Consumer Insights Manager

Title: Consumer Insights Manager

Location: Tampa, FL – Hybrid – 3 days onsite (Tues-Thurs), 2 days WFH (Mon+Fri)

Employment Type: Full Time

About the Company

At Checkers & Rally's were redefining what fast food can look like.

From Day one, our mission has been simple: deliver bold, crave-worthy food at an unbeatable value, without slowing down. That’s why we’ve built a brand known for iconic menu items, fast service, and experiences that keep guests coming back again and again. From the Big Buford to our award winning Famous Seasoned Fries, our menu Eats Different!

But what really sets us apart? Our people.

We believe in creating opportunities. Whether you're starting out or building your career, we provide the training, support, and real pathways to help you grow, lead, and succeed.

About the Role

The Consumer Insights Manager at Checkers and Rally’s will lead the development and optimization of research activities across the Brand, leveraging primary, secondary and syndicated research data sources.  Mastery of both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies is necessary to ensure the delivery of actionable insights to drive brand affinity, guest satisfaction, and visit frequency.  As a champion of the voice of the consumer, the Manager, Consumer Insights must possess outstanding analytical and communication skills, while being adept with time management to juggle multiple projects and priorities.

What You’ll Do (Core Impact Areas)

• Develop consumer research learning plans to address the critical needs of the business, in collaboration with key cross-functional stakeholders. 
• Optimize the pool of research vendor partners utilized to facilitate project work, ensuring pragmatic balancing of research rigor with cost/investment.  Lead projects from proposal development and approval to full-scale execution.
• Translate insights into strategic recommendations that influence brand, menu, media, operations, and growth priorities.
• Serve as the subject matter expert in understanding and articulating consumer needs and how they intersect with the Brand’s position and performance in the QSR marketplace, including but not limited to Brand perceptions and usage, menu offerings/optimization, and in-store experiential elements.
• Own and advance the enterprise consumer learning agenda for menu innovation, guest experience, brand positioning, and marketplace performance.  This includes product concept screening protocols/processes/models, qualitative focus group moderating/reporting, and menu optimization and item satisfaction measurement.
• Manage and evaluate a portfolio of strategic research and data partners, ensuring methodological rigor, cost discipline, speed, and actionable output.  Act as primary point of contact with syndicated data suppliers including Technomic (Brand Health Tracking) and Circana (consumer visit behavior).  Partner with Consumer Insights Analyst on panel research usage and optimization.  Establish protocols for on-going systematic sharing of insights culled from any/all available external data sources.
• Together with the Director, help lead annual Consumer Insights plan development, and proactively recommend optimizations to plan throughout the year to address new/evolving needs.
• Provide primary support for daily ad hoc requests and other duties as assigned.

What You Bring (Must-haves)

Must-Haves (required):

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing Research, Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology, Advertising, Statistics, or related discipline is required.
• 5+ years prior relevant experience in consumer research in B2C context
• Extensive experience with both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and an interest in exploring emerging approaches.
• Strong analytic problem-solving skills and a natural curiosity to continually dig beyond the surface for deeper-level insights that drive the business and a competitive advantage.
• Advanced fluency in Microsoft Office Suite, especially in Excel and PowerPoint is essential.
• Experience using statistical analysis software such as SPSS or comparable tools to analyze, interpret, and report data.
• Storyteller with strong communication and writing skills.
• Effective time-management, and able to simultaneously support multiple projects.
• Strong interpersonal skills to enable collaboration with other departments and vendors

Nice-To-Haves (preferred):

• Master’s degree in business administration (MBA), Marketing Research (MMR), or other social science, is preferred.
• Foodservice marketing research experience a plus

Core Competencies

• Customer Focus – Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect
• Decision Quality – Makes good decisions (without considering how much time it takes) based upon a mixture of analysis, wisdom, experience, and judgment; most of his/her solutions and suggestions turn out to be correct and accurate when judged over time; sought out by others for advice and solutions.
• Functional/Technical Skills – Has the functional and technical knowledge and skills to do the job at a high level of accomplishment.
• Intellectual Horsepower – Is bright and intelligent; deals with concepts and complexity comfortably; described as intellectually sharp, capable, and agile.
• Organizing – Can marshal resources (people, funding, material, support) to get things done; can orchestrate multiple activities at once to accomplish a goal; uses resources effectively and efficiently arranges information and files in a useful manner.
• Planning – Accurately scopes out length and difficulty of tasks and projects; sets objectives and goals; breaks down work into the process steps; develops schedules and task/people assignments; anticipates and adjusts for problems and roadblocks; measures performance against goals; evaluates results.
• Problem Solving – Uses rigorous logic and methods to solve difficult problems with effective solutions; probes all fruitful sources for answers; can see hidden problems; is excellent at honest analysis; looks beyond the obvious and doesn't stop at the first answers.

Benefits

• This role is Bonus eligible
• Medical, Dental, and Vision Benefits available
• Competitive PTO Policy with Paid Holidays Off
• 401k w/ a company match
• Cell Phone Reimbursement
• Employee Discount at restaurants

Why Join us

• Bold, performance driven-brand
• Growth opportunities
• Strong team culture
• Focus on results and accountability
• CARE Program
• Top 10 Cruise Prize

Work Environment & Essential Physical Requirements

• Location: Tampa, FL – Hybrid
• Travel Expectations: Ability to travel occasionally for off-site meetings, training, research visits, or other business-related activities as needed.

• Individual must live in the Tampa area and is required to be in the Restaurant Support Center or Innovation Center 3 days per week, at a minimum.
• Ability to sit for extended periods (4–6 hours/day) at a desk or computer.
• Ability to stand, walk, and move throughout a corporate facility during in-office days, employee meetings, or multi-department coordination activities.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in person, by phone, and via virtual platforms throughout the workday.
• Ability to travel occasionally for off-site meetings, training, research visits, or other business-related activities as needed.
• Occasional lifting or carrying of materials up to 20 lbs.
• Visual acuity to review documents, schedules, reports, and digital materials with or without corrective lenses.

Company Values

• We’re Fearless – We take bold risks and push past limits with a “can-do” spirit, tackling challenges creatively and fearlessly. We go beyond expectations and make every move count. Fearless isn’t just a mindset; it’s how we win.
• We’re Family – We’re a family, built on trust and respect, holding each other accountable and lifting each other up at every turn. Standing together, we create an environment where everyone thrives-franchisees, teams, communities, and guests-no exceptions.
• We’re Fast – Speed is in our DNA-we think, move, an adapt quickly. Whether it’s serving our guests, supporting our family, making bold decisions, or seizing new opportunities, we stay agile, so we are always ready to meet the moment.
• We’re Fan Fanatics – Our guests are at the heart of everything we do, inspiring us to deliver the crave-worthy experiences they deserve. We don’t just serve them; we’re fanatics about them, making sure every craveable bite, every moment, is worth coming back for.
• We Make Things Fun – At Checkers & Rally’s, fun is the main ingredient. We bring joy to everything-fueling creativity, connection, and unforgettable experiences in our RSC, in our kitchens, with our Guests, and in our communities.
• We’re Focused on 4-Wall Sales & Profitability – Sales and Profitability are key to our continued growth and innovative spirit. We’re here to build sustainable success that benefits our restaurants, franchisees, and teams.

Equal Opportunity

Checkers & Rally’s is an equal opportunity employer. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

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