President & CEO - Consumer Reports

OVERVIEW:

Russell Reynolds Associates has been retained to manage this search process. All interest and inquiries should be sent directly to their team, using this email address: ConsumerReports@RussellReynolds.com. Applications submitted to this CR Careers site will not be monitored or reviewed.

Jamie Hechinger Russell Reynolds Associates 1700 New York Avenue, NW Suite 400 Washington, DC  20006-5208

TR Straub Russell Reynolds Associates 1700 New York Avenue, NW Suite 400 Washington, DC  20006-5208

 

Consumer Reports (“CR”) empowers and informs consumers, incentivizes corporations to act responsibly, and helps policymakers prioritize the rights and interests of consumers in order to shape a truly consumer-driven marketplace. Reaching more than 15 million people per month on all platforms, with approximately $235M in earned revenue (along with solid financial reserves), and purchasing and testing over 2,000 products and services annually, CR is a mission-driven, independent, nonprofit member organization with more than 6 million members and a workforce of 600 employees (approximately half of which are unionized). CR maintains a broad physical footprint, including 60 labs in Yonkers, a state of the art Auto Test Center (in Colchester, CT), an advocacy-oriented Washington, DC office, and a NYC co-lab space.

 

MISSION: working side by side with consumers to advance truth, transparency, and fairness in the marketplace

 

Consumer Reports was founded in 1936 at a time when consumers had very few options to gauge the value, quality, or authenticity of goods and services. It was an era of unfettered advertising claims, rapid technological progress, and patchwork regulations – so CR was created to equip people with the credible, trustworthy information they needed to make informed choices. Over time, CR’s findings shaped purchasing decisions, and regulators and manufacturers began to heed their voice and the needs and interests of consumers.

 

While the world and marketplace have experienced significant upheaval since CR’s founding, CR remains a trusted source; its rigorous, independent testing and research support a marketplace built on credible information, greater transparency, and fairness. CR’s research, product and service testing, investigative journalism, and advocacy all empower consumers, inform people’s purchasing decisions, influence businesses to improve the products and services they deliver, and strengthen norms, laws, and regulations through science, evidence, and data.

 

VISION: to galvanize consumers, corporations, and government to work together to solve this era’s defining marketplace challenges

 

Consumers continue to rely on CR to shine a trusted light on the shifting landscape of the marketplace – and ensure that rapid innovation and consumer safety go hand in hand. As the digital age accelerates, there has never been a more important time for consumers to be empowered with trustworthy knowledge and expert insights; what they do at CR must be as transformative and groundbreaking as the new technologies, products and services entering people's lives every day.

 

CR’s employees are passionate about their work because they know how much is at stake for the consumer. They succeed in their mission every time your family gets a little bit safer, your finances get more secure, new technologies get more trustworthy, and the future gets that much brighter. As they work with consumers to ensure a future that meets their needs, they are focusing on three shared goals to pursue positive change in the marketplace: Safety, Sustainability and Fairness. This is further laid out in CR’s recently launched strategic plan all in an aim to ensure that everyone can make informed, safe, and sustainable decisions confidently in a marketplace built to serve their needs.

 

Specifically, CR will align its social enterprise around shared goals so that it may:

1. Deliver valuable solutions that help consumers and raise CR’s relevance and visibility
2. Influence corporations and governments to meet a higher bar
3. Connect a wider circle of consumers to CR and build greater consumer power

 

To center its work around the interests, rights, concerns and aspirations of all consumers, CR must focus on the highest-stakes moments in our lives where – and when – these goals hang in the balance. CR will engage with each spoke in the wheel of the marketplace – consumers, industry, and government – to build momentum for higher standards around each of these three shared goals. In the years ahead, CR will be fighting boldly for those goals on two fronts: the digital marketplace, where so many of our most important choices happen, and the key life moments where safety, sustainability, and fairness are most at stake.

In support of this, CR is embracing three shifts – while further building upon recent accomplishments and investments – to realize an essential transformation:

• REIGNITE the power of consumers to make the market better. CR has been a leader in the realm of shaping legislation and policy; moving forward, it will reignite consumer power by scaling up the power of consumers’ data and voices to influence companies and policymakers in a focused and dynamic way.
• REINVENT the user experience and diversify offerings to reach more people. CR will listen to consumers and use what they heard to steer its course – becoming indispensable to consumers as they navigate high stakes choices. CR will reinvent its user experience to be more customer-centric and give people exactly what they need, when and where they need it most. CR will anticipate and address consumer needs, creating tomorrow’s solutions today.
• REDESIGN how CR works for faster, more relevant, and efficient results. The transformation will require CR to redefine not only how it works, but how it will thrive in a dynamic world. CR must redesign how it works by embracing change, challenging convention, and investing in its people to drive a new path forward. Data will power CR’s ability to move efficiently and with conviction. CR will punch above its weight, delivering outsized impact united as one team.

HOW YOU'LL MAKE AN IMPACT:

Consumer Reports is seeking a proven, innovative Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) to join and lead their social enterprise as they reinforce their historic strengths and reimagine their future trajectory, doing so in a critical period as the need for reliable, tested, unbiased consumer information increases; the complexity and competitiveness of the marketplace further accelerates; and there remain gaps in consumer protections across sectors where CR brings expertise. This is an exciting, impactful, and critical leadership role; this individual will have the opportunity to tap into CR’s trusted brand recognition, harness its critical mission and unique influence, and leverage its complex operations (and expertise) to reinforce its organizational track record of impact, while ensuring it continues to innovate and reaches and serves younger, diverse consumers who are increasingly in need of these services.

 

Reporting to and working in close collaboration with the Board of Directors, CR’s next CEO will lead the way in defining the future of the organization and efforts to fulfill its mission. They will do so through ambitious, creative vision setting, along with timely implementation, rigorous evaluation, and ongoing iteration of plans to boost revenue and organizational sustainability, with a deep and tangible commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”). The CEO will have a clear understanding of and commitment to the business value of DEI in driving Consumer Reports’ continued  impact, growth and success, both in terms of internal talent diversity and widening CR’s reach to younger, more diverse consumers (a key enterprise goal). Moreover, they will further foster and continue a culture of inquiry, learning, innovation and experimentation.

 

Externally, the CEO will serve as a go-to source of trusted information, safeguarding and strengthening the organization to ensure CR fulfills its mission now – and for future generations. This will include acting as spokesperson with media, sector and advocacy partners, governmental stakeholders, donors, and others – ideally operating as an influencer with stakeholders in both commercial and advocacy forums.

 

Internally, the CEO will build upon existing strengths, including committed, mission-oriented talent and deep technical expertise and recent investments in infrastructure, the workforce and systems. This leader will optimize leveraging these existing strengths, utilizing a creative, entrepreneurial approach and ensuring a forward-looking structural and talent strategy that reflects its customer and constituent base, while bringing expertise that serves their ever-evolving needs.

ABOUT YOU:

Consumer Reports’ next Chief Executive Officer will be a proven, senior, entrepreneurial leader with a track record of change-oriented strategic vision setting and organizational leadership. This experience can be gained through a number of avenues; the specific environment and subject matter expertise is less critical than the strategic vision setting and organizational leadership expertise. Specifically, the ideal candidate will exhibit strengths in some combination of the following dimensions:

 

Visionary Leadership: expertise setting, articulating and leading an inspiring, forward-looking, redefining vision for the organization. Reputation as a strategic thinker, with the ability to confront current challenges and those that will emerge over the next decade; openness to innovative ideas, transparency in decision making, and collaboration with a broad array of internal and external stakeholders.

 

Organizational Leadership: deep organizational leadership experience, whether as a CEO, divisional leader, or in other significant “at-scale” organizational and people leadership roles. This will include an understanding of setting clear objectives, managing expectations, and enabling success via coaching, mentorship and a high bar for performance. Ideally, this experience would have come in a dynamic, evolving setting with a diverse, multigenerational workforce.

 

Commercial Orientation: outstanding business acumen, with a grasp of financial concepts and understanding of financial statements, along with a track record of growing business performance, measured by revenue and profitability. This will include a track record of enhancing existing revenue streams, as well as identifying new lines of business.

 

Change Management: track record and credible understanding of designing and navigating a change agenda, including the associated practical strategic, operational and personnel implications. A tolerance for ambiguity and resilience to work through challenges is important, as is a demonstrated willingness to examine past practices and recalibrate if necessary – all while moving prudently, but with urgency.

 

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: deep commitment and accountability to DEI know-how, drawing out varied perspectives through inclusive leadership, and building and leading diverse teams to drive a culture of innovation and best-in-class thought leadership that adds value to CR’s impact in an increasingly diverse marketplace. Inclination to serve as a role model for not only understanding the business value of DEI for the success of the organization but also nurturing an inclusive culture where new ideas and innovation are welcome and all talent can thrive to their full potential.

 

Judgment & Emotional Intelligence: powerful sense of personal and professional integrity and ethics, along with critical thinking skills and the ability to make clear and timely decisions and to set limits even in the face of resistance. They should be a capable listener, and a confident and selfless leader with the ability to build consensus and create networks and teams to accomplish objectives – doing so in line with CR’s culture and values.

 

Mission Alignment: the capacity and commitment to exemplify Consumer Report’s mission to create a fair and just marketplace for all, along with abundant excitement for activating the enterprise’s component pieces to drive and expand impact.

 

In terms of the performance and personal competencies required for the position, we would highlight the following:

Setting Strategy

• The ability to create and articulate an inspiring vision for the organization, recognizing the importance of centering diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the business strategy.
• The inclination to seek and analyze data from a variety of sources to support decisions and to align others with the organization's overall strategy.
•  An entrepreneurial and creative approach to developing new, innovative ideas that will stretch the organization and push the boundaries within the industry.
• The ability to effectively balance the desire/need for broad change with an understanding of how much change the organization is capable of handling, to create realistic goals and implementation plans that are achievable and successful.

Executing for Results

• The ability to set clear and challenging goals while committing the organization to improved performance; tenacious and accountable in driving results, ideally doing so in an organization with a rich history and legacy, and broad set of services and activities.
• Comfort with ambiguity and uncertainty; the ability to adapt nimbly and lead others through complex situations.
• Calculated innovation and risk-taking who seeks data and input from others to foresee possible threats or unintended circumstances from decisions; someone who takes smart risks.
• Viewed by others as having a high degree of integrity and forethought in their approach to making decisions; the ability to act in a transparent and consistent manner while always taking into account what is best for the organization.

Leading Teams

• The ability to attract, recruit and retain top talent, motivate the team, delegate effectively, prioritize diversity within the team, and manage performance; widely viewed as a strong developer of others.
• The ability to adapt their leadership style recognizing the different motivations and contexts in which the organization operates, particularly across diverse communities.
• The ability to persevere in the face of challenges, setbacks and crises, and exhibit a steadfast resolve and relentless commitment to higher standards, which commands respect from followers.
• Self-reflection and awareness of their own limitations; leads by example and drives the organization's performance with an attitude of continuous improvement by being open to feedback and self-improvement through curiosity, humility, collaboration and authenticity.

Relationships and Influence

• The savviness to naturally connect, cultivate and build strong relationships with a wide array of diverse constituents, demonstrating strong emotional intelligence and an ability to communicate clearly and persuasively.
• An ability to inspire trust and followership in others through compelling influence, powerful charisma, passion in their beliefs, and active drive.
• Encouragement of others to share the spotlight and visibly celebrates and supports the success of the team.
• Experience creating a sense of purpose/meaning for the team that generates followership beyond their own personality and engages others to the greater purpose for the organization as a whole.
• Accessibility, including the inclination to help others feel comfortable and at ease, enable everyone to connect, communicate and collaborate without fear.

WHO WE ARE:Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to a fair and just marketplace for consumers. Our team is made up of truth tellers, change agents, and consumer advocates who investigate and build coalitions to fight for fairness and justice in the marketplace. We leverage our evidence-based approach to demand safer products, a healthier environment, and equitable services for everyone. Our mission starts with you. We offer medical benefits from that start on your first day as a CR employee that include behavioral health coverage and unlimited sick days. There’s also generous family planning benefits and a generous 401K match. Learn more about how CR’s advocates for strong benefits on behalf of their employees here: https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/careers/landing-page/index.htm FAIR PAY & A JUST WORKPLACE:Consumer Reports is committed to fair, transparent pay and strives to provide competitive, market-informed compensation. The target salary for this position is $800,000 and a range of competitive benefits are offered. Compensation for the successful candidate will be informed by the candidate’s particular combination of knowledge, skills, competencies, and experience. Consumer Reports proudly seeks to build a richly diverse workforce by hiring people with a diversity of thoughts, identities, perspectives, and experiences that help advance the difference we make for consumers, and by ensuring our people experience equity and inclusion in their work lives. We encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, LGBTQIA people, people of color, and people with disabilities.