Skip to main content

This job has expired

Competitive Intelligence Lead

Employer
Target
Location
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Start date
Mar 11, 2021
Closing date
Mar 17, 2021

View more

Category
Retail / Wholesale
Employment Status
Full Time
Description:

PRIMARY FUNCTION

The Competitive Intelligence team is responsible for leading the overall competitor insights and intelligence program which informs the enterprise strategy, planning, and portfolio decisions. To inform these decisions, the team must maintain an understanding of rapidly evolving market, consumer, and industry forces along with deep expertise into competitor strategies. The team must then be able to interpret competitor strategies and trends and their potential impact on Target, its strategy, and planned tactics. The Competitive Intelligence Lead, as part of the Enterprise Strategic Planning, Intelligence & Implementation team, will be responsible for a select set of outputs which collectively - alongside the rest of the team - deliver on the team's objective.

KEY OBJECTIVES

The candidate will be responsible for delivering one or more of the below key objectives:
  • Serve as a trusted expert in competitive intelligence by developing and maintaining deeply synthesized intelligence on competitor trends and strategies that could cause disruption or opportunistic moments for Target
  • Create and manage the development and execution of methodologies to analyze complex business problems in support of data-driven decision making
  • Leverage depth and breadth of internal and external data sources for insights development and serve as a shared resource across Strategy, Insights, and Innovation pyramid and broader enterprise
  • Collaborate and coordinate with key business partners to curate and integrate intelligence while driving deeper understanding and impact of market trends and competitive moves
  • Deliver proactive and actionable synthesis of competitive and market trends to Target's Leadership Team and key business partners


PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The candidate will be responsible for one or more of the below principal duties and responsibilities:
  • Leverage Intelligence Cycle to develop strategic questions, collection plans, and analysis to deliver clear, forward-looking insight
  • Perform ongoing monitoring and maintain catalogue of proactively benchmarked competitors capabilities
  • Develop proficiency in open source and syndicated sources while continuously testing new resources to develop best in class intelligence about key and emerging competitors
  • Build network and leverage primary research capabilities to gain insights from key partners
  • Develop deep understanding of competitor financial position and investment strategies
  • Leverage structured methodologies to gain insight from complex data sets and long-term, ongoing analysis
  • Develop specific scenarios based on insights and assess Target's strategy against probable outcomes through research and intelligence; support scenario planning and war gaming to pressure-test Target's strategies against market and competitive actions
  • Serve as a trusted expert and consultant in proactively developing insights and intelligence in service of Target's existing and future strategic direction
  • Maintain pulse and perspective on adjacent opportunities being considered within Target
  • Integrate with enterprise planning process to ensure proper focus on external factors, trends, and intelligence across key planning milestones
  • Ensure constant and widespread understanding of trends and external factors with key partners across Target


KEY RELATIONSHIPS

The candidate will be responsible for maintaining all of the following relationships:
  • Reports to Director Competitive Intelligence
  • Ongoing working relationships with strategy, finance, and insights functions across the organization
  • Other relationships as dictated by role, including but not limited to strategic portfolio/ initiative owners


KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

The candidate will be responsible for having (or quickly learning) and maintaining best-in-class capabilities in the following:
  • Proven ability to translate structured and unstructured data into meaningful unbiased intelligence through methodologies and analytical and conceptual frameworks
  • Independent ability to drive structure out of ambiguity, connect dots across disparate insights, and structure synthesized output
  • Diverse and rigorous problem-solving toolkit, inclusive of analytical, conceptual, and design thinking
  • Ability to find creative solutions and analogies to seemingly unsolvable problem
  • Firm understanding of all relevant insights and intelligence sources within scope for Target's enterprise business; deep understanding of the most relevant sources
  • Ability to build strong relationships with internal insights teams, partnering to align on message, shared resources, and support shared goals
  • Clear understanding of Retail and Target business model and capabilities, including strengths and weaknesses of both
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills, including through storytelling, succinct presentations, and thoughtful questioning
  • Understanding and application of diverse set of engagement tools, inclusive of presentation, immersion, and co-creation
  • Broad understanding of Target's strategic planning process; general understanding of the strategy development process, innovation tools, and business development
  • Ability to quickly establish trust and credibility with leaders across all levels within Target


JOB REQUIREMENTS

The candidate must hold all of the following job requirements:
  • 4-year college degree with minimum 5 years of experience driving strategic business insights; Master's degree with one to three years of work experience in corporate strategy or competitive intelligence is highly desired
  • Exceptional analytical and conceptual problem-solving skills and ability to synthesize and clearly communicate complex findings to focus on critical issues and actionable opportunities
  • Ability to work both independently and lead cross-functional teams
  • Ability to assimilate information quickly and to learn/ follow a systematic approach to strategic problem solving: define/ reframe key questions, develop hypotheses, structure quantitative and qualitative analyses to develop insights, formulate well-founded recommendations, and communicate recommendations to leaders at all levels of the organization, including senior executives
  • Demonstrated success working closely with senior executive leaders, including influencing without authority
  • Excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills with a strong ability to tell compelling business and result stories.
  • Innate curiosity and desire to learn with a strong inclination to drive for results in ambiguous spaces.


Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Target will provide reasonable accommodations (such as a qualified sign language interpreter or other personal assistance) with the application process upon your request as required to comply with applicable laws. If you have a disability and require assistance in this application process, please visit your nearest Target store or Distribution Center or reach out to Guest Services at 1-800-440-0680 for additional information.

Qualifications:

Get job alerts

Create a job alert and receive personalized job recommendations straight to your inbox.

Create alert