Senior Consultant at WGSN.com in New York, NY

The role

We are looking to hire a Senior Consultant (Fashion) to join our Consultancy team in NAM.

Working at WGSN

Together, we create tomorrow

A career with WGSN is fast-paced, exciting and full of opportunities to grow and develop. We're a team of consumer and design trend forecasters, content creators, designers, data analysts, advisory consultants and much more, united by a common goal: to create tomorrow.

WGSN's trusted consumer and design forecasts power outstanding product design, enabling our customers to create a better future. Our services cover consumer insights, beauty, consumer tech, fashion, interiors, lifestyle, food and drink forecasting, data analytics and expert advisory. If you are an expert in your fi eld, we want to hear from you.

Role overview

We are looking for a Senior Consultant (Fashion) to join our dynamic, ambitious and close-knit consultancy team. Working closely with our team of global consultants, you will be responsible for working with a defined set of clients, developing commercial solutions that address their needs and leading project teams to deliver inspiring, market-leading insights.

In order to succeed in this role, you will need to demonstrate:

• Proven experience of working in Trend Forecasting. Confident in translating Macro and Consumer trends into thought-provoking insights and forecasts across the key industries of Fashion and Sports.
• A strong background in Consulting, ideally within an agency environment, with extensive experience leading and delivering consultancy to senior clients in across projects that blend qualitative and quantitative research to deliver exemplary solutions.

You will be an excellent collaborator, highly commercial, and seen as a trusted industry expert who delivers thought leadership and considered solutions to clients across industries and complex briefs.

The team

You will be part of a dynamic, high-performing team of 40+ consultants, strategists, and trend researchers who deliver bespoke solutions to a wide range of clients across the globe. You will be working with industry experts and thought leaders with backgrounds in creative strategy, product innovation, design, marketing, buying and merchandising, data analytics and of course, trend forecasting.

Key accountabilities

• Work with the Director and Mindset Senior Leadership to deliver the defined Consultancy strategy to clients, ensuring the appropriate methodologies and frameworks are employed for all project teams.
• Work closely with the Account Management and Sales teams to lead and develop key high-value Fashion & Sports accounts, proactively seeking to broaden commercial opportunities with clients.
• 'Expert' in the client relationship - able to articulate client needs & motivations, business objectives and ROI, and flex confidently across industries as needed. While Fashion & Sports will be your primary focus, you will be expected to work across other verticals such as Beauty, Lifestyle, Consumer Tech or Food & Drink as needed.
• Own & manage a defined set of Fashion & Sports accounts, delivering against complex, strategic briefs.
• Lead qualitative and quantitative primary and secondary research across a variety of methodologies, to provide actionable trend forecasts that will benefit our clients' future business
• Develop research methodologies and design project frameworks to individual project requirements, training and overseeing junior team members on methodologies where applicable.
• Accountable for the relevancy and quality of the work delivered to selected clients, evaluating feedback to maintain and improve standards
• Travel nationally and internationally to deliver high-value consulting projects to clients. Work across time zones with a diverse set of clients.

This list is not exhaustive and there may be other activities you are required to deliver.

Skills, experience & qualifications required

• Agency experience is a must, demonstrating an understanding of the operational models that underpin commercial success for Consultancy.
• Exceptional knowledge of the global Fashion and Sports landscape with a clear understanding of premium to commercial trends across product categories (apparel, footwear, accessories).
• Proven experience working with clients in the Fashion and Sports industries, and confident in delivering insights to senior client stakeholders.
• Excellent understanding of trend forecasting methodologies, consumer behavior, and marketing/social media trends across the Fashion and Sports industries.
• Exceptional knowledge of consumer behaviour, cultural insights, and marketing trends, with the ability to pinpoint trends that will have a great impact across Fashion & Sports.
• A solution-minded approach, with experience working across multiple research methodologies (qualitative and quantitative) to develop market-relevant fashion trend solutions, forecasts, creative direction and/or assortment plans.
• Analytical problem-solving skills with experience in solving unstructured problems involving quantitative data, through a structured and hypothesis-driven approach. Able to translate complex data sets into compelling narratives.
• A critical thinker, able to consider both strategic and tactical implications. Highly skilled verbal and written communicator.
• Ability to lead project teams, prioritise workload, and support other members of team. Comfortable and proficient in leading projects and initiatives across multi-functional teams and multiple time zones.
• Technical skills: Microsoft Office, Google Workspace. A basic knowledge of data visualisation software such as Tableau is an advantage.

What we offer

Our US benefits and wellbeing package offers flexible benefits you can tailor to your own personal needs, including:

• Paid Time Off – 15 days of vacation per year with an additional day for each year of service up to 20 days. WGSN also observes the 12 Federal holidays. We also offer 6 weeks of paid Parental Leave.
• 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan – allows employees to save and invest for their own retirement on a tax deferred basis. WGSN matches 50% of the fi rst 6% contributed by employees.
• Medical, Dental and Vision plans with Aetna
• Life Insurance, AD&D, Short and Long-Term Disability - all eligible employees receive coverage at no cost.
• Mental Health – WGSN provides many ways for employees to access mental health care including an Employee Assistance Program and inpatient, outpatient and virtual care if enrolled in an Aetna medical plan.

More about WGSN

WGSN is the global authority on consumer trend forecasting. We help brands around the world create the right products at the right time for tomorrow’s consumer.

Our values

• We Are Everywhere

  The future is everything, it happens everywhere. WGSN is the world-leading forecaster because we track and analyse consumer behaviours, product innovation, design and creativity, everywhere.

• We Are Future Focused

  We utilise our global resources and intelligence to research, source and analyse quantitative and qualitative data to produce our forecasts. Everything we do is focused on working with our customers to create a successful and positive tomorrow.

• We Are Rigorous

  We source, review and assess quantitative and qualitative data to produce robust, actionable forecasts. To provide credible insights and design solutions for our clients, it is essential that rigour runs through everything we do.

Our culture

An inclusive culture is one of our key priorities. We want our people to truly be themselves and thrive. We love having a diverse team of people who bring new ideas, different strengths and perspectives & reflect the global audience we work with.

Inclusive workforce

We are committed to supporting the environment and sustainability, including ensuring our pension plan defaults to sustainable options and striving to be net zero by 2030.

Recognising great performance is a key part of our culture. Our Awards schemes recognise and reward the brilliant achievements of our people.

We offer a flexible working environment with a wide range of flexible, hybrid and agile working arrangements. Conversations about flexible working have always been—and will continue to be—actively encouraged here, but we do not offer full remote working.

We want to ensure everyone has the opportunity to perform their best when interviewing, so if you require any reasonable adjustments that would make you more comfortable during the process, please let us know so that we can do our best to support you.

A Note for Applicants

We use AI to help our team screen applications and identify candidates whose skills and experience match the role. This technology removes personal information to promote a fair and unbiased process. We believe this tool helps us find the best talent while maintaining transparency and fairness.

A Note for Recruiters

Thank you so much for your interest in working with us at WGSN! Our internal Talent Acquisition team takes care of all our recruitment efforts. When we need some extra help, we partner with agencies on our Preferred Supplier List (PSL) that truly understand our business, culture and ways of working together. Since we focus on these established partnerships, we’re unable to respond to unsolicited contacts or CVs from outside our PSL. But don’t worry! If we decide to explore new partnerships, we’ll be sure to reach out.