Director, Competitive Intelligence & Strategy
Talkdesk
At Talkdesk, we are courageous innovators focused on redefining the customer experience, making the impossible possible for companies globally. We champion an inclusive and diverse culture representative of the communities in which we live and serve. And, we give back to our community by volunteering our time, supporting non-profits, and minimizing our global footprint. Each day, thousands of employees, customers, and partners all over the world trust Talkdesk to deliver a better way to great experiences.
We are recognized as a cloud contact center leader by many of the most influential research organizations, including Gartner and Forrester. With $498 million in total funding, a valuation of more than $10 Billion, and a ranking of #8 on the Forbes Cloud 100 list, now is the time to be part of the Talkdesk legacy to help accelerate our success in a new decade of transformational growth.
At Talkdesk, we embrace FAST, our fundamental operating principles that define who we are as an organization. These principles drive us to make the impossible possible. FAST: Focus + Accountability + Speed = Talkdesker.
- Focus: Focus time, energy and attention on what is most impactful for the business and thoughtful about how and when to partner with others.
- Accountability: Hold self and others accountable to meet commitments and drive results. Accept responsibility for successes and failures.
- Speed: Execute with agility and urgency. Act promptly, decisively, and without delay. Make good and timely decisions that keep the organization moving forward.
- Talkdesker: YOU!
We are looking for an experienced product storyteller and competitive strategist to lead Talkdesk’s Go-to-Market Strategy & Operations function. In this role, you will be responsible for Competitive Intelligence, Market Insights, Pricing, Naming, Strategic Alliances, and PMM Operations. You will design, execute, and support highly visible initiatives to discover and disseminate impactful competitive & market insights that will directly influence Talkdesk’s go-to-market strategy and product roadmap.
You will work closely with sales, marketing, product, and executive leadership to help Talkdesk aggressively grow our pipeline and compete effectively in the field through actionable intelligence, regular training, and strategic deal support. You have a record of success in dynamic environments and grace in collaborating with multiple stakeholders to get stuff done. Strong presentation skills, executive presence, and ability to deal with ambiguity are critical. You are comfortable toggling between detailed research & insights, to big picture initiatives like international geographic expansion and 5-year strategic planning.
Responsibilities:
- Manage and execute on a comprehensive competitive intelligence program, including win/loss analysis, competitor product launches, objection handling, and more.
- Research and keep current on market/competitor trends and news.
- Gather, analyze, and synthesize information about the contact center market, focusing on both existing and emerging competitive landscapes.
- Influence product roadmap based on analysis and insight derived from competitive learnings.
- Develop and maintain a network of information sources, including internal teams, partners, customers, and analysts.
- Develop up-to-date tools (such as FAQs, battle cards, SWOT analysis, playbooks, internal and external presentations) with a view toward improving sales effectiveness.
- Provide field support for sales teams engaged in competitive discussions with prospects or customers.
- Brief internal teams on a quarterly basis around new competitor technologies, competitive messaging, and positioning issues.
- Lead the naming committee & engage closely on pricing strategy.
- Manage operations for PMM & IMM teams.
- Help foster and drive internal competitive information sharing.
- Work with some of the best executives in the business.
- Make a measurable impact on one of the fastest growing companies in Silicon Valley.
Key qualities for success in this role include:
- Lead the creation of succinct and effective sales training materials (battle cards, trainings, FAQs, etc.), making it easy for non-technical sales to understand our competitive differentiation.
- Think strategically to provide guidance to colleagues and leaders in marketing, sales, and corporate strategy.
- Identify gaps, recommend and create marketing programs, set a plan and drive the execution.
- Partner with Product Management to understand and influence product strategy and roadmaps and develop competitive marketing strategies
- Stay tuned to market signals (competitive messaging, trends, etc) for competitors within the market to identify marketing opportunities.
- Partner closely with campaigns, solution engineering, and other product marketers and drive cross-functional alignment on programs to drive pipeline.
- Keep current with technology trends and incorporate emerging technologies to inform GTM programs and assets.
Required Skills
- 6+ years of experience in competitive intelligence, product marketing, product management, solution engineering, sales enablement, account executive / solutions engineer at a high tech company, or similar equivalent.
- Industry knowledge of contact centers, customer experience, customer service, helpdesk, and/or CRM SaaS products is preferred
- Be scrappy. You’ll need the ability to successfully drive projects in a startup environment (with minimal guidance, limited resources)
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present in front of sellers, executives, vendors, partners, and customers.
- Consistent track record in defining/driving project execution and thriving in a dynamic environment.
- Hands-on experience building a range of marketing assets, including compelling positioning and messaging, succinct pitch-decks, demo videos, and event/webinar content.
- High sense of urgency to respond to critical business questions.
- Curious, analytical, innovative, and creative with the execution skills to make it happen.
Work Environment and Physical Requirements:
Primarily office-environment work, extended periods of sitting or standing, computer-based work. Limited lifting, and equipment usage limited to computer-related equipment (keyboards, mouse, etc.)