Director, Consulting – Foresight, Brand & Innovation Practice

About the job

Job Title: Director, Consulting – Foresight, Brand & Innovation Practice

Location: Flexible within the US for the right candidate

About the Company:

Kantar is the world’s leading marketing data and analytics company. Combining our expertise in human understanding with advanced technologies and strategic consulting, Kantar’s 25,000 people based in more than 100 countries help the world’s leading organisations succeed and grow. Nobody knows people better than Kantar: we provide insight and inspiration to help our clients, our people and society to create and flourish in an extraordinary world.

About the team

Kantar Consulting is a specialist growth consultancy that helps clients find new sources of growth through strategic foresight, brand strategy, cultural insight, and innovation. We help brands understand the current and future needs of consumers and guide them in how to meet those needs and make meaningful connections. Our clients span the Fortune 500 across diverse sectors (think: Mayo Clinic, Ford, Google, Danone, and Merck)

We pride ourselves on being an engine of growth for our clients, and strategic foresight is a critical part of how we do it. We are looking for an exceptionally talented, passionate, and experienced foresight / futures specialist to join our team, and make their mark on how we talk, think and deliver foresight at Kantar.

About the role:

As a Director within our consulting team, you will specialize in strategic foresight engagements and have the opportunity to work alongside and collaborate with an eclectic mix of innovation, brand, qual and quant professionals from across Kantar.

This role sits within an award-winning team that is recognized for its unique approaches and proven client impact by Kantar globally, and will be well-suited to individuals who are eager to influence the direction of the practice for Kantar through offer innovation, business development, and unparalleled client delivery.

The Foresight Director will be a significant force in driving our business forward:

• Generating revenue via new business development, including proactive outreach to your network, scoping incoming client questions, responding to RFPs, writing proposals, and leading client pitch teams
• Leading strategic client accounts and relationships at a senior level
• Shaping thought leadership, offers and approaches, and finding compelling ways to codify and share our POV with clients and wider audiences
• Overseeing complex projects that leverage strategic foresight, trends, cultural insight, quant / qual, and innovation frameworks
• Bringing a fresh perspective and deep expertise to help upskill our mixed-level team of Foresight, Culture and Innovation consultants
• Managing 2-3 direct reports, and developing and coaching talent at every level

What do we look for in a Director focused on strategic foresight?

• 8+ years’ demonstrable experience in a trend / foresight consultancy or comparable specialist experience; Knowledge of the concepts, language, tools, and techniques of foresight and experience applying these things to strategy, innovation, thought leadership, etc. ideation and facilitation
• A compelling and credible expert in strategic foresight with an ability to articulate engaging points of view on macro trends, foresight best practices, brands, innovation, and new business models
• A systems thinker with a strong ability to provoke and inspire clients to think differently about the future and how to drive growth for their industry, business, category, or brand
• Excellence leading complex projects with limited input, managing and motivating project teams to deliver high quality work on time and on budget, with well-developed recommendations and implications, and a clear focus on client impact
• Proven ability to derive clear, creative recommendations for clients that will make a positive difference to their business
• Proven ability to drive new business and success in client and account development, including scoping potential projects, leading proposal development and pitches, and identifying opportunities for follow-on projects both in foresight and for colleagues in other disciplines; track record of consistently delivering profitable projects
• An insatiable curiosity, open-minded and willingness to learn; Always on the lookout for innovative ideas and inspiration, new ways of working, frameworks and thinking that can inspire our team
• A keen interest in the interplay among people, culture and business as well as social, technological, economic, environmental, human and political change
• Excellence in building effective relationships internally and with clients; an ability to lead, mentor and train teams to deliver excellence and influence cross-functional internal teams

Nice to Have Capabilities

• Semiotics/Cultural Insights: Experience helping distill where culture is headed and how this shows up visually through emerging design, fashion, branding, and other visual media
• Methodological innovation: Interest and experience integrating foresight with other complementary approaches. This could include integration of foresight with quantitative and analytics tools (e.g., social listening, syndicated or custom survey data), novel socialization and communications approaches (e.g., design fiction, prototyping), events (e.g., training, trend treks), etc.
• Authority on specific sector or topic areas e.g., technology, CPG, sustainability, or wellness; having an established social media or industry network a plus

Kantar Benefits

We provide a comprehensive, highly competitive benefits package, including

• Medical plans with comprehensive, affordable coverage for a range of health services
• Health Savings Account/FSA
• Dental, Vision and benefits to cover unique healthcare needs
• Wellness Program
• 401k with matching
• Tuition Reimbursement, Commuter benefits
• Unlimited PTO

At Kantar we have an integrated way of rewarding our people based around a simple, clear and consistent set of principles. Our approach helps to ensure we are market competitive and to support a pay for performance culture, where your reward and career progression opportunities are linked to what you deliver. We go beyond the obvious, using intelligence, passion and creativity to inspire new thinking and shape the world we live in. Apply for a career that’s out of the ordinary and join us. We want to create an equality of opportunity in a fair and supportive working environment where people feel included, accepted, and are allowed to flourish in a space where their mental health and wellbeing is taken into consideration. We want to create a more diverse community to expand our talent pool, be locally representative, drive diversity of thinking and better commercial outcomes.

At Kantar, the diversity of our employees provides a richer environment for our employees and broader depth and breadth of thinking for our clients. Kantar is committed to inclusion and diversity; therefore, we welcome applications from all sections of society and do not discriminate on the basis of age, race, religion, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, marital status or any other legally protected characteristics.

Privacy and Legal Statement

PRIVACY DISCLOSURE: Please note that by applying to this opportunity you consent to the personal data you provide to us to be processed and retained by The Kantar Group Limited (“Kantar”). Your details will be kept on our Internal ATS (Applicant Tracking System) for as long as is necessary for the purposes of recruitment, which may include your details being shared with the hiring manager.