Senior Manager, Cultural Relevance

Whats it like to work at Kinders Well theres a lot of snacking and geeking out over what we all cooked over the weekend. Beyond that theres also plenty of hard work. Because we dont just like flavor were obsessed with it.

With over 100 products sold nationwide were now a top-five brand in multiple flavor categories at Costco Walmart Whole Foods and more. Were not your typical CPG company. Privately held and founder-led we like to think of ourselves as a pirate ship in a sea of cruise ships. Our crew is adventurous and fearless. We chart our own course and chase big ideas to make food unforgettable.

As we expand globally and approach $1 billion in revenue we need more smart-and-scrappy flavor-obsessed people to come aboard. If youre looking for a place where you can see the real impact of your work... this is it!Every day youll be part of a journey to add flavor to millions of meals and lives.

Kinders is seeking a Sr. Manager Cultural Relevance to be part of a passionate team of dedicated and hard-working people focused on changing peoples expectations of whats possible when it comes to food. Reporting into Consumer Insights as part of the new Strategic Growth & Capabilities pillar this first-of-its-kind role at Kinders will build and lead our cultural relevance capabilityhelping us stay deeply connected to people and culture and translating that understanding into opportunities across marketing brand strategy product development and growth. The ideal candidate combines deep cultural curiosity and consumer empathy with strategic thinking business acumen and a bias toward action. They can spot what is gaining momentum understand why it matters and inspire teams to turn that understanding into ideas that are relevant distinctive and uniquely Kinders.

At Kinders we believe great brands earn their place in peoples lives by being genuinely useful inspiring and relevant. You will help ensure that what we put into the world adds value to the people we serve by developing a deeper understanding of their lives and what matters to themhow they think feel connect celebrate experiment struggle scroll search and beyond a traditional insights role youll keep a pulse on both whats happening now and whats coming next with a particular focus on the real-time signals emerging through social and digital behavior. Youll partner closely with Marketing Product Development Brand Strategy and Consumer Insights to turn those signals into actionable strategies products and activations that elevate how Kinders shows up in culture and in consumers everyday lives.

• Build an always-on approach to identifying and interpreting trends cultural moments emerging behaviors and broader shifts across food and flavor media and entertainment creators and communities technology retail lifestyle and other spaces shaping consumers.
• Build an ecosystem of tools and methods that expand Kinders ability to sense and understand culture; create simple frameworks that help teams evaluate what matters why it matters how long it might matter and whetherand howKinders should act.
• Establish a regular cadence of cultural intelligencefrom timely trend and activation opportunities to deeper perspectives on emerging consumer and cultural shifts.
• Facilitate briefings workshops and working sessions that turn cultural and consumer intelligence into ideas choices and action.
• Build cultural curiosity and capability across the organization becoming a trusted thought partner and bringing an informed external perspective into key business conversations.

• Track culture across multiple horizonsfrom fast-moving conversations and behaviors to longer-term shifts in consumer values needs tastes and expectations.
• Integrate social listening search and behavioral signals consumer research category intelligence secondary research and emerging AI-enabled tools to develop a holistic and timely view of consumers and culture.
• Assess what is gaining momentum and distinguish what is simply interesting from what presents a meaningful opportunity for Kinders.
• Connect individual signals and trends to deeper consumer motivations and behaviors to develop points of view on where culture is headed and what it could mean for our business.

• Translate cultural intelligence into actionable opportunities across marketing activation brand strategy innovation and product development
• Partner closely with Brand Strategy Marketing Product Development Consumer Insights and other teams to determine where Kinders has a credible and distinctive role to play in emerging trends and cultural moments.
• Develop rapid-turn points of view that help teams understand whats happening why consumers care whether Kinders should participate and how we could add value while the opportunity is still relevant.
• Connect emerging cultural behaviors to Kinders brands products flavors occasions and distinctive assets to inspire ideas that are both culturally relevant and uniquely Kinders.

• Bachelors degree in Anthropology Sociology Psychology Marketing Communications or a related discipline; equivalent relevant experience considered.
• 710 years of experience across cultural intelligence consumer insights trend sensing brand strategy social intelligence innovation or related disciplines; experience in consumer products food & beverage retail lifestyle media or consulting preferred.
• Deep cultural curiosity strong consumer and commercial judgment and a bias toward action with the ability to influence and collaborate across Marketing Brand Strategy Product Development Consumer Insights and senior stakeholders.
• Experience leveraging different social listening platforms and data tools and integrating insights from diverse sources into larger strategic narratives
• Demonstrated ability to identify both fast-moving cultural opportunities and longer-term consumer shifts and translate them into actionable marketing brand product or business opportunities.
• Excellent strategic synthesis pattern recognition and storytelling skills with the ability to turn fragmented and fast-moving information into clear compelling points of view and recommendations.

Who You Are

• Consumer-centered and empathetic. You are genuinely curious about people and seek to understand the motivations needs tensions and perspectives behind their behavior. You bring empathy to both the consumers we serve and the colleagues you work alongside.
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity. You thrive in an entrepreneurial environment where the path forward is not always defined. You are comfortable making thoughtful decisions with incomplete information balancing speed with sound judgment and helping create structure where it does not yet exist.
• An exceptional relationship builder. You build trust and rapport quickly listen well and enjoy bringing people and perspectives together. You know that influence comes through strong partnerships and can inspire action across teams without relying on hierarchy.
• Curious humble and willing to challenge. You bring a strong point of view while remaining open to new ideas and different perspectives. You ask thoughtful questions challenge conventional thinking constructively and care more about getting to the best answer than being the person who has it.
• Mission-first with a bias toward action. You are a collaborative low-ego teammate who is willing to roll up your sleeves and do what it takes to move the business forward. You are energized by high expectations continuous learning smart risk-taking and the opportunity to help Kinders do exceptional things.

This role will be based onsite in Walnut Creek CA. The expected starting salary range for this role is$160000-$195000 per year. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range based on the location of the role The amount a particular employee will earn within the salary range will be based on factors such as relevant education qualifications performance and business needs.

• No two days here are the same.
• We try to be good team members and good communicators but we dont live by hierarchy and structure everyone is a difference maker here.
• We make a lot of decisions in the face of incomplete information our team embraces ambiguity and tries to make good decisions fast rather than great decisions slow.
• We believe our job is to take smart risk not to eliminate risk.
• We believe in growing our skills and becoming a better company with more managerial expertise but we are an entrepreneurial company at heart.
• We arent trying to be average we want to do exceptional things and we are willing to work hard to achieve them.

We offer a range of total rewards that may include paid time off 401k bonus / incentive eligibility equity grants competitive health benefits and other family-friendly benefits including parental leave. Kinders benefits vary based on eligibility and can be reviewed in more detail during the interview process.

We believe great culture starts with people. Were a people-first company built on connection collaboration and balance. Most of our work happens in the office to spark creativity and community but we also offer flexibility so team members have the autonomy to work outside the office when needed to support their work-life balance and personal commitments.

Kinders is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color ancestry national origin gender citizenship marital status religion age disability gender identity results of genetic testing veteran status as well as any other legally-protected characteristic. If you have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act or similar law and you need any accommodation during the application process or to perform these job requirements please reach out to us at