UK

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

Director, Strategic Insights

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.

Start my Director, Strategic Insights plan, free

Free to start: a plan built for this role, and a Future Fluency module to try first. No card.

Keep this job description

Where should we send it?

One email: what AI is changing in this job, and where to start free. With a link back here. Nothing else follows unless you confirm your address.

Upskilling a team in this role? Talk to us

  • 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 Strategic Planning & Analysis · VP of Corporate Strategy (Insights) · Strategic Intelligence Lead

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 3 standards
NCC Education Level 5 Extended Diploma in Computing with Data Science NCC Education Limited · Level 5 · covers 2 of 3 standards
Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Computing for England Pearson Education Ltd · Level 5 · covers 2 of 3 standards
Level 6 Award in Data-led Decision Making Institute of Sales Professionals · Level 6 · covers 1 of 3 standards
Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Digital Technologies Pearson Education Ltd · Level 5 · covers 1 of 3 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
Foresight Fluency seeing round the corner
Change Fluency taking people through change
Start my Director, Strategic Insights plan, free
Your Plan Illustration

Built for Director, Strategic Insights

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

  1. Data Analysis and Visualisation OTHM Qualifications · covers 3 of 3 standards Level 7
  2. Introduction to Data Science and Big Data NCC Education Limited · covers 2 of 3 standards Level 5
  3. Data Analytics Pearson Education Ltd · covers 2 of 3 standards Level 5
  4. Data-led Decision Making Institute of Sales Professionals · covers 1 of 3 standards Level 6
  5. Apply the Concepts of Data Science to Computer Engineering NOCN · covers 1 of 3 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, Strategic Insights?

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

The new skills this role is being asked for

  • AI-Driven Strategic Foresight
  • Digital Transformation & Ecosystem Strategy
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, Strategic Insights 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.

Start my Director, Strategic Insights plan, free Ready to pay? Subscribe for £70 a month

3What this role really is

This role involves shaping company strategy through data and analysis. You provide the reasoning behind the numbers, helping senior leaders make major decisions and avoid costly mistakes.

4What you'd actually use

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

Tableau / Power BI (Data Visualization) Strategic Oversight

Defining enterprise-wide KPIs, setting visualisation standards, selecting and managing platform licenses, reviewing high-level dashboards for strategic insights, guiding team on best practices.

SQL (PostgreSQL, T-SQL) Architectural Awareness

You won't write daily queries, but you'll need to understand data architecture, lineage, and governance to guide your team's access, challenge data quality, and understand query performance implications.

Python (pandas, scikit-learn) Methodological Governance

Critically reviewing and pressure-testing models built by your team, understanding the business implications of different modeling approaches, and guiding the selection of appropriate analytical techniques.

Snowflake / Google BigQuery Strategic Input

Providing input on data warehousing strategy, data governance policies, and integration with other enterprise systems. Understanding how data flows and is stored to ensure reliable insights.

Anaplan / Pigment (Strategic & Financial Planning) Process Ownership

Owning and architecting the strategic models within these platforms, connecting disparate business unit plans to the corporate financial targets, and ensuring data integrity across the planning process.

Miro / Aha! (Collaboration & Strategy) Process Ownership

Designing and leading the entire strategic planning and review process using these platforms as the central hub for market mapping, strategic roadmaps, and workshop facilitation.

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
Strategic Recommendation (e.g., M&A, new market entry) N/A - support data gathering only N/A - contribute specific analyses N/A - lead specific workstreams, recommend to Director
Team Hiring & Performance Management N/A N/A N/A - interview support, informal mentoring
Budget Allocation (e.g., external research, tools) N/A N/A N/A

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 Decision Adoption Rate
Percentage of strategic recommendations from your team that are formally adopted and acted upon by the C-suite or relevant business unit leadership.
Target · >75% adoption within 6 months of recommendation

Your team recommends divesting a non-core business unit. If the executive committee formally approves and initiates the process, that counts as adoption. If they ignore it, it doesn't.

Forecast Accuracy for Strategic Initiatives
The accuracy of your team's long-term market size and revenue forecasts for new strategic initiatives or M&A targets, compared to actual performance post-launch/acquisition.
Target · Within ±10% variance for 2-year projections

Your team forecasts a new market opportunity to generate £50M in revenue by year two. If it actually generates £47M, that's a 6% variance, which is within target.

M&A Deal Flow & Diligence Efficiency
The speed and quality of strategic insights provided during M&A diligence, measured by time to deliver key analyses and feedback from deal teams.
Target · 90% of diligence analyses delivered within agreed timelines; average 'quality' score of 4/5 from deal leads

For a £100M acquisition, your team delivers a comprehensive market sizing and synergy analysis in 3 weeks, enabling the deal team to hit their internal deadlines and receive positive feedback on the depth of insight.

Insights-Driven P&L Impact
Quantifiable revenue growth or cost savings directly attributable to strategic initiatives informed by your team's insights.
Target · Directly linked to >£5M in annual P&L impact (revenue growth or cost savings)

Your team's analysis identifies a new customer segment, leading to a targeted product launch that generates an additional £7M in annual recurring revenue. This is a direct impact.

Strategic Partner Credibility
How often you and your team are proactively sought out by senior leaders for input on critical strategic challenges, before formal requests are made.
  • Being invited to early-stage strategy discussions, VPs/GMs reaching out directly for informal advice, your team's insights being referenced in executive meetings without you present.
Team Development & Retention
The growth and engagement of your direct reports, ensuring they feel challenged, supported, and see a clear career path within your team.
  • Low voluntary attrition within your team (<10% annually), positive feedback in 360-degree reviews from direct reports, at least one direct report promoted annually, clear development plans in place for everyone.
Clarity of Strategic Narrative
The ability to distil complex analyses into simple, compelling, and consistent strategic narratives that resonate across different executive audiences.
  • C-suite consistently using your team's framing and language in their own communications, positive feedback on board presentations, ability to simplify complex topics for non-technical audiences.

7Would you like it

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

What people enjoy
Driving Strategic Impact

You'll be excited by the prospect of your team's analysis directly influencing multi-million pound investment decisions or shaping the company's market entry strategy. You thrive on seeing your work translate into tangible business outcomes.

Your team's market sizing work leads directly to the approval of a new product line, and you're tracking its success from day one.

Solving Complex, Ambiguous Problems

You love tackling big, hairy, ill-defined business questions where there's no obvious answer. You enjoy structuring chaos, building frameworks, and guiding your team through the analytical maze.

The CEO asks, 'Should we acquire Company X or build our own solution?' and you get to design the entire analytical approach to answer it.

Developing and Leading a High-Performing Team

You get a real kick out of mentoring and growing your team members, seeing them develop their skills, and empowering them to deliver exceptional insights. Your success is intrinsically linked to their success.

A junior analyst you've coached delivers a brilliant presentation to a VP, and you feel immense pride in their achievement.

What frustrates people
  • The Last-Minute 'Fire Drill': Expect a quarterly 'drop everything' request from the CEO or CFO for an urgent board or investor presentation, derailing your team's planned strategic work.
  • Data Scavenger Hunts: Your team will spend a lot of time finding, cleaning, and stitching together data from siloed, legacy systems before any value-added analysis can begin. You'll need to shield them from some of this, but you'll also be involved.
  • Political Pressure to Find a Specific Answer: You will occasionally be pressured by a business unit leader to produce analysis that supports their pre-existing conclusion. Navigating this requires significant political savvy and a strong spine.
  • Attribution Hell: You'll deliver brilliant insights that lead to major business wins, but you'll struggle to definitively prove your team's direct causal impact amidst a dozen other contributing factors.
  • Being the 'Bearer of Bad News': A core part of your job is to tell powerful people that their pet project is underperforming or their strategic thesis is flawed. This is often a thankless task, but it's essential.
  • The 'One More Data Point' Loop: Dealing with stakeholders who use requests for more analysis as a way to delay making a difficult decision.
What this role does not give you
  • Predictable, routine work – every day brings a new strategic puzzle.
  • A quiet, heads-down analytical role – you'll be in meetings, presenting, and coaching constantly.
  • Guaranteed implementation of every recommendation – some great ideas just don't get traction for various reasons.
  • A fully clean, perfectly organised data environment – you'll often have to work with what's available.

8Who you work with

This role directly drives the analytical foundation for the company's multi-year strategic plan, M&A activities, and major capital allocation decisions. Your insights will directly influence where the company invests its resources and how it positions itself in the market. You're essentially providing the compass for the entire business.

Inside the business
  • C-Suite (CEO, CFO, CPO, CRO)
  • Business Unit VPs and GMs
  • Product Leadership
  • Finance Leadership (FP&A, Treasury)
  • Investor Relations
Outside the business
  • Industry Analysts (Gartner, Forrester)
  • Consulting Partners
  • M&A Targets
  • Key Customers (for strategic interviews)

9What you need before you start

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

  • Proven track record of leading complex strategic analysis projects from end-to-end, with demonstrable impact on business outcomes.
  • Significant experience (at least 3-5 years) managing and developing a team of analysts or strategists.
  • Expert-level proficiency in at least one major data visualisation tool (Tableau/Power BI) and advanced proficiency in data querying (SQL).
  • Deep understanding of financial modelling and business case development, even if not building them daily.
  • Demonstrable ability to influence senior stakeholders and present complex information clearly and concisely to executive audiences.
  • Experience operating in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment, ideally within technology or a related high-growth sector.

10What to practise next

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

Advanced Data Governance & Ethics

With increasing data volumes and AI applications, the ethical and governance implications of our data practices are becoming paramount. You'll need to guide your team not just on 'what can we do,' but 'what should we do.'

Data lineage and auditability for strategic insigh · Bias detection and mitigation in analytical models · Data privacy regulations beyond GDPR (e.g., CCPA, · Ethical AI frameworks for strategic decision suppo · Responsible data sharing practices with partners

  • This quarter: Review our current data governance policies and identify areas of risk or improvement for strategic insights.
  • Next 6 months: Lead a workshop with legal and data teams to develop an 'ethical AI' checklist for strategic modelling.
  • Next 12 months: Implement enhanced data lineage tracking for all critical strategic datasets used by your team.
  • Ongoing: Participate in industry forums on data ethics and governance, bringing best practices back to the organisation.

Quick win: Ensure all new data sources your team uses have a clear data privacy impact assessment and documented consent mechanisms.

Integrated Strategic Planning Platforms

The move towards more real-time, integrated strategic planning means tools like Anaplan and Pigment are becoming even more central. You'll need to drive their evolution and ensure they truly connect strategy to execution.

Real-time scenario modelling and 'what-if' analysi · Integration of operational data with strategic fin · Dynamic KPI tracking and performance management wi · User adoption and change management for enterprise · Leveraging platform APIs for custom integrations a

  • This quarter: Engage deeply with our Anaplan/Pigment administrators to understand current capabilities and limitations.
  • Next 6 months: Sponsor a project to integrate a new critical data source into our strategic planning platform.
  • Next 12 months: Lead the design of a new module within the platform that enables more dynamic strategic resource allocation.
  • Ongoing: Participate in user groups and conferences for these platforms to learn about new features and best practices.

Quick win: Identify one manual data input into our planning platform that could be automated, saving your team time and reducing errors.

11Staying current once you are in

What people here do to keep up
  • Regularly engage with industry analysts (Gartner, Forrester) and expert networks (GLG, Tegus) to stay abreast of market trends and gather competitive intelligence.
  • Attend executive education programmes or workshops focused on corporate strategy, M&A, or digital transformation.
  • Participate in peer groups or forums with other Directors of Strategy/Insights to share best practices and learn from their experiences.
  • Mentor junior talent both within and outside your team, honing your leadership and coaching skills.
  • Publish thought leadership pieces (e.g., blog posts, whitepapers) on strategic topics relevant to our industry, building your personal and company brand.

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-Driven Strategic Foresight

AI is rapidly changing how we identify trends, model scenarios, and predict market shifts. Competitors are already using advanced AI to gain an edge in strategic planning. Your role shifts from simply analysing data to strategically directing AI tools to generate foresight.

  • Generative AI for scenario generation and 'what-if
  • Predictive analytics for early warning signals (ma
  • AI-powered synthesis of vast unstructured data (ne
  • Ethical considerations and bias detection in AI-ge
  • Prompt engineering for strategic questioning and a

Digital Transformation & Ecosystem Strategy

Our business, and our customers, are increasingly digital-first. Understanding how to build and participate in digital ecosystems, leverage platform business models, and drive digital transformation isn't just for product teams anymore; it's core to corporate strategy.

  • Platform business models and network effects
  • API-first strategies and open innovation
  • Data monetisation and digital product strategy
  • Customer journey mapping in digital ecosystems
  • Strategic partnerships in a digital-first world

13What you’ll use

What you’ll use

Skills this role draws on

Technical

  • Competitive Intelligence & Analysis
  • Market Sizing & Opportunity Assessment
  • Scenario Planning & War Gaming
  • Financial Modeling & Business Case Development
  • Qualitative Research Synthesis
  • Hypothesis-Driven Analysis

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

    Senior Strategic Insights Manager (Internal Promotion)

    3-5 years as a Manager

    Skills to master

    • Mastering team leadership, cross-functional influence, end-to-end ownership of major strategic workstreams, and consistent delivery of high-impact insights.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Consistently exceeds performance expectations as a Manager, with strong 360-degree feedback.
    • Proven ability to lead and develop a high-performing team.
    • Has successfully driven at least 2-3 strategic initiatives with measurable business impact.
    • Trusted advisor to VPs and other senior leaders, proactively sought out for input.
  2. 2

    Management Consultant (Senior Manager/Principal)

    8-12 years in consulting

    Skills to master

    • Translating consulting frameworks into practical corporate strategy, adapting to internal corporate dynamics, building internal relationships, and transitioning from project-based to continuous strategic ownership.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Demonstrable experience leading large-scale strategy projects for corporate clients.
    • Strong client relationship management and executive presentation skills.
    • Comfortable with ambiguity and structuring complex problems.
    • A clear desire to move from advisory to direct ownership and impact within a company.
  3. 3

    Corporate Development Lead/Director

    5-8 years in Corp Dev

    Skills to master

    • Broadening from M&A-specific analysis to a wider range of strategic insights, developing team leadership skills beyond deal execution, and influencing non-deal related strategic decisions.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Strong track record in M&A strategy, due diligence, and integration planning.
    • Deep financial modelling and valuation expertise.
    • Proven ability to work with C-suite on high-stakes transactions.
    • Desire to move into a broader strategic role with a focus on organic growth and market positioning.

15Where this role leads

The long view: This role can lead to positions such as Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Operating Officer or Chief Executive Officer.

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, Strategic Insights is actually changing.

Where it leads

Roles this leads to

Also named as a next step, with no page in the catalogue yet:

  • General Manager / Business Unit Lead

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, Strategic Insights.

Data Analysis and Visualisation Level 7

Applied to your work in Director, Strategic Insights

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.

Start my Director, Strategic Insights plan, free
See Your Progress Grow Illustration
Director, Strategic Insights
  • Competitive Intelligence & Analysis
  • Market Sizing & Opportunity Assessment
  • Scenario Planning & War Gaming
  • Financial Modeling & Business Case Development
  • Qualitative Research Synthesis
  • Hypothesis-Driven Analysis
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, Strategic Insights is a start, not a ceiling. Each step below asks for new skills and hands back more autonomy.

  1. VP, Corporate Strategy

    3-5 years in Director role

    L6 to L7

    • Advanced organisational design and change management
    • Complex stakeholder alignment across entire enterprise
    • Strategic capital allocation at the highest level
    • Industry thought leadership and external representation

  2. General Manager / Business Unit Lead

    4-6 years in Director role

    L6 to L7 (or equivalent)

    • Customer relationship management at scale
    • Product lifecycle management and roadmap ownership
    • Risk management specific to business unit operations
    • Cross-functional leadership of diverse teams (e.g., engineering, sales, marketing)
Working with AI on the job

Working with AI

Where AI is starting to help

Let's be real, a Director's time is precious. You're not here to manually sift through reports or draft every single slide. AI isn't just for analysts anymore; it's a powerful co-pilot that can free you up to focus on the truly strategic work—the big thinking, the influencing, the team leadership. Think of it as your secret weapon for amplifying your team's output and your own strategic bandwidth.

In Corporate Strategy, AI can transform how you gather intelligence, synthesise complex information, and even draft initial strategic narratives. It's about automating the 'heavy lifting' of information processing so your team can spend more time on interpretation, critical thinking, and delivering truly differentiating insights.

Automated Competitor Monitoring & Synthesis

Imagine AI agents constantly scanning news, regulatory filings, and competitor announcements. Your team gets a daily, pre-digested intelligence briefing, highlighting key moves and potential threats, saving hours of manual research and allowing you to focus on the 'so what' for our strategy.

Accelerated Market & Thematic Analysis

Feed thousands of industry reports, customer survey responses, or earnings call transcripts into an LLM. It can instantly identify and quantify key market themes, emerging trends, and sentiment shifts, giving your team a massive head start on market sizing and opportunity assessments.

Rapid Research & Due Diligence Synthesis

During M&A diligence, ingest dozens of data rooms, analyst reports, and internal documents into an AI assistant. Ask it to synthesise key findings, identify risks, and even draft initial summaries, dramatically cutting down the time your team spends on information digestion.

First-Draft Strategic Narrative Generation

Provide your team's key charts, data points, and strategic hypotheses to an AI model. It can generate a first-draft presentation narrative and executive summary, allowing your team to focus on refining the message, adding nuance, and ensuring it lands perfectly with the C-suite.

Common questions

Common questions

How do you become a Director, Strategic Insights?

Common routes in include Senior Strategic Insights Manager (Internal Promotion) (3-5 years as a Manager), Management Consultant (Senior Manager/Principal) (8-12 years in consulting) and Corporate Development Lead/Director (5-8 years in Corp Dev). Times vary with prior experience.

Where can a Director, Strategic Insights progress to?

This role can lead on to VP, Corporate Strategy (3-5 years in Director role) and General Manager / Business Unit Lead (4-6 years in Director role), depending on the skills you build.

What new skills matter most for a Director, Strategic Insights?

Increasingly, AI-Driven Strategic Foresight and Digital Transformation & Ecosystem Strategy. 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.

Read the Zavmo manifesto to understand how you will be taught Meet your tutors

Or try another one

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

The strategic insights skills built in this role transfer to other sectors. You could move into similar senior strategy roles in technology companies, fintech firms, or into private equity or venture capital, where strategic due diligence matters. The ability to distil complex information and support executive decisions applies across many industries.

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 Director, Strategic Insights 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.