Research Executive - Futurist

Role purpose

The role of the Research Executive is to support the identification and interpretation of future market, customer, technology, competitive and societal shifts. The role gathers and analyses evidence, maintains intelligence tools and translates findings into practical insights that inform planning, innovation and risk management.

Responsibilities

Strategic foresight and futures intelligence | 30%

• Conduct horizon scanning across social, technological, economic, environmental, political and regulatory domains.
• Identify and document trends, weak signals and potential disruptions.
• Analyse possible implications for customers, markets and business models.
• Support the development of scenarios, trend radars and foresight frameworks.
• Prepare materials and evidence for future-thinking workshops.

Predictive intelligence and forecasting | 20%

• Gather, clean and analyse data used to understand customer and market direction.
• Track leading indicators and flag material changes, opportunities or risks.
• Use approved analytics and AI-assisted tools to support forecasts.
• Prepare evidence-based projections and clearly state assumptions and limitations.

Market and competitive intelligence | 40%

• Monitor competitors, adjacent industries, emerging technologies and new business models.
• Maintain competitor profiles, intelligence trackers and regular market updates.
• Analyse how market shifts may affect revenue, brand and customer experience.
• Draft timely alerts on emerging threats and opportunities.
• Support identification of whitespace opportunities for future growth.

Insight communication and business support | 10%

• Synthesise findings into concise reports, presentations and executive-ready summaries.
• Provide evidence and analysis to support strategy and innovation teams.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders and research partners to deliver agreed outputs.
• Escalate important signals and emerging risks with clear supporting evidence.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in economics, data science, strategic management, anthropology, business, research or a related field.
• Approximately 3-5 years of experience in research, market intelligence, analytics, strategy or a related discipline.
• Practical exposure to trends, forecasting, futures thinking or predictive analysis is desirable.
• A strategic foresight or analytics certification is an added advantage.