Director – Retail Insights

Job Description

At NIQ, we deliver the most complete and clear understanding of consumer buying behavior that reveals new pathways to growth. We are looking for a Director to own and lead our commercial and service relationship with a key client. This role involves developing strategic plans, driving data-driven merchandising strategies, and leveraging complex analytics to generate incremental sales and profits for clients, through our NIQ suite of products and solutions. 

In this role, you will be the primary trusted partner for client executives, delivering key insights through the ‘Full View’ of the NIQ solution suite and expertise to bear on their most important growth questions. You have rich retail knowledge and can confidently speak to industry issues and consumer trends. You have direct experience harnessing insights from retail POS transaction data, customer loyalty analytics and Retail collaboration programs to drive positive commercial outcomes for our client. You can derive actionable insights from data and are excited to coach members of the account team to develop highly engaging stories and actionable recommendations for our client. You are comfortable utilizing data and analytics and view them as a key component of confident decision-making.  This role involves establishing and deepening client relationships, developing strategic plans to embed NIQ’s solutions into the client’s decision-making processes, driving insights-driven strategies, and leveraging the team and broader NIQ organization to drive value and change for our client. 

Key Responsibilities: 

Strategic Planning and Execution:

• Develop comprehensive joint business plans with client executives and internal NIQ leadership  
• Create phased roadmaps of key activities, deliverables, and results
• Lead the implementation and execution of analytical recommendations within client insights and merchandising teams

Client Relationship Management: 

• Act as the primary client services lead with client stakeholders
• Establish and manage strategic as well as day to day insights deliverables Merchandising, Insights, and other client teams
• Help the client understand and proactively manage evolving customer and market dynamics by ensuring they receive proactive, relevant and high-quality thought leadership on a regular cadence

Analytics and Insights: 

• Coach and oversee the team’s delivery of high-quality insights and analysis that accurately and effectively solve client problems
• Ensure the client and the account team fully utilize NIQ’s products to drive value-added decisions , in part by managing usage reports 
• Oversee the immediate resolution of data discrepancies, operational issues and software availability issues with urgency

Project Management:

• Oversee multiple priorities, deadlines, and projects across the account team and contracted deliverables
• Execute the delivery of our solutions, ensuring timely outcomes and client satisfaction 
• Grow and develop with a team responsible for delivering against client commitments

Innovation and Development:

• Collaborate with internal NIQ experts to develop relevant and effective solutions to the client's growth needs by identifying opportunities to develop new capabilities and approaches
• Stay current with industry trends and educate clients on innovative merchandising and collaboration best practices
• Support thought leadership through internal learning, knowledge-sharing, and development

Team Leadership and Development:

• Be the Account Leader, leading all NIQ associates on the account team to make a positive impact for the client in every interaction. Coach team members to become extraordinary client partners  
• Set career paths and resource development structures to maintain and scale a highly engaged team, mentor and coach associates to align with the company's vision and strategy
• Drive extraordinary team engagement that maximizes associate performance and retention

Business Development:

• Play a supporting role in business development for new business at assigned client, partner with specialty sellers, and create leads
• Support the development of partnership deliverables, client engagement team, statements of work, and joint operation and engagement models for contract execution and delivery

Qualifications

• 10+ years of relevant experience in Retail, CPG, Merchandising, or Professional Service. Grocery Retail preferred 
• Bachelor or Advanced degrees 
• Have direct experience delivering insights and end to end story telling through POS transaction data and/or customer loyalty data 
• Proven experience developing and executing category strategies that generated revenue growth 
• Effective in executive-level communications, influencing and engagement  
• Experience leading teams and ability to coach others in data analysis  
• Experience with retail collaboration programs  
• Strong project management skills with demonstrated strength in meeting and resolving multiple client requests/issues at the same time to maintain positive client relationships in complex situations
• Highly proficient in Microsoft applications (Excel, PowerPoint)
• Strong sense of urgency and accountability to drive client outcomes
• Team leadership, cross-functional people management, training, and development experience required