Manager, Market Research

Job Purpose

The Manager Market Research is accountable for leading ADNOC Distribution’s enterprise‑wide customer, market, and insights function, providing strategic intelligence that informs decision‑making, drives growth, and embeds a customer‑centric mindset across the organization.

Reporting directly to the Vice President, Marketing Strategy & Planning, the role owns the development and governance of customer and market insight strategies, translating complex data into actionable recommendations that shape brand strategy, portfolio development, customer experience, and commercial performance. The position operates as a strategic advisor to senior leadership and plays a critical role in aligning business priorities with evolving customer needs and market dynamics.

Key Accountabilities

Enterprise Customer & Market Insights Strategy

• Define and lead the enterprise customer and market insights strategy, ensuring alignment with corporate objectives, growth priorities, and brand ambition.
• Establish the insights function as a strategic business partner, enabling fact‑based decision‑making across marketing, retail, product, digital, and commercial teams.
• Continuously evolve insight frameworks to reflect changes in customer behaviour, channel dynamics, and competitive landscapes.
• Ensure insights are forward‑looking, commercially relevant, and directly linked to business outcomes.

Market Intelligence, Research & Analytics Leadership

• Oversee the design and execution of comprehensive market research programs, including quantitative, qualitative, ethnographic, and behavioural studies.
• Lead advanced customer segmentation, profiling, and journey analytics to deepen understanding of customer needs, motivations, and value drivers.
• Monitor and forecast market trends, category evolution, and competitor activity to identify risks and growth opportunities.
• Leverage predictive analytics and scenario modelling to anticipate customer behaviour and inform strategic planning.

Insight Translation & Executive Decision Support

• Translate complex datasets and analytical outputs into clear, actionable insights that guide strategy, investment, and prioritisation decisions.
• Present insights, implications, and recommendations to executive leadership, enabling confident and informed decision‑making.
• Partner with senior stakeholders to embed insights into brand strategy, product development, customer experience design, and go‑to‑market planning.
• Act as a trusted advisor on customer and market‑led growth opportunities.

Data Governance, Quality & Insight Infrastructure

• Establish and govern robust insight processes, methodologies, and quality standards to ensure consistency, accuracy, and reliability of data.
• Own the development and maintenance of enterprise customer insight dashboards, tracking key customer, brand, and market performance indicators.
• Ensure compliance with data privacy, protection, and ethical standards while enabling responsible data usage across the business.
• Oversee the use of multiple internal and external data sources to create a unified view of the customer.

Innovation, Advanced Analytics & Future Capabilities

• Drive adoption of advanced analytics, AI, and machine learning techniques to enhance insight generation and predictive capability.
• Balance AI‑driven analytics with human‑centric insight approaches to capture emotional, cultural, and behavioural nuances of customers.
• Explore and govern the use of synthetic data and emerging research methodologies to augment traditional insight sources.
• Champion continuous improvement and innovation within the insights function.

Stakeholder Engagement & Enterprise Enablement

• Partner closely with marketing, non‑fuel retail, digital, loyalty, sales, and product teams to ensure insights are embedded in day‑to‑day decision‑making.
• Enable a customer‑first mindset across the organization through education, frameworks, and insight‑led storytelling.
• Manage key relationships with external research agencies, data partners, and technology providers.
• Ensure insights are accessible, understandable, and actionable for both strategic and operational stakeholders.

People Leadership & Capability Development

• Lead, develop, and coach the Customer & Market Insights team, fostering high performance, technical excellence, and professional growth.
• Build future‑ready capabilities across analytics, storytelling, and strategic thinking.
• Champion a culture of curiosity, rigour, and customer obsession within the team and broader marketing function.
• Provide thought leadership and coaching to marketing and non‑fuel retail teams on best‑in‑class insight utilisation.

Qualifications, Experience & Skills

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Statistics, Economics, or a related field.
• Master’s degree preferred.

Experience

• Minimum 12 years’ experience in customer insights, market research, analytics, or related disciplines.
• Proven experience leading enterprise‑scale insights functions and influencing senior leadership decisions.
• Strong background in retail, consumer‑focused, or multi‑channel businesses.
• Experience in Middle East markets with strong regional consumer understanding preferred.