Director – Strategic Account Management - Research Services

Position Summary...

About Walmart Data Ventures
Walmart Data Ventures is dedicated to unlocking the power of Walmart’s data to drive smarter business decisions for Walmart and our partners. Through Scintilla, we bring together data, insights, and research capabilities to help clients better understand their customers and make more informed decisions.

About the role:

Walmart Data Ventures is looking for an experienced consumer insights, people and business leader to join our growing Research Services organization. The Director will lead a significant area of the business, with accountability for people, client experience, research excellence, capacity, commercial performance, and sustainable growth.

This is a leadership role focused on setting direction, developing talent, shaping commercial strategy, and strengthening how the organization operates as we scale. The Director is expected to lead beyond the boundaries of their immediate remit, identifying broader opportunities and challenges and driving solutions that strengthen Research Services as a whole.

The Director will serve as a senior research and business partner across Scintilla, translating business priorities into action, building strong cross-functional partnerships and ensuring our people, capabilities and ways of working are positioned to meet evolving client and commercial needs across DIY, flexible support and bespoke full-service Research Services. While this role is not primarily focused on individual project delivery, the Director will remain close to the work and provide senior-level consultation and leadership on strategic, complex or high-risk engagements.

What you'll do...

• Lead a significant area of the Research Services business, setting direction and making thoughtful tradeoffs across client needs, commercial opportunity, team capacity, research quality and talent.
• Shape commercial strategy in partnership with commercial leaders across Sales and Account Management, identifying areas of greatest opportunity and translating them into clear priorities that drive sustainable growth, utilization and client value across Scintilla’s research capabilities.
• Lead, coach and develop a high-performing team of people leaders and researchers, creating clear accountability, strengthening leadership capability, managing performance, and building a strong pipeline of talent.
• Operate with an enterprise mindset, looking beyond the immediate area of responsibility to identify opportunities, risks and ways of working that can strengthen Research Services and Scintilla more broadly.
• Identify systemic challenges and proactively develop scalable solutions that improve how teams operate, collaborate and deliver, breaking down silos, and creating greater consistency and collective impact across the organization.
• Lead talent and workforce planning, anticipating future capability and capacity needs and proactively shaping hiring, succession and organizational plans to support business growth.
• Set and uphold a high bar for research excellence and client experience, serving as a senior research advisor on strategic, complex or high-risk engagements while empowering leaders and teams to own execution.
• Build strong partnerships across Account Management, Product, Strategy and other Scintilla teams, representing the Research Services perspective and helping shape how clients move across DIY, flexible and full-service research models based on their needs and complexity.
• Translate broader organizational and Scintilla priorities into clear direction for teams, creating alignment around what matters most and ensuring leaders understand both the “what” and the “why.”
• Develop a strong understanding of the broader client and business landscape, identifying emerging needs, patterns and opportunities and using those perspectives to inform commercial priorities, capabilities and investment decisions.
• Continuously assess how the organization should evolve as it scales, identifying opportunities to strengthen structure, capabilities, processes and ways of working across both self-service and expert-supported research.
• Champion a one-team culture across Research Services, connecting people and ideas across areas, sharing knowledge and making decisions that optimize for the broader organization rather than any single team or portfolio.

Who you are:

• You are an experienced consumer insights and business leader who can confidently move between research methodology, client needs, commercial strategy and organizational priorities.
• You are a strong people leader who builds high-performing teams by developing talent, setting clear expectations and accountability, and providing thoughtful coaching, feedback and opportunities for growth.
• You operate with an enterprise mindset, looking beyond your immediate responsibilities to identify opportunities and solve challenges that create value across the broader organization.
• You are commercially minded and can translate market, client and business needs into clear priorities, thoughtful investments and sustainable growth opportunities.
• You create clarity in ambiguous situations, anticipate what the business will need next and proactively mobilize people around solutions rather than waiting for challenges to become urgent.
• You build trusted relationships and influence effectively across functions, recognizing that the strongest outcomes come from breaking down silos and operating as one team.
• You are comfortable leading in a fast-growing, evolving environment where priorities can shift and leaders are expected to help shape how the organization works as it scales.

 Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
• 15+ years of consumer or market research experience, including significant experience in client-facing roles.
• 5+ years of people leadership experience, including experience leading managers and/or teams with multiple levels of responsibility.
• Demonstrated experience leading a significant business, client portfolio, research function or other complex area of responsibility.
• Deep expertise in quantitative and/or qualitative research, with the ability to provide senior-level guidance across research design, methodology, analysis, storytelling and client delivery.
• Experience with workforce planning, talent development, performance management, and building organizational capability.
• Strong track record of influencing cross-functional stakeholders and driving outcomes across organizational boundaries.
• Excellent bilingual (English and French) written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with both senior executives and technical or research audiences.

 

Leadership Expectations:

Respect the Individual:

Builds high-performing teams; seeks, and embraces differences in people, cultures, ideas and experiences; creates a workplace and experiences where all associates feel seen, supported and connected through culture of belonging so associates thrive and perform; drives a positive associate and customer experience for all.

Creates a discipline and focus around developing talent through feedback, coaching, mentoring, and developmental opportunities; builds the talent pipeline, fosters an environment allowing everyone to bring their best selves to work, empowers associates and partners to act in the best interest of the customer and company, and regularly recognizes others’ contributions and accomplishments; supports strategies and drives initiatives that attract and retain the best talent.

Builds strong and trusting relationships with team members and business partners; works collaboratively and cross-functionally to achieve objectives; and communicates and listens attentively, with energy and positivity to motivate, influence, and inspire commitment and action.

Acts with Integrity:

Maintains and promotes the highest standards of integrity, ethics and compliance; models the Walmart values and leads by example to foster our culture; supports Walmart’s goal of becoming a regenerative company by taking action to advance opportunity, sustainability, community, and integrity (e.g., creating fair opportunities for associates and suppliers, driving local giving efforts).

Ensures that teams follow the law, our code of conduct and company policies; promotes an environment where associates feel comfortable sharing concerns, and models our culture of non-retaliation; listens to concerns raised by associates and takes action, and enables others to do the same; holds self and teams accountable for achieving results in a way that is consistent with our values.

Acts as an altruistic servant leader and is consistently humble, self-aware.

Serve our Customers:

Delivers expected business results while putting the customer first and consistently applying an omni-merchant mindset and acting with an Every Day Low Cost mindset to drive value and Every Day Low Prices for customers.

Adopts a holistic perspective that considers data, analytics, customer insights, and different parts of the business when making plans and implementing strategies.

Strive for Excellence:

Consistently raises the bar and seeks to improve; demonstrates curiosity and a growth mindset; seeks feedback, asks thoughtful questions, and fosters an environment that supports learning, innovation, learning from mistakes, and intelligent risk-taking; and exhibits resilience in the face of setbacks.

Drives continuous improvements, supervises the adoption of new technology, and supports digital disruption in line with Walmart’s business model.

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Minimum Qualifications...

Outlined below are the required minimum qualifications for this position. If none are listed, there are no minimum qualifications.

Age – 16 or older

Preferred Qualifications...

Outlined below are the optional preferred qualifications for this position. If none are listed, there are no preferred qualifications.

Walmart will accommodate the disability-related needs of applicants and associates as required by law.

Primary Location…

1940 Argentia Rd, Mississauga, ON L5N 1P9, Canada

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