Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization: 

The Senior Director Market Intelligence, Consumer Insights & Strategy Planning is responsible for leading and integrating the Data management & reporting, Consumer insights as well as the Strategy planning functions. The overall purpose of this team is to enable business growth and market share gains for their business stakeholders. This happens firstly, through managing (external) data providers and enabling & delivering optimized and action oriented data reporting. Secondly, the expectation is to work with business stakeholders, enabling ‘insights to action’. Key focus are the European Business functions (Business Units & Channels) as well as European Cluster & Country teams, with whom the team is expected to collaborate through information sharing, helping to answer business question and by formulating thought and action provoking, data driven hypothesis on development opportunities. Thirdly, the team is expected to integrate external as well as internal data & insights to shape strategic plans, enable decision making & choices and oversees the development and execution of strategic plans for both Global Sales and Market Europe.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership:

• Define and drive the strategic direction for data management, market intelligence, consumer insights & strategic planning initiatives, ensuring that all pillars lead to actual business impact and improved decision making
• Collaborate with senior stakeholders & senior leadership to align strategies with business objectives and market needs.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous improvement.

Data Management and Reporting:

• Manage external data providers to receive comprehensive data ensuring quality, integrity, and governance across all data sources.
• Develop and enhance reporting systems and dashboards to provide timely and accurate insights
• Oversee the integration of data from various sources to easy to use reports, enabling market strategies, business performance and decision making.

Consumer Insights (Key focus Europe Cluster & Zones):

• Drive a cultural shift towards consumer & market share obsession through compelling storytelling based on quantitative and qualitative insights

• Drive a cultural shift towards consumer-centric and date driven decision-making through actionable insights delivered to the business, including recommendations to European Management Teams based on market analysis and trends
• Leverage consumer and marketplace trends to inform the Market Europe Strategic Plan and input into Global HQ, identify new growth opportunities, strategic initiatives and focus areas.
• Aid understanding of consumer learning through identifying and sharing best practices from other markets, global consumer insights, agency partners and other industries.
• Drive strong collaboration with Business Units, Cluster/ Country Teams, Business Development network and other key stakeholders to understand key challenges and business dynamics.
• Support the Consumer Insights & Market Intelligence network, acting as focal point for European Clusters/ Countries, global functions and other key support functions to ensure identification of strategic initiatives and focus areas.

Strategic Planning:

• Drive the development and execution of the Market Europe Strategic Plan and priorities.
• Manage key strategic cross-functional projects and initiatives to drive business development.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to ensure alignment and execution of strategic priorities.

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Partner with leaders across functions (e.g., Business Development, Brand Strategy, Data Analytics) to source data and business insights.
• Establish business partnering relationship with key business stakeholders to enable collaboration around data insights and data driven decision making
• Ensure consistent and clear messaging around key insights and opportunities to key stakeholders

Key Relationships:

• Market: Business Development Europe and Clusters/Countries, Consumer Insights & Market Intelligence, Heads of Brands, Channels, Clusters/Countries, Finance, SCM, IT, HR.
• Global: Corporate Strategy, Global Sales/Global Business Development, Global Brand/Global Brand Strategy, all global support functions (OPS, Finance, HR, IT).
• Others: External Partners/Agencies.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Experience in leadership, building teams and creating and executing (team visions)
• Business Background, ideally in Brand or Channel function, at global and market level.
• Deep understanding of European Market background, market structures, etc. and ideally experience having worked in Europe.
• Demonstrated knowledge of business KPIs and ability to work with numbers, showcasing diligence & attention to detail
• Strong understanding of Business Analytics and ideally research methods
• Excellent problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
• Proven experience in developing and executing strategic plans based on market conditions.
• Strong proof record in translating strategic priorities into operational plans.
• High attention to detail and commitment to data quality and integrity.
• Strong analytical skills and experience with data manipulation and reporting tools (e.g., MicroStrategy, Tableau).
• Strong collaboration skills with the ability to create effective, deep and successful working relationships across all levels of the organization
• Ability to influence and communicate effectively across all levels of the organization.
• Fluent in English; additional language skills are a plus.