- Location
- New York City New York USA
- Employment
- Full-Time
- Seniority
- Director
- Compensation
- $124,200–214,450/year
- Posted
- Oct 13, 2026
About Estée Lauder Companies
The Estée Lauder Companies is a global leader in prestige beauty, founded in 1946 by Estée and Joseph Lauder and built on an enduring belief in creativity, high-touch service, and entrepreneurial spirit. As an employer, the Group offers talent the scale of an international house with the energy of distinctive brands across skincare, makeup, fragrance, and hair care. Its culture values innovation, inclusion, learning, and responsible growth, inviting professionals to shape consumer experiences from laboratory to counter, digital platform to boardroom. Employees join a purpose-led organization where heritage, artistry, and scientific excellence meet to define the future of luxury beauty.
The Makeup Consumer Intelligence Director at Estée Lauder Companies translates consumer, market, competitive, social, and cultural intelligence into growth strategies for the global makeup portfolio. The role leads complex analytical workstreams, consumer research, category strategy support, and executive-ready recommendations in partnership with global brands and cross-functional teams. The anticipated annual base salary is $124,200–$214,450, depending on factors including experience, skills, education, budget, and geographic location; the role is also eligible for a competitive bonus and share incentive plan.
Role & Responsibilities
- Analyze global prestige makeup performance, including market share, category growth, subcategory dynamics, channels, geographies, and competitive activity.
- Develop strategic framing, hypotheses, implications, and recommended actions for category, brand, and regional business questions.
- Support global makeup category strategy by identifying growth opportunities, risks, and where-to-play and how-to-win choices.
- Design and oversee qualitative and quantitative research plans across innovation, positioning, communications, portfolio strategy, and consumer experience.
- Integrate primary research, syndicated data, social listening, search behavior, ratings and reviews, and competitive intelligence into a holistic view of consumers and the category.
- Synthesize complex information into clear narratives for senior stakeholders, explaining what is happening, why it matters, and recommended next steps.
- Partner with global brand leadership and cross-functional teams to translate insights into brand strategy, innovation priorities, annual planning, and commercial activation.
- Collaborate with Brands, Regions, Marketing, Product Development, Finance, R&D, Supply Chain, Digital, and other functions to embed consumer intelligence in planning and execution.
- Lead complex workstreams with limited direction, anticipate stakeholder needs, adapt across project types, and rapidly build knowledge in new areas.
Qualifications
- 8–10 years of experience in consumer insights, market intelligence, analytics, strategy, or a related field; beauty, consumer products, or retail experience preferred.
- Deep proficiency in market share, category performance, competitive analysis, and business performance data.
- Strong experience designing and managing qualitative and quantitative research.
- Experience using social listening and digital consumer signals to identify emerging behaviors, trends, and opportunities.
- Ability to translate multiple data sources into clear business implications, recommendations, and executive-level framing.
- Demonstrated ability to scope and lead workstreams, propose analytical approaches, and develop slide storylines with limited direction.
- Strong curiosity and willingness to adapt across business questions, methodologies, data sources, and project types.
- Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal skills; ability to navigate complexity, align diverse stakeholders, and drive action without direct authority.
- Advanced proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint required; experience with data visualization, social listening, and analytical platforms preferred.
Skills
Experience
8–10 years in consumer insights, market intelligence, analytics, strategy, or a related field; beauty, consumer products, or retail experience preferred.
Workplace
The role is situated in New York City, New York, USA.
Explore jobs in the USA.
Compensation
The base compensation for this position ranges from USD 124,200 to USD 214,450 per annum.
Benefits
Eligible employees may receive health insurance coverage (medical, dental, and vision), wellness and family support programs, life and disability insurance, retirement savings plans, paid leave programs, education-related programs, paid holidays, and vacation time. The role is eligible for a competitive bonus program, including potential overachievement based on performance and company results, and participation in a share incentive plan; many benefits are subsidized or fully paid by the company.
Culture
The Estée Lauder Companies fosters a collaborative, inclusive workplace where creativity, entrepreneurial thinking, and a passion for prestige beauty are deeply valued. As a global house of distinctive brands, it offers employees an environment that encourages innovation, professional growth, and a shared commitment to excellence and consumer inspiration.
About Cerulean
Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.
Frequently Asked Questions
The luxury industry is characterised by a diverse and nuanced nomenclature. Esteemed houses frequently employ proprietary terminology, and even within a single organisation like Estée Lauder Companies, titles may vary across global markets to reflect local conventions. To ensure absolute clarity, Cerulean assigns a standardised, industry-coherent canonical title to every listing. However, it is worth noting that this role is functionally synonymous with «Director of Makeup Market Intelligence», «Director of Makeup Consumer Insights», «Director of Makeup Category Intelligence», «Director of Makeup Analytics», and other variations. Our sophisticated search architecture anticipates these variations, ensuring that inquiries using related terms will seamlessly yield the exact roles you desire.