Head of Foresight

C&C Group Plc; Glasgow; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

C&C Group plc is seeking a senior leader to drive consumer insight, foresight and brand strategy across its premium drinks portfolio. You will shape long‑term growth, steer portfolio decisions and oversee a team delivering actionable, insight‑led recommendations to marketing, innovation and commercial leadership.

You will translate consumer and cultural trends into strategic choices, shape innovation pipelines and ensure consumer input informs annual planning.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in consumer insight, strategy or foresight within FMCG/beverage.
• Proven track record shaping brand, portfolio or innovation strategy.
• Strong grounding in qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Experience collaborating with leading research partners (Kantar, Nielsen).
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive outcomes.
• Experience leading and developing high‑performing teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and application of consumer, brand and strategic insight to shape long‑term growth for C&C.
• Translate trends into portfolio strategy, innovation pipelines and brand direction.
• Oversee insight for decision making across brand, innovation and commercial strategy.
• Partner with ExCo and leadership to embed consumer voice in plans.
• Develop best‑in‑class insight frameworks and storytelling; guide NPD concepts.
• Manage relationships with research agencies to ensure high‑quality delivery.

Skills

Consumer insight

Strategy leadership

Foresight

Stakeholder influence

Team leadership

Qualitative research

Quantitative research

Research partnerships

Tools

Kantar

Nielsen

Job description

C&C Group plc is a premium drinks company which owns, manufactures, markets and distributes a unique portfolio of beer and cider brands in its home markets and across the globe. You probably know us best from brands like Bulmers, Magners and Tennent’s.

Role Summary

Lead the development and application of consumer, brand and strategic insight and foresight to shape long-term growth for C&C. This role moves beyond insight generation to define where to play and how to win, translating consumer understanding, cultural trends and market dynamics into portfolio strategy, innovation pipelines and brand direction. You will lead a team ensuring the voice of the consumer drives decision‑making across brand, innovation and commercial strategy.

Key Accountabilities

• Define and lead the foresight agenda, identifying future growth opportunities across brands, categories and occasions
• Translate consumer, cultural and category trends into clear strategic choices, demand spaces and portfolio direction
• Shape long‑term brand and portfolio strategies alongside Marketing and Commercial leadership
• Oversee brand health, consumer segmentation, audience understanding and evaluation programmes
• Ensure insight moves beyond reporting to clear, action‑led recommendations impacting brand and commercial plans
• Set the standard for best‑in‑class insight frameworks, tools and storytelling
• Lead consumer and insight inputs into innovation strategy, NPD pipelines and concept validation
• Identify whitespace and future demand opportunities, guiding long‑term innovation bets
• Partner with Technical & Innovation teams to ensure consumer‑led product development
• Integrate foresight outputs into annual planning, brand strategy and commercial decision‑making
• Act as a strategic partner to senior stakeholders, influencing at ExCo and leadership level
• Ensure insight and foresight outputs drive measurable business impact
• Lead and develop a high‑performing team
• Embed clear roles, ways of working and capability development across the foresight pillar
• Elevate team output from “insight delivery” to strategic influence and recommendation
• Own relationships with key research agencies and partners (e.g. Kantar, Nielsen), ensuring best‑in‑class delivery
• Bring external thinking, innovation and new methodologies into CMI
• Represent C&C externally as a leader in consumer and brand foresight

About you

• Significant experience in consumer insight, strategy or foresight roles within FMCG / beverage or a consumer‑led industry
• Proven track record of shaping brand, portfolio or innovation strategy
• Strong grounding in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies
• Experience working with leading research partners (e.g. Kantar, Nielsen)
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive business outcomes
• Experience leading and developing high‑performing teams

About Us

Operating through the Matthew Clark, Bibendum, Tennent’s and Bulmers Ireland brands, the Group has a market leading range, scale and reach including an intimate understanding of the markets it serves.

From grass to glass, and everything in between, we grow, brew, manufacture, market, and deliver some of the world’s favourite drinks. C&C Group’s portfolio of owned/exclusive brands include: Bulmers, the leading Irish cider brand; Tennent’s, the leading Scottish beer brand; Magners the premium international cider brand; as well as a range of fast‑growing, premium and craft ciders and beers, such as Heverlee, Menabrea, Five Lamps and Orchard Pig.

We seek to champion and embed sustainability in everything that we do at C&C. While delivering joy to customers, we always shine a light on people and the planet. We have a clear ESG vision delivering to a better world. We respect, support, and develop all our people to be their best, with a focus on results by creating a culture of winning together.

We also recognize that people come with a wealth of experience and talent beyond just the technical requirements of a job. If your experience is close to what you see listed here, please still consider applying. Diversity of experience and skills combined with passion is a key to delivering on our mission. Therefore, we encourage people from all backgrounds to apply. Please let us know if you require accommodations during the interview process.

C&C Group (and inclusive companies) do not accept unsolicited CVs from recruiters or employment agencies in response to any of our roles. For help, please contact our Talent Acquisition Team at [e-mail]. All applications need to come through the candidate portal https://careers.candcgroupplc.com/vacancies/