KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Research Delivery & Insights

Create and own end-to-end delivery accountability for AHEAD's full research product stack like Market Size & Outlook, Industry/Technology POVs, Account Intelligence Packs, Competitive Profiles & Battlecards, Buying Behaviour Analysis, Capability Heatmaps, Benchmark Reports etc

Synthesize intelligence from primary research and secondary research via tier-1 analyst platforms (e.g. Gartner, Everest Group, Forrester, IDC, Avasant etc), business databases (e.g.Hoovers, AlphaSense etc), and proprietary sources into crisp, executive-ready insight narratives.

Lead competitive intelligence strategy and translate findings into actionable pursuit positioning.

Drive account-level intelligence to support strategic account planning, C-suite engagement personalization, and opportunity identification for AHEAD's consulting and sales teams.

Conduct peer review of analyst-produced research; enforce quality standards and provide structured developmental feedback across all deliverables.

Advisory Engagements: Support pursuit engagements by delivering market insights, competitive benchmarking, and strategic guidance based on proprietary research and market intelligence.

CoE Build-Out & Team Leadership

Establish and operationalize the Research & Insights centre — defining intake processes, research methodology, turnaround benchmarks, quality review protocols, and governance frameworks from the ground up.

Lead, coach, and develop a team of Research Analysts /Sr Research Analysts; build a high-performance culture grounded in intellectual rigour, delivery excellence, and continuous learning.

Design competency frameworks, structured onboarding programs, and career progression pathways for the research team; actively mentor analysts in their professional growth.

Establish innovative research processes, methodologies and frameworks for structuring and analysing the data to develop impactful insights at a quality that is repeatable and is continually improved

Build and govern the team's knowledge repository: standardized research templates, source libraries, reusable intelligence assets, and a living research calendar aligned to consulting priorities.

Manage team utilization, workload distribution, and delivery economics; provide regular performance reporting to senior leadership.

Stakeholder Partnership & Consulting Enablement

Serve as the primary research interface for AHEAD's onsite consulting, sales, practice, and deal teams — translating strategic business questions and pursuit needs into structured, hypothesis-led research briefs.

Proactively anticipate intelligence needs across the full pursuit lifecycle: from opportunity identification and qualification through to proposal development, deal shaping, and win/loss review.

Present research findings and insight packages to senior internal stakeholders; provide strategic context and actionable recommendations, not just data.

Manage the custom research request pipeline; balance recurring standard reports with bespoke, high-urgency consulting support while maintaining delivery quality.

Partner with onsite consulting leaders during workshops to validate research priorities, align report formats to field requirements, and institutionalize feedback loops.

Methodology, Tools & Innovation

Establish a rigorous secondary research methodology and evaluation framework - ensuring currency, credibility, and strategic relevance of all intelligence.

Champion the integration of AI-powered research and knowledge management tools to accelerate insight generation and enhance analytical output quality.

Evaluate and manage research data subscriptions; make prioritized recommendations to leadership on platform investments (e.g. IDC, Gartner, Everest, Avasant, Forrester etc).

Lead development of reusable consulting assets — capability heatmaps, innovation accelerators, advisory frameworks, maturity models — that extend research output into IP value.

Consulting Storytelling & Visual Communication

Drive narrative excellence across consulting outputs — translating research findings into executive-ready storylines, proposal narratives, and CxO-level communications that persuade rather than merely present.

Oversee and contribute to the design of high-impact consulting presentations, executive proposals, and client-facing research publications — ensuring all outputs meet a consulting-grade visual and narrative standard.

Transform unstructured inputs — raw data, whiteboard captures, fragmented research briefs — into cohesive, visually compelling narratives; partner with visual communication specialists to bring research to life in pursuit war rooms and strategic proposals.

Lead development of AHEAD’s visual research IP — standardized presentation templates, brand-compliant data visualization frameworks, infographic libraries, and consulting-grade chart systems — ensuring research output is as visually sharp as it is analytically rigorous.

Ensure visual consistency and brand compliance across all CoE outputs — research publications, CxO Guides, thought leadership, and webinar materials — establishing self-service design playbooks and standards that enable the broader consulting team to produce quality output independently.

Reporting, KPIs & Continuous Improvement

Define and track CoE performance metrics: research delivery throughput, turnaround SLAs, stakeholder satisfaction scores, proposal support win-rate influence, and knowledge asset reuse rates.

Conduct regular win/loss analysis on research-supported pursuits; distil lessons into improved intelligence products and research practices.

Provide monthly and quarterly reporting to senior leadership on CoE productivity, pipeline coverage, and research impact on consulting outcomes.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:

Essential

Experience: 10–14 years of progressive experience in research, market intelligence, or strategy/management consulting, with at least 3 years leading a research team /design visual comms practice.

Analytical Skills: Strong ability to analyze market trends, vendor strategies, and enterprise needs to deliver actionable insights.

Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience publishing research and presenting to executive audiences.

Educational Background: Master from a top university is preferred. Bachelor’s degree is a must

Domain Expertise: Sound understanding of the IT services and enterprise technology landscape — cloud, infrastructure, digital transformation, AI, cybersecurity, and related domains.

Demonstrated expertise across multiple research domains: competitive intelligence, market sizing, account research, buying behaviour analysis, and technology benchmarking.

Exceptional written communication skills; ability to produce consulting-grade research documents, executive summaries, and presentations to the highest standards of clarity and rigour.

Intellectual agility and curiosity — comfort with ambiguity, courage to push beyond surface-level data, and a drive to uncover insight that changes how decisions are made.

Exceptional organizational rigour — ability to manage multiple concurrent deliverables with competing priorities, tight timelines, and high quality standards simultaneously.

Collaborative, consultative mindset — builds trusted relationships across global, cross-functional teams and earns a reputation as a reliable thought partner.

Familiarity with AI-powered research acceleration and knowledge management platforms.

Proven track record of synthesizing complex, multi-source intelligence into executive-ready insight narratives for CXO-level audiences and consulting stakeholders.

Proficiency in secondary research using tier-1 analyst platforms and business intelligence databases

Strong working proficiency in PowerPoint and presentation design — able to translate research outputs and analytical findings into polished, consulting-grade decks, data visualizations, and executive-ready slide narratives.

Demonstrated ability to develop and govern design and visual communication standards — including presentation templates, brand systems, and reusable visual frameworks — across an organization or practice.

Experience with AI-powered design and productivity tools used in a professional services context; ability to evaluate and integrate automation capabilities that accelerate insight packaging, visual production, and content refinement cycles.

Preferred

MBA or postgraduate degree with a focus on Strategy, Business, Finance, or a related discipline.

Prior experience in a top-tier consulting firm /research and advisory firm (or the research/intelligence function of an enterprise technology organization.

Exposure to RFP support, proposal intelligence, or pursuit enablement within a consulting or technology firm.

Exposure to global markets and understanding of enterprise technology adoption trends.