Manager Customer and Product Insights

The Research & Product Insights Manager is responsible for uncovering new product opportunities through direct engagement with customers, field research, and in-depth workflow analysis. This position will concentrate on recognizing unaddressed needs, difficulties, and inefficiencies in the trades, converting these findings into actionable insights that steer product strategy. By working closely with product management and engineering, this role ensures that insights lead to real-world solutions that improve efficiency, safety, and performance in the field. The ideal candidate thrives in hands-on research environments and has a proven track record of turning observations into successful product ideas.

Emerson’s global Professional Tools business is an equal opportunity employer, offering the broadest portfolio of reliable tools and technologies for those working in mechanical, electrical, and plumbing trades! With unparalleled expertise from RIDGID, Greenlee, and Klauke, we deliver trusted products to handle the industries’ toughest challenges!

In this Role, Your Responsibilities Will:

• Lead a research team dedicated to identifying product opportunities through direct user engagement.
• Conduct on-site field research, including job site visits, customer interviews, and observational studies.
• Evaluate trade workflows to pinpoint inefficiencies, difficulties, and areas for product improvement.
• Work closely with product managers to refine and validate new product concepts.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to ensure that seen opportunities align with technical feasibility.
• Summarize research findings into impactful reports and presentations for key collaborators.
• Mentor and develop research analysts to improve their field research capabilities.
• Ensure that research methodologies align with standard processes for product discovery.

Who You Are: You gain insight into customer needs. You build competitive and breakthrough strategies that show a clear connection between vision and action.  You effectively communicate in various settings: one-on-one, small and large groups, or among diverse styles and position levels.  You build teamwork allowing others across the organization to achieve shared objectives.   For This Role, You Will Need:

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., Engineering, Human Factors, Design Research, Business).
• 5+ years of demonstrated ability in product discovery, user research, or related fields.
• Strong experience conducting field research and customer observations.
• Proven ability to translate difficulties faced by customers into actionable product insights.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to tell a compelling story through research findings.
• Experience collaborating with product and engineering teams from various departments.
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to recognize patterns across research findings.

Preferred Qualifications that Set You Apart:

• Master's degree or equivalent experience (Engineering, Human Factors, Design Research, Business etc.) or MBA
• Experience conducting research for industrial tools, connected devices, or IoT products.
• Familiarity with trade professions (e.g., plumbing, electrical, mechanical) and their unique challenges.
• Understanding of user-centered design methodologies and their application to physical products.
• Ability to travel as needed for customer visits and field research.

Our Culture & Commitment to You

At Emerson, we prioritize a workplace where every employee is valued, respected, and empowered to grow. We foster an environment that encourages innovation, collaboration, and diverse perspectives—because we know that great ideas come from great teams. Our dedication to ongoing career development and growing an inclusive culture ensures you have the support to thrive. Whether through mentorship, training, or leadership opportunities, we invest in your success so you can make a lasting impact. We believe diverse teams, working together are key to driving growth and delivering business results. 

We recognize the importance of employee wellbeing. We prioritize providing flexible, competitive benefits plans to meet you and your family’s physical, mental, financial, and social needs. We provide a variety of medical insurance plans, with dental and vision coverage, Employee Assistance Program, 401(k), tuition reimbursement, employee resource groups, recognition, and much more. Our culture offers flexible time off plans, including paid parental leave (maternal and paternal), vacation and holiday leave.

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