Manager, Market Research

Role Overview

Manager, Market Research at ADNOC Distribution, based in the United Arab Emirates. This role reports directly to the Vice President, Marketing Strategy & Planning and leads the enterprise-wide customer, market, and insights function.

Role 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. The role translates complex data into actionable recommendations that shape brand strategy, portfolio development, customer experience, and commercial performance, operating as a strategic advisor to senior leadership.

Key Responsibilities

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

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.