​Principal Scientist, R&D – CX Product Insights, Away From Home​

Job description

​​Provide CX technical leadership for the Away From Home team, defining key learning needs tied to business and technical decisions at each development milestone. ​Serve as subject matter expert (SME) for product and packaging design consumer research, bringing deep methodological expertise across qualitative and quantitative approaches. ​Architect end-to-end CX learning plans from upstream exploration to downstream validation, with clear decision framing, success criteria, and evidence standards aligned to risk and timelines. ​Translate complex consumer experience insights into actionable experience requirements that inform product and packaging design, managing tradeoffs and defining what success looks like. ​Lead high-stakes stakeholder readouts with compelling decision narratives, synthesizing insights and tailoring technical depth to both executive and technical audience. ​Serve as technical consultant on away from home product and pack methods and research design, best fit to the learning objectives that align with specific operators and venue types. ​Evaluate, pilot, and standardize emerging CX methods and analytics (including vendor capabilities), documenting best practices, limitations, and evidence thresholds before scaling. ​Coach and upskill scientists and partners through playbooks, training, and consultative support that embed CX rigor, curiosity, and storytelling excellence across functions. ​Oversee vendor strategy and performance: capability alignment, quality assurance, data integrity, and delivery expectations. ​Manage multiple simultaneous workstreams with disciplined prioritization, documentation, and strong stakeholder communication in a fast paced innovation environment. ​Provide continuity and backup coverage for the CX leadership team as needed. ​Ensure compliance with data integrity, privacy, and internal research governance requirements.​ ​​Bachelor's degree minimum (Consumer

Behavior, Psychology, Marketing Research, Engineering, Food Science, Human Factors, Industrial Design, or related STEM field), advanced degree preferred ​Minimum of 8+ years (BS), 7+ years (MS) or 6+ years (PhD) in consumer/product research, consumer experience, or applied insights supporting innovation, product development and commercialization. ​CPG or food & beverage experience strongly preferred, with demonstrated progression in technical expertise, including independent research strategy development, methodological leadership, and influencing cross-functional product and packaging innovation decisions. ​Experience in product consumer research to support away from home product R&D initiatives ​Recognized expertise across CX research methods (qualitative and quantitative), including end-to-end study design, instrument development, analysis planning, synthesis, and storytelling; ability to select methods based on decision risk and learning objectives. ​Proven ability to influence product and packaging innovation/renovation decisions by translating consumer needs into clear experience requirements and decision criteria ​Direct experience in consumer research methodology focused on packaging technical design ​Strong technical oversight: expert scoping, critical review of study quality, and ability to QA vendor work (methods, analysis, and interpretation). ​Clear, succinct communication across audiences, including leadership-level implications, tradeoffs, and uncertainty/limitations. ​Demonstrated capability building: coaching, technical training, and establishing best practices/standards in a matrixed organization. ​Strong cross-functional leadership and stakeholder management; sound escalation judgment and ability to correct misinterpretations of evidence. ​Strong prioritization and independent execution across a complex portfolio with multiple concurrent projects. ​Working proficiency with quantitative/statistical interpretation used in CX and product testing; comfort using and overseeing common research platforms and analysis tools (survey/testing platforms, analysis packages, dashboards/BI), consistent with internal standards. ​Ability to travel up to 20% of the time.​