Food & Drink Analyst / Assistant Trend Forecaster (6-month FTC)

The role

We are looking to hire a Food & Drink Analyst / Assistant Trend Forecaster to join our Content team in London or Singapore on a 6-month fixed-term basis.

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 field, we want to hear from you. 

Role overview 

If you are passionate about food & drink and looking for your next career move, this role may be right for you. 

As Food & Drink Analyst / Assistant Trend Forecaster, you will join WGSN’s global Food & Drink content team, writing and creating content that will help our food & drink clients to build successful portfolios. 

You must have knowledge of the food & drink global industry, a passion for trends and a thirst for knowledge. You will demonstrate a good understanding of global trends, market analysis, new product development, and the role that data and analytics plays in commercial success. 

You will primarily focus on content creation, delivering a high standard of content. You will show excellence in collaboration, sharing ideas, and supporting the content team across all areas. You will champion sustainability, diversity and inclusivity across all our content. 

You will have experience in either new product development, trend forecasting or editorial. You will deliver insight across all food & drink product categories and for all regions and demographics. You should be skilled at spotting global trends and be able to articulate this information clearly and show experience of research, analysis and writing. 

You will work across teams at WGSN where required and be able to build and maintain strong relationships with teams including Marketing.

Key accountabilities

• Content creation 
• Analysis and forecasting to pull together trends taking into account shifts in macro and consumer trends and how that relates to food & drink product categories 
• Champion equality, diversity, inclusion and sustainability in our culture and content. 
• Working across WGSN’s content verticals and business functions 
• Produce presentations and webinars of your research and insight, and deliver internally and externally. 
• Act as an ambassador for WGSN at trade shows and events. 
• Some travel to tradeshows is required. 

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

Skills, experience & qualifications required

• Able to demonstrate an understanding of the food & drink industry across multiple markets and categories. Ideally, you will have experience in either NPD, trend forecasting or be from an editorial background, and have a good base knowledge of brands, products, cuisines, ingredients, innovations and sustainability. 
• Exceptional knowledge of the global food & drink market around consumer behaviour, generational shifts and retail shifts across the industry. 
• Strong level of ability in writing, editing and reporting. 
• An understanding of the role data and analytics play in commercial success. Ability to work and interrogate qualitative and quantitative data to extract meaningful insights. 
• Excellent organisation, communication and collaboration skills (please note the team are on multiple time zones). 
• Able to navigate across multiple cultures. Fluency in English is essential. Fluency in other languages is an advantage. 

Ascential’s supporting beliefs 

• Focus: we ruthlessly prioritise and always keep things simple
• All in: once we commit we deliver, with a clear focus on outcome
• Trustworthiness, transparency & openness: transparency inspires trust & empowers
• Be creative: we are smart, pro-active innovators
• Facts: we always use data & insight to inform our work
• Empathy: we can be relied upon for fairness and consideration
• No silos: one team, one face, one reputation

What we offer

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

• 25 days of holiday per year - with an option to buy/ sell up to 5 days
• Pension, Life Assurance and Income Protection
• Flexible benefits platform with options including Private Medical, Dental Insurance, Critical Illness, and the Ascential Shares Scheme – opt in
•  Employee assistance programme, season ticket loans and cycle to work scheme
•  Volunteering opportunities and charitable giving options
•   Great learning and development opportunities.

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 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.

Why choose us? 

At Ascential, diversity, equity and inclusion is core to us. We’re a company built around our people - and we’re committed to supporting each and every one of them to be the best they can be. We love having a diverse team of people who bring new ideas and different strengths and perspectives to Ascential. Our employee-led networks, Ascential Pride, Black in Business and EmPower: An Ascential Women's Initiative, help us to create a place where communities and allies can connect and share experiences. In addition, our Early Talent programmes help grow and foster diverse new talent for our sectors.  

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 have a truly 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. 

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.

If we inspire you, why not join and inspire us?  Find out more on what our People say