, innovation assessments, and strategic planning through data-driven insights and opportunity sizing Influence senior stakeholder decisions by translating complex information into clear strategic implications Assess new revenue opportunities in professional hair color Identify, evaluate, and prioritize new growth opportunities across professional color sub-categories, occasions, services, technologies, business models, and adjacent segments Lead opportunity sizing, consumer validation, and commercial attractiveness assessments to support resource allocation decisions Partner with Marketing, R&D, Commercial, and Finance teams to develop evidence-based business cases for innovation and expansion opportunities. Share and reapply research best practices and methodologies from the broader Insights team Drive excellence in research design, execution and impact measurement by leveraging best practices across the Insights organization. Identify opportunities to standardize methodologies, tools, and approaches to increase efficiency and comparability across studies. Ensure rigorous research standards and methodological innovation are consistently applied across all projects. Key Stakeholders Internal SVP Global Wella Professionals SVP Strategy and Insights Sr Director Strategy and Insights Sr Marketing Director for Professional Hair Color Global Color Brand Team Innovation & Portfolio Teams R&D Education Regional and Local Marketing Teams Finance & Strategy External Research Agencies Competitive Intelligence Providers Beauty Industry Experts Salon Professionals Technology & Trend Partners Qualifications Education Bachelor's degree required Master's degree or MBA preferred Experience 10+ years in Insights including minimum 5Y in B2B and minimum 5 years in a global role Professional beauty or adjacent premium consumer goods experience preferred Proven track in designing and executing global research programs Skills: Deep knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies in B2B and B2C Ability to convert research outcomes into actionable business recommendations and to influence senior stakeholders without direct authority Strong presentation skills and ability to translate complex data into executive recommendations Ability to synthesize complex information into compelling executive narratives Ability to work effectively and collaboratively in a multifunctional team Strong analytical capabilities Passion for identifying future opportunities and driving growth Strong research vendor negotiation skills