Senior Consumer Insights & Innovation Lead

About the Role

As a Senior Consumer Insights & Innovation Lead, you will help Trek become better at identifying what riders and potential customers will need next and deciding which opportunities are worth pursuing. This is a senior individual-contributor role with broad influence and a high degree of ownership, based onsite at our HQ in Waterloo, WI.

Responsibilities

• Opportunity Discovery: Identify emerging rider behaviors, unmet needs, changing expectations, and new customer groups. Combine primary and market research, trend analysis, and data to develop insights. Frame opportunity areas to guide Design and Product teams.
• Research Strategy & Planning: Own the research strategy, methodology, and rigor for opportunity discovery and validation. Determine the right mix of research methods and create clear plans, hypotheses, and decision criteria.
• Rider & Customer Research: Conduct interviews, observations, and field research to understand rider behaviors and needs. Partner with Design and Product on field research and synthesize findings.
• Concept & Opportunity Validation: Partner with Design to translate customer needs into testable hypotheses. Design research to assess customer value, choice behavior, and commercial potential. Provide clear evidence for investment decisions.
• Synthesis & Influence: Connect research findings to product strategy and business decisions. Present evidence and recommendations to senior leaders. Challenge assumptions and help redirect ideas when necessary.
• Capability Building: Establish repeatable processes for identifying emerging behaviors and translating them into product opportunities. Build infrastructure such as research repositories, panels, and tools. Help shape the future research organization.

Requirements

• Experience: 7+ years in consumer research, strategic insights, innovation, product strategy, or related fields.
• Research Expertise: Strong qualitative and behavioral research skills, including interviewing, observation, and synthesis.
• Quantitative Capability: Experience with concept testing, purchase intent, segmentation, and demand sizing.
• Strategic Thinking: Ability to connect customer evidence, market signals, and business considerations to product opportunities.
• Communication: Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to distill complex information for senior stakeholders.
• Collaboration: Proven ability to work with designers and product managers while maintaining research independence and rigor.
• Mindset: Curious, comfortable with ambiguity, proactive, and open to A.I.’s potential to enhance workflows.
• Industry: Preferred experience in consumer products, sports, outdoor, mobility, or lifestyle categories.
• Travel: Ability to travel internationally and within the U.S. for research and collaboration.

What Success Looks Like

In the first 18 months, the successful candidate will establish a credible, repeatable process for discovering rider needs and generating evidence for product investments.

• 0–6 months: Establish research frameworks, external partner networks, and initiate opportunity investigations.
• 6–12 months: Develop a repeatable process, investigate high-potential opportunities, and partner with Design on concept validation.
• 12–18 months: Identify 2-4 meaningful product opportunities, build trust with Product and Design, and improve investment decision quality.

Benefits

• Flexible and fun company culture
• Competitive health care (PPO & HDHP), dental, and vision insurance
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• Free life insurance and optional term life insurance
• Competitive vacation package
• 401(k) with match and Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP)
• 12 weeks of maternity leave with 100% pay
• Flexible holiday schedule (10 company holidays)
• Tuition Reimbursement up to $15,000
• Employee discounts on products and partner retail discounts

Trek is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace.