Head of Strategy and Insights

Qatar Airways; Doha; On-site; QAR 436,000 - 583,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading airline company is seeking a Head of Strategy and Insights to lead product development and enhance customer experience. The role requires a strategic leader with over 10 years of experience in product and customer experience, strong analytical skills, and the ability to influence decisions at the executive level. This position will drive innovation in inflight services while mentoring a high-performing team in Doha, Qatar.

Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years of related experience.
• Leadership experience in product and customer experience in relevant industries.
• Ability to influence decisions using data-backed narratives.

Responsibilities

• Manage the development of inflight product and customer experience strategies.
• Oversee generation and synthesis of market intelligence to inform strategies.
• Mentor a high-performing team to elevate organizational decision-making.

Skills

Clear communication skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Leadership through transformation

Understanding of P&L and budgeting

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Job description

About the Role

As the Head of Strategy and Insights, you will support the Product Development Division in shaping the future of Qatar Airways’ onboard experience by leading a high-performing, in-house research, strategy, insights and PMO team. You will drive strategic clarity, data-driven decision-making, and innovation across key product domains including customer experience strategy and frameworks, cabin interiors, inflight entertainment and connectivity, onboard service, and food & beverage. You will deliver deep insights, rigorous analysis, and forward-looking recommendations to inform product innovation, roadmaps and investment decisions. The role ensures that every initiative is grounded in rigorous market intelligence, passenger insights, competitive benchmarking, and commercial viability.

As part of your role, your responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

Strategic

• Manages the development of inflight product and customer experience strategies, synthesizing market trends, customer feedback, competitive analysis and financial modelling.
• Provides data-driven recommendations to inform product roadmaps, investment prioritization, and resource allocation.
• Oversees the generation and synthesis of market intelligence, passenger research, and competitive benchmarking to inform strategic decisions and product roadmaps.
• Establishes frameworks for evaluating and prioritizing product initiatives based on strategic value, feasibility, and impact.
• Builds and establishes a best-practice PMO function to support strategic planning, governance models, and performance tracking across all product development activities.
• Supports review of divisional OKRs and KPIs and evaluates alignment with the group strategy.
• Mentors and scales a high-performing team through coaching, empowerment, and performance management to elevate organizational decision-making and delivery of key projects.

Operational

• Maintains scalable frameworks for product and customer experience planning, prioritization, and execution.
• Manages end-to-end product strategy process, ensuring objectives, key results, and milestones are aligned and documented.
• Oversees creation, monitoring, and reporting of product and strategic project roadmaps to deliver initiatives on time and within scope.
• Implements governance processes to monitor progress, manage risks, and ensure accountability across strategic initiatives; supports executive reviews and steering committees.
• Monitors and mitigates risks with timely resolutions.
• Integrates customer insights into day-to-day product development and decision-making processes.
• Drives integration of customer insights and product data into regular development cycles and decision-making.
• Develops and maintains dashboards to monitor KPIs and performance against strategic goals; supports data-driven opportunity sizing, investment analysis, and project evaluation.
• Collaborates with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment with strategic priorities and foster a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Leads a Strategy, Insights and Project Management team focused on high performance and accountability.
• Continuously scans the external environment for trends, technologies, and consumer behaviours influencing future product strategy.

Management & Leadership

• Nurtures the team, fostering a culture of excellence, collaboration, and accountability with performance objectives and professional development.
• Acts as a strategic advisor to senior leadership, providing data-backed recommendations and influencing decision-making at the highest level.
• Institutes strategic thinking and analytical rigor across the Product Development department through training and knowledge sharing.
• Sets department objectives and priorities to align with business goals.

Qualifications

About You

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent with minimum 10 years of related experience.
• Relevant leadership experience in product and customer experience, preferably within airline, aviation, premium travel, hospitality, or similar industries driving innovation and digital transformation.
• Clear communication skills with proficiency in engaging C-level stakeholders and influencing decisions through data-backed narratives.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills to align across departments and drive joint outcomes.
• Experience leading teams through transformation, organizational shifts, and new operating models.
• Proven track record of delivering measurable impact on growth, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams with focus on coaching, mentoring and succession planning.
• Ability to translate product vision into long-term plans and anticipate trends.
• Understanding of P&L, cost-benefit analysis, budgeting and business case development.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and make sound decisions with imperfect information.

Preferred

• Experience in product portfolio management, roadmap planning and prioritization.
• Experience in customer insights, market research, segmentation and trend analysis.
• Experience in project management, program delivery, governance and milestone management.

About Qatar Airways Group: Our story started with four aircraft. Today, we deliver excellence across 12 businesses, united as one. We pursue bold innovation and growth, inviting you to bring your best ideas and passion to a truly global community.