Senior Manager, Future Strategy & Innovation

Dig Insights; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited vacation policy

Health and wellness reimbursement

401K employer matching program

Regular social events

Job summary

A leading research company in Chicago seeks candidates for a role focused on research, reporting, and project management. Ideal candidates should have 5-10 years in similar roles with experience in client-facing capacities. Responsibilities include conducting trend analysis, presenting findings, and coordinating with cross-functional teams. The role emphasizes analytical thinking, strategic mindset, and creative curiosity in a collaborative work environment with opportunities for continuous learning and full flexibility regarding work location.

Qualifications

• 5–10 years in a similar role, which may include design, brand, innovation, or business strategy.
• Recent experience in a client-facing capacity.
• Strong presentation abilities, including articulating a point of view and thinking on your feet.

Responsibilities

• Conduct research and analysis to identify emerging trends and anticipate future challenges.
• Present research findings in a compelling way.
• Coordinate and collaborate with cross-functional teams on research.

Skills

Analytical Thinking

Strategic Mindset

Creative Curiosity

Adaptable Perspective-Taking

Passionate Dynamism

Job description

Overview

Dig Insights is a tech-enabled research company that helps our clients - global consumer brands - move beyond consumer-centric to decision-centric. Our clients can then go-to-market with innovations that shift consumer decisions in their favor.

Our clients span verticals including CPG, QSR, retail, technology, financial services, and telecommunications. Our work is led by a team of over 250 strategists, insights leaders and data scientists. We work for a global client base out of offices in Toronto, Chicago, and London.

Our success is due to our strong commitment to our clients, and the creativity and dedication of our entire team. Since the beginning, we have been focused on building the smartest consumer insights company and that means hiring people who are bright, creative, resourceful, and kind. People who succeed at Dig are curious, question established norms and are passionate about helping our clients to move their businesses forward. If you want to join a team that takes themselves just seriously enough to produce great work, we’d love to welcome you.

As we continue to grow, both geographically and in our expertise, we are looking for people who want to join a high-growth and highly collaborative company.

Responsibilities

Your primary responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

Research & Reporting

• Invest the time necessary to develop an intimate knowledge of the client’s business in order to understand what impact the research, insights and recommendations will have upon it.
• Tie in client documents to the final trend findings
• Monitor a variety of sources in order to identify trends and opportunity spaces. From Instagram, blogs and online experts to books, magazines, and the intellectual products of trade/industry conferences.
• Conduct research and analysis to identify emerging trends and anticipate future challenges in various industries and sectors. Develop an outline and turn your findings into a synthesized report.
• Should be able to provide recommendations that demonstrate clear ties to the client’s business.
• Develop strategic foresight and implementation plans for design, business, policy innovations, or organizational change.
• Translate research/insights into workshop materials that can be leveraged during innovation workshops and sessions with the client.
• Apply design-thinking methodologies to research and test innovative ideas. Study in-market examples of emerging trends and cultural shifts and continuously evolve your research approach.
• Bring new ideas to the table in terms of how we are executing the work.
• The ability to create your own report templates (in collaboration with the Director).
• Present research findings in a compelling, inspiring way—not just detailed analysis, but narratives that energize and engage the team.

Presenting & Facilitation

• Strong presentation capabilities: share your findings to your colleagues and clients in a way that shows your passion for the work and the breadth of your knowledge.
• Aid in the organization and facilitation of workshops and working sessions with clients.

Project Management

• Coordinate and collaborate with cross-functional teams on qualitative and quantitative research to develop innovative solutions that address clients' future needs and challenges.
• Proactive workflow management to hit deadlines.
• Own your project timelines by prioritizing effectively, flagging roadblocks before they become issues, collaborating across teams, and proactively setting up conditions for success.

Key Demonstrable Traits and Skills

While a trends background isn’t required, the traits and transferable skills below can strongly contribute to success in this role:

• Analytical Thinking – Our projects often begin with broad, ambiguous topics. The ideal candidate should be comfortable navigating uncertainty and able to break down complex challenges into clear steps for investigation, synthesis, and insight development.
• Strategic Mindset – Our work influences the long‑term trajectory of the clients who partner with us. It’s important that the candidate can take conceptual ideas and ground them within a client’s business, brand, or innovation strategy.
• Creative Curiosity – Our methodologies are robust and require a mindset of exploration: asking “what if,” building on possibilities, and identifying early-edge signals and emerging opportunities that could shape category change.
• Adaptable Perspective‑Taking – As new research and information surface, our thinking must evolve. This role requires openness to shifting perspectives rather than becoming attached to fixed ideas—allowing the future to emerge through the process.
• Passionate Dynamism – This work is a privilege, and the candidate’s energy and attitude influence client relationships, deliverables, and collaboration with team members and cross-functional partners. Every choice should support producing the strongest possible final output.

Previous Experience

• 5–10 years in a similar role, which may include design, brand, innovation, or business strategy.
• Recent experience in a client-facing capacity.
• Strong presentation abilities, including articulating a point of view and thinking on your feet.
• A self‑starter who thrives in a remote environment and communicates effectively.
• A hybrid-remote work environment, where employees have the flexibility to work remotely or from one of our offices
• Unlimited vacation policy
• Reimbursement for health and wellness classes/memberships and continuous learning
• RRSP / 401K employer matching program
• Offices in Toronto and Chicago, located steps to public transportation in the downtown core
• Regular social events such as charity poker nights, trivia events, team building days, and more!

To find out more about us visit us at www.diginsights.com & www.upsiide.com

Our culture is built on 5 core values: Energy, Excellence, Evolution, Equality and Empathy. We believe that our success is dependent on the diverse talents, skills, and ideas of its staff. We are committed to creating an inclusive work environment and encourage applications from all qualified candidates including those in the BIPOC and LGTBQ communities, and from people with disabilities.

We thank you for your interest in Dig Insights, however, only candidates who are chosen for an interview will be contacted.