Head Of Strategic Retail Partnerships

Circana; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Circana is seeking a Head of Strategic Retail Partnerships to oversee relationships with our key retail clients. You will apply extensive industry knowledge to guide both your team and clients, delivering exceptional service, consultancy, and a proactive escalation path to remove barriers.

Lead resource prioritisation to balance internal and client needs. The ideal candidate has proven leadership, collaborative spirit, and a solution-focused mindset.

Qualifications

• Proactively presents tailored, compelling solutions aligned with client needs.
• Identifies key decision-makers and influencers driving purchase decisions.
• Solves customer hesitation by uncovering new opportunities and needs.
• Articulates customer needs in the client|string business language with context.
• Stays resilient and positive, supporting the team during challenging times.
• Maintains clarity and guides the team through changing circumstances.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of 20+ with two direct reports, set direction and coach.
• Build trusted partnerships with clients through a consultative approach.
• Ensure delivery of contracted services and identify incremental opportunities.
• Act as the client voice within Circana, prioritising needs.
• Escalate client issues and remove barriers to success.
• Set team and client objectives and align with budgets.
• Drive Circana UK agenda and priorities within the UK Operating committee.

Skills

Present solutions

Identify buying influences

Address buyer indifference

Understand customer needs

Resilience

Ambiguity management

Job description

Let's be unstoppable together!

Circana (formerly IRI and NPD) is the leading advisor on the complexity of consumer behaviour. Through unparalleled technology, advanced analytics, cross-industry data, and deep expertise, we provide clarity that helps almost 7,000 of the world's leading brands and retailers take action and unlock business growth. We understand more about the complete consumer, the complete store, and the complete wallet so our clients can go beyond the data to apply insights, ignite innovation, meet consumer demand, and outpace the competition.

At Circana, we are fueled by our passion for continuous learning and growth, we seek and share feedback freely, and we celebrate victories both big and small in an environment that is flexible and accommodating to our work and personal lives. We have a global commitment to diversity,equity,and inclusion as we believe in the undeniable strength that diversity brings to our business, employees, clients, and communities (with us you can to stay curious together. Learn more at .

Our Critical Sales Skills

At the heart of our commercial success is a team of professionals who combine strategic insight, customer-centricity, and executional excellence. These skills represent the core capabilities required to drive value for our clients and sustainable growth for our business.

• Effectively Presents Solutions: Delivers tailored, compelling solutions that align with customer needs and drive action.
• Knows the Buying Influences: Identifies key decision-makers and understands their motivations and influence.
• Manages Buyer Indifference: Recognizes and explores customer hesitation to uncover new needs or opportunities.
• Understands Customer Needs: Operates as a recognized expert to articulate customer needs in the customer's business language and business context.
• Being Resilient: Bounces back from setbacks with composure and positivity; helps others stay productive during tough times.
• Manages Ambiguity: Stays focused and calm in uncertain situations; guides others through change.

What will you be doing?

The Head of Strategic Retail Partnerships is a Senior Leader within the Retail team, accountable for overseeing the relationship with our most valuable retail clients. You will utilise extensive industry knowledge to provide direction and development to their team and clients. You will lead the team in providing exemplary service to clients, providing consultation and acting as a point of escalation to identify and remove barriers. You will drive the prioritization of resources to balance internal and client requirements. The ideal candidate will need to have proven experience leading a high performing team, driving internal and external collaboration and an innovative and solution focused approach to decision making.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead a team of 20+ ( 2 direct reports), setting direction and coaching
• Establish and maintain trusted partner status with your clients through a consultative approach
• Accountable for the delivery of contracted services to clients and identification of incremental opportunities through consultation
• Act as the voice of the clients within Circana, ensuring their needs are understood and appropriately prioritised
• Act as a point of escalation for the client
• Set team and client objectives
• Support the team to deliver client budgets
• Drive the Circana UK agenda and prioritisation as part of the UK Operating committee

Requirements

• Have clear experience in working with retailers or for a retailer utilising Customer/Market data to drive commercial decision making
• Proven experience leading a high performing team
• Exceptional interpersonal, written and spoken communication skills
• Analytical mindset, able to guide the team in the integration of multiple data sets to deliver the deepest and most actionable insight
• Tenacity to influence and drive solutions and capability within a busy retail environment
• Excellence in relationship building and able to confidently act in a consultative capacity with senior stakeholders
• Ability to coach a team in the use of data to create compelling actions through a detailed story-telling approach
• Able to prioritise effectively, work flexibly and make balanced and rapid decisions

Circana Behaviours

As well as the technical skills, experience and attributes that are required for the role, our shared behaviours sit at the core of our organization. Therefore, we always look for people who can continuously champion these behaviours throughout the business within their day-to-day role:

• Stay Curious: Being hungry to learn and grow, always asking the big questions
• Seek Clarity: Embracing complexity to create clarity and inspire action
• Own the Outcome: Being accountable for decisions and taking ownership of our choices
• Center on the Client: Relentlessly adding value for our customers
• Be a Challenger: Never complacent, always striving for continuous improvement
• Champion Inclusivity: Fostering trust in relationships engaging with empathy, respect and integrity
• Commit to each other: Contributing to making Circana a great place to work for everyone

Location

Remote/Hybrid