We are seeking a highly strategic and analytical Director of Competitive Intelligence (CI) to build and lead our CI function. In this critical leadership role, you will be the foremost expert on our competitive landscape, covering enterprise data infrastructure, hybrid multi-cloud solutions, and AI workloads.
Partnering closely with Product Marketing, Sales, and Product Management leadership, you will develop actionable, outcomes-oriented intelligence that drives our go-to-market (GTM) strategy, shapes our product positioning, and accelerates our win rates against key industry rivals (e.g., enterprise storage, neo-cloud providers, and specialized AI data platforms).
Key Responsibilities
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Strategic CI Leadership: Define and execute the vision, strategy, and operational cadence for the Competitive Intelligence function within the broader Product Marketing organization.
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Market & Competitor Analysis: Continuously monitor the data infrastructure and AI market landscape. Deep-dive into the technical and commercial strategies of key competitors, evaluating their product capabilities, pricing models, marketing spend, and market positioning.
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Sales Enablement & Battlecards: Translate complex technical differentiators into easily consumable, high-impact assets for the sales and partner organizations. Produce and maintain dynamic battlecards, competitive pitch decks, and objection-handling guides that empower sales to win in highly contested deals.
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Win/Loss Analysis: Own the global win/loss analysis program. Conduct rigorous interviews and data analysis to identify trends, isolate root causes of wins and losses, and provide actionable recommendations to Product and GTM teams.
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Cross-Functional GTM Influence: Serve as a strategic advisor to the executive team. Leverage intelligence to refine product launch processes, influence the product roadmap, and help define holistic solutions marketing frameworks that highlight our unique value proposition in STaaS (Storage-as-a-Service) and AI infrastructure.
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Team Development: Hire, mentor, and develop a team of high-performing competitive intelligence analysts and managers. Foster a culture of continuous learning and analytical rigor.
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Experience: 12+ years of experience in Competitive Intelligence, Product Marketing, Solutions Architecture, or Corporate Strategy within the B2B enterprise tech sector. A minimum of 5+ years in a people-management or team-leadership role.
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Domain Expertise: Deep foundational knowledge of enterprise data storage, cloud architectures (AWS, Azure, GCP), hybrid cloud environments, and the emerging AI data infrastructure ecosystem.
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Analytical Acumen: Proven ability to synthesize massive amounts of structured and unstructured data (financial reports, technical documentation, market whispers) into concise, executive-level insights.
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Sales Empathy: Strong understanding of enterprise B2B sales cycles. Demonstrated success in building materials that directly correlate to increased sales productivity and competitive win rates.
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Exceptional Communication: Stellar written and verbal communication skills. Ability to confidently present findings and strategic recommendations to C-level executives, product leaders, and massive sales kick-off audiences.
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Preferred Qualifications
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Previous experience specifically competing against or working at major data storage or neo-cloud competitors.
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Advanced degree (MBA or technical Master's degree) preferred.
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Familiarity with CI platforms (e.g., Klue, Crayon) and CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce).
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A Bachelor's Degree in a techincal field of study or business domain with the required years of direct work experience listed above.
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Additional years of experience may be considered in place of a Bachelor's Degree.
Compensation:
The target salary range for this position is $265,000-305,000. The salary offered will be determined by the candidate's location, qualifications, experience, and education and may be outside of this range. Final compensation packages are competitive and in line with industry standards, reflecting a variety of factors, and include a comprehensive benefits package. This may cover Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Retirement or Pension Plans, Paid Time Off (PTO), various Leave options, Performance-Based Incentives, employee stock purchase plan, and/or restricted stocks (RSU’s), with all offerings subject to regional variations and governed by local laws, regulations, and company policies. Benefits may vary by country and region, and further details will be provided as part of the recruitment process.
At NetApp, we embrace a hybrid working environment designed to strengthen connection, collaboration, and culture for all employees. This means that most roles will have some level of in-office and/or in-person expectations, which will be shared during the recruitment process.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
NetApp is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information, pregnancy, protected veteran status, and any other protected classification.
Why You'll Thrive at NetApp
At NetApp, you won't wait for the perfect moment—you'll make it. The early planning, the extra thought, the bold idea that turns good into great: That's how our people operate and how we continue to push the boundaries of data infrastructure.
NetApp is the trusted partner for organizations transforming data into opportunity. As the only enterprise-grade storage service natively embedded in Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft Azure, we empower customers to run everything from traditional workloads to enterprise AI with unmatched performance, resilience, and security.
Our culture
We celebrate mold breakers, bold thinkers, and problem solvers. We reward initiative, impact, and ownership. We provide flexibility so you can balance professional ambition with your personal life. Here, differences are not just welcomed—they drive everything we do.
If you're ready to innovate, rise to the challenge, and own every moment - make your next move your best one. now.
Submitting an Application
To ensure a streamlined and fair hiring process for all candidates, our team only reviews applications submitted through our company website. This practice allows us to track, assess, and respond to applicants efficiently. Emailing our employees, recruiters, or Human Resources personnel directly will not influence your application.
AI Disclosure
For select roles, some stages of our hiring process may use artificial intelligence tools to help evaluate applications and candidate selection. These tools support—rather than replace—human decision-making.
