Overview
We are seeking a Research & Strategy Manager to play a key role in shaping the future of onboard products and experiences. This role will drive insight-led product planning and development strategies, ensuring decisions are supported by robust analysis, market intelligence, and customer research.
Working closely with senior leadership, subject matter experts, and product owners, you will align product development initiatives with commercial goals, customer needs, and emerging industry trends. Leading the research and analytics function, you will translate qualitative and quantitative insights into actionable recommendations, business cases, and long-term product roadmaps.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead competitive benchmarking, customer insights programmes, and market scanning to inform differentiated product positioning.
- Translate research findings and industry trends into strategic recommendations, opportunity frameworks, and scenario plans.
- Develop business cases for cabin product upgrades, seating innovations, inflight entertainment systems, connectivity enhancements, and overall onboard experience initiatives, including financial modelling and ROI analysis.
- Track new technologies, innovations, and consumer behaviours across travel, hospitality, and lifestyle sectors to inspire product direction.
- Drive research programmes such as passenger surveys, focus groups, and competitor analysis to capture market expectations.
- Collaborate with senior stakeholders to support long-term planning, investment decisions, and cost justifications.
- Support continuous improvement by redefining processes, SOPs, and KPIs to improve operational efficiency and service delivery.
Candidate Profile
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business, Strategy, Aviation Management or a related field.
- At least 7 years’ experience in strategy, product research, insights, or management consulting, ideally within aviation, travel, or hospitality.
- Certification in Lean Six Sigma (Green Belt or higher) or equivalent, with proven experience in process improvement, KPI frameworks, and operational optimisation.
- Skilled in market benchmarking and maintaining competitor intelligence resources.
- Strong ability to influence stakeholders through structured analysis and data-driven recommendations.
- Proficiency in leveraging AI tools and large datasets to generate deep insights.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to prepare executive-level reports.
- Proficient in MS Office, particularly Excel and PowerPoint, with experience creating dashboards and tracking performance metrics.