UK

United Kingdom · Corporate strategy · Director/VP (16-20 years)

Director, Market Intelligence & Strategy

Here is the whole job, in plain words. What it is, what you decide, how you're judged, how people get here and where they go next. Then the part no course gives you: twelve AI tutors who learn your work.

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  • Experience bandDirector/VP (16-20 years)
  • Direct reports3-8 reports
  • Reports toVP, Corporate Strategy
  • UK framework levelUsually a director, accountable for a division and its numbers

Also advertised as Head of Market Insights · VP, Competitive Intelligence · Strategy Director, Market Dynamics

Built on 43,079 real UK job descriptions we analysed · grounded in qualifications employers recognise

Two short quizzes about you

1From this job to a course

The qualifications matched to this job

OTHM Level 7 Diploma in Data Science OTHM Qualifications · Level 7 · covers 3 of 6 standards
NCC Education Level 5 Extended Diploma in Computing with Data Science NCC Education Limited · Level 5 · covers 2 of 6 standards
Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Computing for England Pearson Education Ltd · Level 5 · covers 2 of 6 standards
Level 6 Award in Data-led Decision Making Institute of Sales Professionals · Level 6 · covers 1 of 6 standards
Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Digital Technologies Pearson Education Ltd · Level 5 · covers 1 of 6 standards

Matched from the standards this job is measured against: a suggestion, not an official ruling.

The units you would start with

Data Analysis and Visualisation OTHM Level 7 Diploma in Data Science
Introduction to Data Science and Big Data NCC Education Level 5 Extended Diploma in Computing with Data Science
Data Analytics Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Computing for England
Data-led Decision Making Level 6 Award in Data-led Decision Making
Apply the Concepts of Data Science to Computer Engineering NOCN Level 5 Diploma in Computer Engineering (Information Technology and Data Science)

The future skills this job leans on

AI Fluency working with AI as a thinking partner
Data Fluency turning numbers into a decision
AI Governance Fluency using AI responsibly
Automation Fluency building AI into how work runs
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Your Plan Illustration

Built for Director, Market Intelligence & Strategy

5 units that map to this job, from the qualifications that cover it.

  1. Data Analysis and Visualisation OTHM Qualifications · covers 3 of 6 standards Level 7
  2. Introduction to Data Science and Big Data NCC Education Limited · covers 2 of 6 standards Level 5
  3. Data Analytics Pearson Education Ltd · covers 2 of 6 standards Level 5
  4. Data-led Decision Making Institute of Sales Professionals · covers 1 of 6 standards Level 6
  5. Apply the Concepts of Data Science to Computer Engineering NOCN · covers 1 of 6 standards Level 5
These are the real units behind this job, in the order they rank for it. Nothing here is marked done, because this plan has not been started by anyone yet. Yours would fill in as you go.

2AI and this work

Will AI change your work as a Director, Market Intelligence & Strategy?

Nobody can say exactly how. Here is what this job is being asked for next, and where to start.

The new skill this role is being asked for

  • AI-Powered Strategic Synthesis
Why each one is rising

The future skills this job leans on

We'll only ever tell you what we can actually back up. No hype, no scare tactics.

What happens when you start

Next, a free account. We build your Director, Market Intelligence & Strategy plan as you set up, starting with a Future Fluency module on using AI in your job. No card.

Your first Future Fluency module is free. After that, your AI tutor is £70 a month.

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3What this role really is

A Director of Market Intelligence and Strategy studies markets, trends and competitors to guide business decisions.

4What you'd actually use

The tools this job runs on, and how well you'd need to know each one.

AlphaSense / Factiva (Market & News Aggregation) Strategic

You'll manage the vendor relationship and budget for these platforms, defining the enterprise-wide taxonomy and alert strategy. You'll also oversee the integration of platform data with other internal systems via API, ensuring seamless data flow for your team.

Crayon / Kompyte (Competitive Intelligence Platform) Strategic

You'll own the decision for the primary CI platform, define the competitive landscape for the entire business, and present platform-derived insights to the executive team. You ensure the platform is delivering maximum strategic value.

Tableau / Power BI (Data Visualisation) Strategic

You'll govern the MI team's analytics environment, setting standards for data visualisation and ensuring consistency. You'll also be presenting and defending complex dashboards in executive and board meetings, translating visuals into strategic takeaways.

Python (pandas, BeautifulSoup, scikit-learn) Architect

You'll set the technical direction for the team's analytical capabilities, scoping and overseeing complex data projects. This includes evaluating new libraries and frameworks, ensuring our Python capabilities remain cutting-edge for data scraping, NLP, and advanced analytics.

Qualtrics / SurveyMonkey (Primary Research) Strategic

You'll own the primary research budget and roadmap, translating key business questions into research objectives. You'll vet and hire external research firms, ensuring we get the best proprietary data to inform our strategy.

Confluence / Notion (Knowledge Management) Strategic

You'll define the entire company's knowledge management strategy for market intelligence, ensuring insights are discoverable, integrated into strategic planning, and easily accessible across the organisation. You'll champion its adoption.

Diligent Boards / Nasdaq Boardvantage (Board Reporting) Strategic

You'll regularly prepare and upload MI-related materials for board meetings, understanding the security and workflow protocols of board portal software. You'll also be expected to answer board member questions via the platform or in person.

5What you get to decide, and how that grows

Power in a job isn't your title. It's what you're allowed to decide. Here's how it grows as you move up.

The choiceComing in Where you are nowThe step above
Market Entry Recommendation N/A N/A Lead Strategist drafts initial analysis and recommendations, consults with Director for refinement.
Market Intelligence Tool Selection & Budget N/A N/A Lead Strategist researches potential tools and provides a comparative analysis to the Director.
Team Hiring & Performance Management N/A N/A Lead Strategist participates in interviews for junior roles, provides performance feedback on mentees.
Response to Major Competitive Threat N/A N/A Lead Strategist rapidly gathers intelligence on the threat, drafts an initial impact assessment.

6How you'll be judged

The scoreboard, and what is not on it. The hard targets, how often each is actually looked at, and the quiet signals that never reach a dashboard.

Strategic Plan Alignment
Percentage of key initiatives within the 3-year strategic plan that directly use or were informed by intelligence provided by your team.
Target · >75% of major strategic initiatives

In 2024, 8 out of 10 major strategic initiatives (e.g., entering a new market, launching a new product line) had significant input from your team's market intelligence, hitting our target.

M&A Pipeline Contribution
Number of M&A targets identified or critically evaluated by your team that progress to due diligence or acquisition, and the number of 'bad fit' acquisitions prevented.
Target · Identify 3+ viable targets annually; prevent 1 'bad fit' acquisition (saving >£50M)

Your team identified three potential acquisition targets in Q2, two of which moved to due diligence. Your analysis also flagged critical market saturation risks for another potential target, leading to its deprioritisation and preventing a potential £75M loss.

Competitive Win Rate Improvement
Measurable increase in competitive win rates in targeted segments where your team's battlecards and competitive insights were actively deployed and adopted by sales.
Target · Contribute to a 5% increase in win rate in key competitive segments

After deploying new competitive battlecards and training based on your team's analysis, the win rate against Competitor X in the Enterprise segment improved from 40% to 46% over two quarters.

Executive Insight Adoption Rate
Frequency with which C-suite and Business Unit VPs reference or explicitly use your team's insights in their strategic presentations, internal communications, and decision-making processes.
Target · Regular (weekly/bi-weekly) reference by key executives

The CEO directly cited your team's 'Market Shift Report' in her Q3 board presentation, and the Head of Product referred to your competitor teardown analysis in three separate leadership meetings last month.

Strategic Partner Credibility
Your standing as a trusted, indispensable strategic partner to business unit leaders and the C-suite, not just a data provider.
  • You're proactively invited to all major strategic planning sessions. VPs and GMs seek your opinion before making significant market-facing decisions. You're seen as a peer who brings a critical external perspective, not just a service provider. They'll call you directly for advice, not just for a report.
Team Leadership & Development
Your ability to build, mentor, and inspire a high-performing market intelligence team, fostering a culture of rigorous analysis and strategic thinking.
  • Your team members are actively developing and taking on more complex projects. You're seen as a fair and supportive manager. Retention within your team is strong. You're regularly coaching your Lead Strategists on how to present to senior leaders and handle difficult questions. They're growing, and that's down to your leadership.
Proactive Threat & Opportunity Identification
The extent to which your team consistently identifies and flags emerging market threats or opportunities *before* they become widely apparent to the business.
  • You present a compelling case for a new market entry six months before competitors even start talking about it. You warn the executive team about a regulatory shift or disruptive technology well in advance, giving us time to prepare. Your insights lead to preventative actions, not just reactive ones. You're not just reporting the news
  • you're predicting it.

7Would you like it

Both sides. What people enjoy, and what grinds them down.

What people enjoy
Strategic Impact & Influence

You'll thrive on seeing your team's insights directly shape multi-million pound decisions, from M&A targets to new product launches. You love being in the room where big decisions are made and knowing your work is a critical input.

Your team's analysis on a new market opportunity leads to a £20M investment decision, and you're part of the core steering committee for that initiative.

Solving Complex Business Puzzles

You enjoy the challenge of taking fragmented, ambiguous market data and turning it into a clear, actionable picture. The messier the problem, the more engaged you are in finding the 'signal in the noise'.

You're tasked with figuring out why a competitor is suddenly gaining market share in a niche segment, with very little public data, and you enjoy piecing together the clues.

Building & Mentoring a High-Performing Team

You get a real kick out of developing your team, seeing them grow into strategic thinkers, and empowering them to deliver high-quality, impactful intelligence. Their success is your success.

One of your Lead Strategists successfully presents a complex market entry strategy to the C-suite, and you feel immense pride in their development.

What frustrates people
  • The 'Urgent' C-Suite Fire Drill: Your team's carefully planned quarterly project is instantly derailed by a CEO's 'quick question' about a competitor they read about on a flight.
  • Being the 'Department of Bad News': Presenting a well-researched, bearish forecast on a pet project and being perceived as negative or 'not a team player'.
  • Sales Ignoring Your Work: Spending weeks creating perfect sales battlecards, only to find out months later that the sales team finds them 'too academic' and never uses them.
  • The £50K Report Problem: Knowing the exact data you need to answer a critical question is locked behind a paywall of a single, ridiculously expensive industry report.
  • Stakeholder Amnesia: A key stakeholder vehemently agrees with your recommendation in a meeting, then claims they 'always had concerns' three months later when execution proves difficult.
  • The 'News Clipping' Perception: Fighting to be seen as a strategic function that provides insight, while some leaders still treat you like a service that just forwards interesting articles.
What this role does not give you
  • A predictable, routine work schedule – expect urgent requests and shifting priorities.
  • Guaranteed implementation of every insight – some great work will end up on the shelf.
  • A quiet, solitary analytical role – you'll be constantly interacting, influencing, and presenting.
  • An environment where all data is clean, complete, and readily available – you'll often work with messy, incomplete information.

8Who you work with

This role directly influences multi-year strategic planning, M&A decisions, and the prioritisation of major product initiatives across entire business units. Your team's work provides the critical external lens that ensures our internal strategies are grounded in market reality, helping us avoid costly mistakes and capitalise on emerging opportunities. Frankly, without this function, we'd be flying blind on some of our biggest bets.

Inside the business
  • VP, Corporate Strategy (your direct manager)
  • Business Unit GMs and VPs (e.g., Product, Sales, Marketing)
  • C-Suite (CEO, CFO, CPO, CRO)
  • Head of M&A and Corporate Development
  • Investor Relations team
Outside the business
  • Industry analysts (Gartner, Forrester, IDC)
  • Market research vendors and consultants
  • Key strategic partners
  • Board of Directors (occasionally, for specific presentations)

9What you need before you start

Not a wish list. The things you would be expected to already have.

  • A proven track record of 10+ years in market intelligence, competitive intelligence, or a related strategic analysis role, with at least 5 years in a leadership capacity.
  • Demonstrable experience leading and developing a team of analysts or strategists, with a focus on impact and career growth.
  • Extensive experience presenting complex strategic insights to C-suite executives and senior leadership, with a clear ability to influence decisions.
  • Deep expertise in at least two of the following: TAM/SAM/SOM modelling, Win/Loss programme design, Scenario Planning, or large-scale Primary Research.
  • Strong technical proficiency in data visualisation tools (Tableau/Power BI) and at least one scripting language (e.g., Python) for data manipulation and analysis.
  • A robust understanding of our core industry sector (e.g., SaaS, FinTech, Healthcare Tech), including its key players, trends, and competitive dynamics.

10What to practise next

Where the job is going, and what to do about it starting this week.

Advanced Data Science for Unstructured Data

A huge amount of valuable market intelligence lives in unstructured formats – social media, news articles, customer reviews, patent filings. Extracting insights from these requires more than basic text analysis; it needs advanced NLP and machine learning techniques.

Deep Learning for NLP (e.g., Transformers) · Knowledge Graph Construction · Anomaly Detection in Market Signals · Ethical AI & Data Governance

  • This quarter: Sponsor a Lead Strategist to attend an advanced NLP workshop or online course.
  • Next quarter: Commission a small proof-of-concept project using deep learning for a specific unstructured data challenge (e.g., competitor social media sentiment).
  • Month 6: Work with your team to define a clear data governance framework for AI-driven intelligence.
  • Month 9: Evaluate new external data sources that leverage advanced unstructured data analysis and assess their strategic value.

Quick win: Encourage your team to experiment with open-source NLP libraries in Python (like spaCy or Hugging Face Transformers) on small datasets to understand their capabilities and limitations.

11Staying current once you are in

What people here do to keep up
  • Regularly attending industry conferences and thought leadership events (e.g., SCIP International Conference, Gartner Symposium) to stay abreast of market trends and network with peers.
  • Subscribing to and actively engaging with leading industry analyst reports (e.g., Gartner, Forrester, IDC) to deepen sector-specific knowledge.
  • Participating in executive education programmes focused on corporate strategy, M&A, or digital transformation.
  • Mentoring junior talent both within and outside your direct team, fostering leadership skills and contributing to the wider professional community.
  • Publishing thought leadership articles or presenting at industry events, positioning yourself and the company as a leader in market intelligence.

12The rising capability

The rising capability

Zavmo analysis

What's rising in its place

This is where the work is heading, and the higher pay with it. Get fluent here and the shift stops being a threat and starts being your edge.

AI-Powered Strategic Synthesis

AI isn't just for automating tasks anymore; it's becoming a powerful tool for synthesising vast, disparate datasets into coherent strategic narratives. Competitors are already using advanced AI to spot trends and generate insights far faster than traditional methods.

  • Multi-modal AI for market scanning
  • Generative AI for hypothesis generation
  • AI for bias detection in market data
  • Automated 'War Gaming' simulations

13What you’ll use

What you’ll use

Skills this role draws on

Technical

  • TAM/SAM/SOM Analysis
  • Win/Loss Analysis Programme Design
  • Porter's Five Forces / Value Chain Analysis
  • Scenario Planning & War Gaming
  • Primary Research Design & Execution
  • Competitive Benchmarking

14The pathway

The pathway

How you actually get there, here

How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.

  1. 1

    Lead Market Intelligence Strategist (L4) at Zavmo

    3-5 years

    Skills to master

    • Deep expertise in designing and building intelligence programmes, leading complex workstreams, and influencing senior stakeholders within a specific business line. You'd be the architect of our systems and the go-to expert for a major area.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Proven ability to lead significant, multi-quarter intelligence projects from conception to executive presentation.
    • Demonstrated success in mentoring 2-3 junior analysts and contributing to their professional growth.
    • Consistently sought out by VPs and GMs for your strategic insights on specific market challenges.
    • Strong track record of influencing decisions without direct authority, using data and compelling narratives.
  2. 2

    Manager, Market & Competitive Intelligence (L5) at a larger firm

    2-4 years

    Skills to master

    • Experience managing a team (5-10 people), setting functional priorities, owning a budget, and being accountable for the overall quality and impact of a market intelligence function. You'd already be directing the function and managing people.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Direct experience managing a team of at least 5 individuals, including performance reviews and career development.
    • Proven ability to manage a significant departmental budget (e.g., £500K-£2M).
    • Track record of setting and achieving strategic objectives for an entire market intelligence function.
    • Experience presenting directly to C-suite or equivalent senior leadership on a regular basis.
  3. 3

    Senior Manager / Principal from a Top-Tier Management Consulting Firm

    Direct entry (0-1 year ramp-up)

    Skills to master

    • Extensive experience in strategic consulting, advising C-suite clients on market entry, competitive strategy, and M&A. Strong background in analytical rigour, structured problem-solving, and executive communication.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Managed multiple client engagements focused on market strategy, competitive analysis, or growth.
    • Directly advised C-suite clients and led project teams of 5+ consultants.
    • Exceptional ability to synthesise complex information and present clear, actionable recommendations.
    • Comfortable with high-pressure, high-stakes strategic decision-making.

15Where this role leads

The long view: This work can lead to a Chief Strategy Officer role, a General Manager position running a business unit, or a move into venture capital or private equity.

The ten Future Fluencies

Zavmo analysis

The credential is what you can do today. These are what keep you valuable.

A qualification proves you can do the job as it's defined today. These ten are what decide whether you're still the obvious person for it in five years. They're the capabilities employers are now writing into senior roles faster than people are learning them. Zavmo weaves them through whatever you study, so you come out with both: the credential and the fluency.

The highlighted ones are the Fluencies your role leans on hardest, from how Director, Market Intelligence & Strategy is actually changing.

Where it leads

Roles this leads to

How you would learn this

One to one, on the work you already do

A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.

A lesson from Data Analysis and Visualisation, worked against Director, Market Intelligence & Strategy.

Data Analysis and Visualisation Level 7

Applied to your work in Director, Market Intelligence & Strategy

1. To enable the learner to critically analyse the theoretical underpinnings of data analytics and their impact on decision-making in business management contexts. 2. To enable the learner to assess diverse data analysis activities, techniques, and tools applicable to business management scenarios. 3. To enable the learner to compare and contrast various predictive analytic techniques, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses in forecasting future business events. 4. To enable the learner to evaluate how predictive analytic techniques can be practically implemented for forecasting purposes within the business sector. 5. To enable the learner to evaluate prescriptive analytic techniques, illustrating their application with relevant examples from the business management domain. 6. To enable the learner to apply a suitable programming language or data analysis tool to conduct data analysis and visualisation tasks related to business management problems.

How the thinking builds
  1. 1 Remember
  2. 2 Understand
  3. 3 Apply
  4. 4 Analyse
  5. 5 Evaluate
  6. 6 Create
An illustration of a Zavmo lesson, built from this role’s own route. The unit, its objective and every criterion above are the awarding body’s own words, not an example.

It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time.

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See Your Progress Grow Illustration
Director, Market Intelligence & Strategy
  • TAM/SAM/SOM Analysis
  • Win/Loss Analysis Programme Design
  • Porter's Five Forces / Value Chain Analysis
  • Scenario Planning & War Gaming
  • Primary Research Design & Execution
  • Competitive Benchmarking
This is your Mind Palace on learn.zavmo.ai. Every skill above comes from this role's own record, not an example borrowed from another job. A node lights up when you evidence it, and what you build stays yours between jobs. That is the part a course cannot do.

16The detail, folded away

Everything else the record holds

The career branches in full, how AI is already showing up in the day-to-day, and the questions people ask about this job. Here when you want them, out of the way while you decide.

Where it leads next, rung by rung

Where it leads

The career path, and where it branches

Director, Market Intelligence & Strategy is a start, not a ceiling. Each step below asks for new skills and hands back more autonomy.

  1. VP, Corporate Strategy & Intelligence (L7)

    3-5 years

    1 level

    • Portfolio Strategy Managing the strategic direction of multiple business units or product lines.
    • Large-scale M&A Strategy Leading the strategic rationale and integration planning for major acquisitions (£100M+).
    • Global Market Expansion Defining and executing strategies for entering and succeeding in new international markets.
    • Crisis & Reputation Management Leveraging intelligence to navigate and respond to major market or competitive crises.
Working with AI on the job

Working with AI

Where AI is starting to help

Let's be real, the volume of market data is overwhelming. Your job isn't to drown in it; it's to find the gold. AI isn't here to replace your strategic brain, but it can certainly take the grunt work off your team's plate, freeing them up for deeper analysis and higher-impact work. Imagine what your team could achieve if they spent less time sifting and more time strategising.

For a Director of Market Intelligence, AI means scaling your team's capabilities without necessarily scaling headcount. It's about getting to insights faster, validating hypotheses more rapidly, and presenting compelling narratives with less manual effort. You'll be able to ask bigger questions and get answers quicker, allowing your team to truly act as a strategic force within the business.

Earnings Call Autopilot

Imagine using AI to transcribe and summarise competitor earnings calls in real-time. It automatically extracts key themes, management sentiment, and direct quotes related to our business, creating a draft summary within minutes of the call ending. Your team then just verifies and adds strategic context, rather than spending hours listening and note-taking.

Insight Accelerator

Feed thousands of customer reviews, forum posts, and survey verbatims into an AI model. It'll perform topic modelling and sentiment analysis, instantly identifying emerging product gaps, points of dissatisfaction, or new market trends that would take weeks for a human analyst to find manually. This means your team can spot a crucial signal much faster.

Competitor Profile Drafter

Use a generative AI assistant to create a 'Version 0.1' draft of a new competitor profile. Prompt it to scour the web for company history, funding, key products, and executive bios. This provides a structured starting point for your team to verify, deepen, and add their strategic analysis, cutting down initial research time significantly.

Executive Summary Shaper

After your team completes a detailed 20-page market report, use AI to generate three different executive summaries: a one-paragraph version for the CEO, a three-bullet-point version for Slack, and a one-page version for the sales leadership team. This ensures the core message is tailored to each audience, saving precious time and ensuring maximum impact.

Common questions

Common questions

How do you become a Director, Market Intelligence & Strategy?

Common routes in include Lead Market Intelligence Strategist at Zavmo (3-5 years), Manager, Market & Competitive Intelligence at a larger firm (2-4 years) and Senior Manager / Principal from a Top-Tier Management Consulting Firm (Direct entry (0-1 year ramp-up)). Times vary with prior experience.

Where can a Director, Market Intelligence & Strategy progress to?

This role can lead on to VP, Corporate Strategy & Intelligence (3-5 years), depending on the skills you build.

What new skills matter most for a Director, Market Intelligence & Strategy?

Increasingly, AI-Powered Strategic Synthesis. These are the skills our record of this role lists as growing.

Free tools

Want a read on where you stand?

Three free tools, no account needed. Each one ends with a role, a level and a way in.

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17Where to go from here

Other roles at Level 7

Same depth of qualification, different job. Useful if the work appeals but this particular role does not.

 More jobs in corporate strategy

Stay in the field you know and move sideways rather than up.
If you leave this industry

Skills in market analysis, strategic planning and advising senior leaders carry across high-growth technology sectors such as FinTech, HealthTech, EdTech and SaaS. The industries change, but the ability to read a market and shape strategy stays useful.

This role profile is © 2026 Growth Engineering Technologies Ltd. Built from UK occupational standards and regulated qualification data, and written for Zavmo.

You're not behind. You're right on time. The shift is only just beginning. Your role won't look the same in two years. Be the one who leads the change, not the one it happens to. Start my plan, free What happens next: a free account, then we build your plan as you set up. No card. Build your plan, see your roadmap and meet the twelve tutors matched to you. All free. When you're ready to start learning, it's £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.