Woolworths

• Be a part and lead a team that is always innovating and forward thinking

• Based at Favona and Ponsonby, stakeholders are across both locations

• Hybrid Working Environment

Woolworths NZ is transforming to make Kiwis lives better everyday, and wiqNZ is the engine room of that change. We are innovators, problem solvers and apply Customer first thinking to all we do. 

Our internal Woolworths and Quantium (wiq) Advanced Analytics team works with some of NZ's largest Datasets to solve complex problems for the NZ business and across Woolworths Group. The wiqNZ team is highly skilled and we work closely with our analytics peers in Australia, with a goal to embed much greater partnership, alignment and innovation co-creation across the Group as we jointly focus on unlocking the power of AI and insights to reimagine retail. 

We are looking for a high-calibre strategic leader to head our rapid-response Strategic Insights function. This isn't just an analytics role; it is a senior thought-leadership position designed for someone who can proactively identify value and drive tactical decisions on the business's most critical strategic topics.

Ready to make an impact?

As the Head of Strategic Insights, you will be the bridge between complex data and commercial action. You will partner with C-suite executives and senior leaders across the entire business (including Commercial, Operations, Loyalty and E-commerce) to ensure we are pulling the right levers to drive the business forward at pace. As such, this role draws heavily upon a strategic and cross-functional stakeholder management skill set, where you will be guiding the business on the right balance between effort and value, insights and action, and short vs. long term investment.

In summary, we are looking for a strong business leader and business partner, who has a passion for driving change via insights. Having a strong analytics background is valuable but candidates with senior strategic / consulting experience, who bring a focus on actionable insights and a passion to utilise emerging technologies to drive rapid impact and deliver better experiences for millions of customers and our teams is what will make you stand out.

What you'll do | Hei mahi

You will be the accountable owner of our advanced Insights functions, moving beyond "reactive" support to become a proactive partner in business strategy.

• Drive Strategic Value: Act as a senior thought leader to identify business challenges before they are raised as requests. You’ll use your strategic mindset to frame nebulous problems into structured hypotheses.

• Optimise insights processes: Partner across the business on the optimisation of business critical insights, focusing the business on performance against the metrics that matter and triangulating data and insights from across multiple different sources (market, internal). 

• Precision Execution: Own the "big-ticket" process management for quarterly strategic priority topics. You will ensure every project is framed, scoped, and planned cleanly, including cross-team collaboration, delivering actionable recommendations that senior stakeholders can implement immediately.

• AI & Innovation: Lead the charge on AI experimentation. You’ll find ways to leverage emerging tech to increase the speed and throughput of our insights, answering the business's toughest questions faster than ever before, plus input to the business and team requirements for emerging technologies and innovations.

• Trans-Tasman Collaboration: Partner with wiqAU and Group leads to leverage existing solutions and contribute to "retail of the future" thinking across the ANZ region.

• Develop future leaders: Develop talent pipelines, championing capability build through meaningful development plans, cross-wiq community advocacy, and ensuring succession plans are in place.

What you’ll bring | Hei koha

This role is ideal for a seasoned Strategy Consultant looking for a meaningful, delivery-focused role, or a Senior Analytics Leader ready to make a significant impact in a large-scale corporate environment.

• Strategic Pedigree: Extensive experience in strategy, ideally from a top-tier consulting firm or a large-scale FMCG / Retail corporate.

• Commercial Sharpness: An innate understanding of business drivers and the ability to package complex data into a compelling, non-technical "story" for Group Executives.

• Influence & Rigour: Outstanding stakeholder management skills with the ability to challenge senior leaders and navigate a complex, multi-BU environment.

• Leadership & Mentorship: A passion for growing the next generation of strategic analytics talent and fostering a high-performing, inclusive culture.

• Qualifications: A tertiary degree in a quantitative or business field (Computer Science, Engineering, etc.). An MBA or similar postgraduate qualification is highly desirable.

This is a fast paced innovative role and one where you will be empowered to make a significant contribution to making Kiwis’ lives a little better everyday! If you’d like to make a key contribution to the growth of our business, apply today!

Our Benefits

• Genuine flexibility in how and where you work

• Ongoing development within an ANZ team and access to COE/specialist career opportunities

• Everyday Rewards team card, providing a range of benefits including discounts and bonus points for groceries and discounted online shopping delivery

• Banking and insurance (health, life etc) discounts 

• Global and local career opportunities

Everyone belongs at Woolworths Group 

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are key to realising our purpose of better together for a better tomorrow. We recognise the value our team’s diversity brings to our business, customers, and communities and that teams with diverse experiences and backgrounds enrich our group and are better able to innovate and solve problems. As one of the largest employers in Australia and New Zealand, we aim to create a truly inclusive workplace where everyone feels that they belong, can be their best selves, and reach their full potential.

We encourage all candidates to apply; please let us know in your application if we can support you with any adjustments in the hiring process.