Back to jobs
New

Sr Manager Consumer Insights

Oakland, CA

We are seeking a strategic and innovative Senior Manager of Consumer Insights to lead our Consumer Insights function at Yerba Madre. This role will lead various forms of research to build a comprehensive understanding of our consumers through integration of multiple data sources (quantitative and qualitative), advanced analytics, and (ideally) AI-powered insights. This role requires extensive collaboration and partnership with the cross-functional teams to synthesize complex data and drive strategic decision-making across new products, marketing, and brand positioning. This is a hybrid position, and this person will be expected to be in our Oakland, CA office 2-3 times a week.

What you’ll provide

  • Consumer understanding at depth: Lead primary research (e.g., Segmentation, A&U, journeys, personas, motivations/psychographics).

  • Omnichannel synthesis: Combine quant + qual, social listening, reviews/Reddit, CX feedback, custom studies, and sales/customer data (with Category Dev) into a single view.

  • AI-powered insight generation: Operationalize ML/NLP to mine open-ended feedback and large datasets; build repeatable pipelines for faster, richer learning.

  • Education & enablement: Create toolkits, readouts, and learning forums that strengthen the org’s consumer fluency.

  • Hands-on + partner-led research: Comfort executing DIY scrappy work and guiding external vendors to scale.

What you’ll contribute

Foundational Consumer Understanding & Omnichannel Data Synthesis (~25%)

  • Design and run strategic primary studies with internal/external partners.

  • Maintain a living knowledge estate (personas, JTBD, journeys) that informs brand and product decisions.

  • Organize multi-stream insights into clear, accessible narratives for teams.

Product / Innovation Insights (~60%)

  • Consumer Needs & JTBD: Map unmet needs, barriers, rituals, whitespace to feed the pipeline.

  • Category & Trend Research: Track macro/micro trends, culture scans, competitive landscape, future-of-beverage signals.

  • Innovation Research Toolkit: Agile testing from concepts/claims to packaging, flavor names, pricing.

  • Product Testing: Build processes for exploratory work plus CLTs/IHUTs; define success metrics.

  • Post-Launch Evaluation: Measure trial, repeat, sentiment; translate learnings to the roadmap.

  • Claims Development: Optimize consumer-facing claims across touchpoints.

  • Brand inputs: Feed positioning, messaging, and creative briefs with sharp consumer truths.

Brand / Marketing Support (~15%)

  • Trend translation for content/comms: Turn signals into briefs and campaign springboards.

  • Brand tracking & equity: Partner with vendors to monitor awareness, consideration, penetration, associations vs. competition.

  • Creative/message testing: Pre-test ideas, headlines, and claims (e.g., Loops).

  • Cultural listening: Keep teams tapped into relevant food & bev culture.

How you’ll do it (Methodology Innovation)

  • Build approaches with an innovator’s mindset to increase speed, quality, and efficiency.

  • Bridge general population + Yerba Mate consumer research with our Ambacebadores (influencer community) for authenticity and scale.

  • Implement AI/ML to accelerate synthesis and pattern detection; apply NLP to open-ends, social, and review data.

  • Pilot emerging tools/methods that deepen understanding without sacrificing rigor.

Research operations & vendor management

  • Manage budget, vendors, and standards to optimize cost and quality.

  • Build/maintain a research panel & community for ongoing engagement.

  • Establish best practices, file hygiene, version control, and a searchable insights library.

What We Offer:

The pay range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors; actual pay offered may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Sales commissions and/or variable pay plans are also offered depending on the position (ex: monthly, quarterly, annual bonuses). Additionally, we offer a competitive benefits package including top-tier benefits, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans, employee life and disability, mental health benefits, paid medical leave, paid company holidays, and paid time off, as well as opportunities for career growth and advancement within our team!

Salary Range

$112,000 - $145,000 USD

Yerba Madre—formerly Guayakí Yerba Mate—is the nearly 30-year pioneer of regenerative yerba mate [yer-bah ma-tay] and the category leader in ready-to-drink mate beverages across North America. The name Yerba Madre, meaning “Mother Herb,” is a tribute to Mother Earth and the ancestral wisdom of the Indigenous communities who have cultivated yerba mate for generations —a reflection of the values the brand has championed since day one. 

Headquartered in Sebastopol and Venice, California, Yerba Madre sources organic, shade-grown yerba mate in direct partnership with 255 family farmers and Indigenous communities across Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Using its Market Driven Regeneration™ model, every purchase helps reforest the Atlantic Forest, support fair trade premiums, and build long-term economic resilience for grower communities. 

In 2025, the brand became the world’s first yerba mate to achieve Regenerative Organic Certified™ Gold® status——setting a new global standard for ecological integrity, cultural respect, and environmental restoration. 

As an original founding member of the B Corp community and a founding member of the Purpose Pledge, Yerba Madre is committed to ethical business practices across ten key pillars, including climate positivity, living wages, circularity, and inclusion. Yerba Madre is available in over 45,000 retail locations across the U.S. and Canada. To learn more, visit www.YerbaMadre.com. 

Yerba Madre is an equal-opportunity employer committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. All qualified applicants will be treated with respect and receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, gender identity, genetic information, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, uniform service, Veteran status, age, or any other protected characteristic per federal, state, or local law, including those with a criminal history, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the CA Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance.

 

Create a Job Alert

Interested in building your career at Yerba Madre? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Yerba Madre’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.