Director of Analytics with Syndicated Data experience and Client Interaction

The Company:

 

Founded in 1979, Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) is the world?s leading provider of enterprise market information solutions and services, empowering its clients to grow their business profitably in a complex marketplace.  Driving the transformation of the consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, and healthcare industries, only IRI provides a unique combination of real-time market content, advanced analytics, enterprise performance management software, and professional services.

 

In late 2003, IRI was acquired by the industry-visionary company Symphony Technology Group, run by Dr. Romesh Wadhwani.  IRI is owned by Symphony Technology Group, a strategic investment group with more than $ 1.1 billion in revenues. Dr. Wadhwani, Chairman of both Symphony and IRI, has successfully built three enterprise software companies over the last 30 years; the most recent of these, Aspect Development, Inc. was acquired for $ 9.3 billion.

 

The acquisition has been the catalyst for a major transformation of IRI.  IRI has crafted a new vision for itself, and for the industry it serves.  With revenues approaching $600 million annually, IRI?s mission is to increase its value proposition to clients by 10X through innovation and focus on enabling insightful decisions. Since the acquisition, the Company has continued to focus on customer satisfaction, streamlining its organization and supporting disciplines, globalizing operations, strengthening its leadership team, and launching multiple new products and services.

 

The company?s portfolio of services, solutions, and technology enable leading retailers and their suppliers around the globe to see what they are missing, act faster with greater confidence and win at the shelf. Ninety-five percent of the FORTUNE Global 500 in CPG and retail leverage IRI to power their business.  For more information, visit www.infores.com.

 

 



Reporting Relationship:

The Director, Analytic Insights Group (AIG) will report a Vice President, AIG, West who reports to the Senior Vice President in charge of the overall East-area AIG practice. 

 

Responsibilities:

The Director, in addition to assisting the Vice President with the management of key accounts, will ?own? the client relationships at several established IRI accounts that encompass a diverse roster of clients (and categories).  He/she will leverage strong team leadership skills (one or more direct reports) and the full suite of IRI analytics tools to identify and address a variety of critical client issues including those related to spending efficiency, consumer targeting, marketing mix analysis, pricing strategy and portfolio analysis.  While activities vary, approximately 60% of the Director?s time will be spent developing a deep understanding of client issues, scoping those issues within a project framework, managing deliverable development/innovation and deriving/presenting the insights/strategy to the client. The remaining time will be allocated to assisting their team with the preparation of insight-laden analyses, developing/mentoring their team and monitoring project progress and work-flow to assure achievement of delivery commitments.  

 

Senior/Executive-level client interface is essential and expected.  Daily client contact will cut across Marketing, Market Research, Brand and Sales and increasingly, other client functional areas as the New IRI evolves to provide solutions that address enterprise-wide client business issues and, because the IRI software platform is data agnostic, incorporate new data sources (e.g., Acxiom, Rx, Retail Link, and C-Store).

 

At all times, the Director will serve as a passionate client advocate and in so doing will advance solutions that will best build their client?s long-term businesses in a way to maximize client and IRI return-on-investment.  Resources available include IRI?s world-class bank of unparalleled knowledge capital, aligned sales and product development departments, robust investment in analytics, and a proven corporate track record of delivering strategic solutions versus data. While exceeding revenue targets is key, success is equally measured by the ability to create indispensable, long-term, solution-focused consultative partnerships. 

 

Other responsibilities include:

 

- Tie contractual and custom solutions to critical client issues

-  Manage to aggressive revenue commitments/Effectively sell modeling

-  Maintain/enhance close alignment with key IRI groups: Client Solutions, New Business, Retention and Renewals, Business Performance Solutions Group, Analytic Research & Development and Analytic Product Marketing

 

Requirements:

-  Eight or more years of experience solving business issues with the consultative application of advanced analytics in a Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) or Pharmaceutical setting within one or more of the following types of companies:

-  Manufacturer (working with or purchasing advanced analytics)

-  Quantitative market research supplier

 

-  Experience delivering insight to internal or external clients by building on a technical foundation that includes a conceptual understanding of modeling techniques and a basic grasp of statistics

 

-  A practical versus academic understanding of analytics applications.  Current modeling experience is NOT required but would like this individual to have a familiarity with it.

 

-  General knowledge of quantitative syndicated research products, services and methodologies?capacity to tie quantitative tools to key client business issues

 

-  Demonstrated ability to sell analytic concepts internally or externally?a hunger for profitability and overall business success

 

- Demonstrated leadership acumen?for direct reports and cross-functional project teams

-  A demonstrable flexible and open approach to learning



Education:

Undergraduate required.  Advanced degree is preferred.