Senior Market Intelligence Specialist

Department

The Head of Market Intelligence is part of the Sales Planning & Market Intelligence (SP&MI) team which supports strategic & tactical decision making within Robeco and evaluation of commercial performance using both internal commercial data and external market data. This position specializes in understanding the market landscape, tracking market and regulatory changes, and monitoring competitive dynamics to inform the Global Sales, Product Management and Strategic Business leadership and give the organization a competitive edge.  The Market Intelligence lead role requires a unique blend of analytical prowess, strategic thinking, and effective communication. The Rotterdam based team consists of 7 persons including the Manager SP&MI who reports to the Robeco Executive Committee member responsible for Global Sales & Marketing.

Position & Requirements

Purpose of the role is to:

• Further develop and maintain a framework of internal and external data sources (data sets, research tools and research reports) which enable the Sales Planning & Market Intelligence team to identify market trends and answer market intelligence requests related to e.g. industry trends, market sizing and flows, products and vehicles, distribution channels, pricing and competition.
• Give asked and unasked advice to various stakeholders within Robeco that require market intelligence input for commercial decision making such as the Robeco Executive Committee, Sales & Marketing teams, Strategic Business Development and Global Product Management & Development.
• Lead and work closely together with other team members and Robeco stakeholders to further develop the service model of market intelligence aligning available scarce resources (fte, budget) with an ever increasing intelligence demand and increasing amount of data sources (traditional market data and alternative data sources).
• Strategic Analyst: Lead the analysis of market trends, customer behaviour, and competitive landscape to inform business strategy and tactical operating plans
• Sales Facilitator: Equip the sales team with valuable market, customer, and competition insights to improve sales effectiveness.

Key responsibilities

• Further develop and maintain the repetitive market intelligence publications used to provide Robeco with a constant heart beat of market information.
• Conduct thorough quantitative and qualitative market analyses as input for strategic & tactical commercial initiatives on request of Robeco stakeholders as part of programs, projects and other initiatives.
• Pro-actively scan for market trends & developments, growth and (cross) selling opportunities with relevance for Robeco and give unasked advice to Robeco stakeholders as input for their commercial strategy, decision-making and commercial activities.
• Conduct continuous research & monitoring to identify market trends, customer preferences, and emerging competitors. Present findings in a manner that can inform strategic decision-making and actions towards sales.
• Act as a sparring partner for team members and interns in further developing market intelligence research (both repetitive and new research areas like e.g. use of alternative data sources and artificial intelligence). Act as deputy in case of absence of Manager SP&MI.
• Coordinate the relationship management with external market research providers in alignment with Robeco Procurement working closely together with the market intelligence team members and monitor market research budget versus spend.
• Do stakeholder management towards internal stakeholders (Strategic Product & Business Development, Investments, Marketing and Sales on senior management level) in collaboration with Manager SP&MI.    
• Prepare in alignment with the manager SP&MI the longer term and annual priority calendar for high priority market intelligence topics and required analysis.

Qualifications:

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in business administration, economics, finance or an equivalent qualification
• At least 10 years relevant working experience within a market intelligence role in the asset management industry preferably at different asset managers operating in multiple international wholesale and institutional markets.
• Experience in working with large volumes of data and being able to apply data analytics and data science concepts to master the ever increasing volume of data (structured and unstructured).
• Data-driven user-centred design approach to analysis and data management, with demonstrated ability to deliver information that addresses and anticipates various stakeholder users’ needs
• Be a critical independent thinker, able to read into the data and “connecting the dots” using your strong data analytics skills
• Great communicator capable of delivering succinct yet impactful (actionable) messages to stakeholders acting on strategic level within the Robeco organization.
• Mastering all the standard IT-tools in an office environment and market research tools like Broadridge, Morningstar and eVestment.  Knowledge of BI tooling (Qlik Sense), CRM tooling (MS Dynamics) tooling is a plus.
• Self-motivated team player who is able to define, structure and prioritize work, but who has the flexibility to change priorities when circumstances dictate
• Fast learner and effective communicator of new / complex information. Ability to translate technical business acumen into easily understood concepts for a wide range of audiences
• Regulatory Awareness: Strong understanding of local, regional, and global regulations affecting the industry.

All applications will be treated with the utmost confidentiality. An assessment and integrity test may be used in the selection procedure.