Lead Analyst, Market and Competitive Intelligence at H&M Group i Stockholm

Lead Analyst, Market and Competitive Intelligence

Insights & Analytics, H&M Group

For over 70 years, H&M Group has worked towards our mission of democratising fashion for people around the world. We also believe that fashion should not only be about looking good, but something that helps people feel good about themselves every single day.

The Insight and Analytics (I&A) is a multidisciplinary team that studies the world to inform, inspire and ignite the imaginations of our colleagues across the H&M Group. We advocate for the needs of our customers and help the company cultivate the knowledge it needs to make creative and enlightened decisions.

As one of the largest brands in the world, our designs touch millions of people every day. Our scale means we serve people across cultures, languages and in 71 countries. With such a wide presence, our understanding of the world’s diversity is critical to our business.

We are looking for people to join our team who are as passionate as we are about discovery, asking questions and learning about people, fashion and culture. This role will blend the creative use of market data, with a broader understanding of the cultural, technological and economic forces that are shaping the fashion industry.

We are a team from a wide range of backgrounds and there is no uniform profile we are seeking.  Our expectation is, that you are imaginative, have an investigative background, and have a rigorous understanding of journalistic practice, or market and competitive intelligence. You do not need to come from inside the fashion industry, and we hope you will still apply even if you don’t have a conventional profile.

Responsibilities

• Constantly ask questions about if we are maintaining competitiveness within key markets, including in product offerings, pricing, supply chain, service design, technologies, compliance and ethics
• Acting as our in-house principal investigator and journalist who probes interesting leads, manages complex market investigations and writes up actionable findings
• Conducting in depth interviews with external business, academic, finance, political and tech subject matter experts
• Conducting needs analysis to identify knowledge gaps about our markets or competitors
• Monitoring publicly available information on the competitive landscape, including announcements, expansion, hiring and acquisitions
• Assigning prioritisation to key competitor or market findings that should be explored in depth
• Developing processes to create early warning signals in relation to potential market, geopolitical or technological threats that could affect our business, brand or staff
• Identifying key M&A activity within our industry and identifying potential investments in promising new technologies or start ups
• Exploring the opportunities and threats of technological change in our industry and for our business
• Identifying emerging competitors, both inside and outside fashion
• Travelling to conferences and events in key markets or in sectors of interest to identify emerging trends, technologies, competitors or ideas that could impact our business
• Managing contracts with third party research firms that conduct ad hoc market intelligence research projects
• Conducting research with the highest degree of integrity and ethics, including respect for privacy, local laws and customs, and always taking due care in dealing with sensitive topics
• On occasion, using data or research to respectfully and constructively challenge our prior assumptions about our competitors and markets
• If based elsewhere, frequent travel to our global head office in Stockholm, Sweden may also be required

Qualifications

·       Degree in Journalism or Business and 3-5 years of experience in a field related to journalism, or market and competitive intelligence

·       A background in business, fashion and/or tech journalism could be desirable, but is not required

·       A background in research or due diligence in finance, technology and/or venture capital could be desirable, but is not required

Required skills

·       Analytical and a meticulous desire to identify key stories in a noisy information landscape

·       Familiarity with critical technological and market trends affecting B2C and retail businesses

·       Strong investigative acumen and fearless in chasing leads

·       Experienced at putting together disparate pieces of information to extrapolate findings and paint a larger picture

·       Effective at communicating and explaining data in simple and memorable ways

·       A natural story-teller and engaging communicator

·       Awareness of emerging technologies and business

·       Cultural awareness and an insatiable interest about the world

Desirable skills

·       Experience in data journalism

·       Familiarity with data analysis software, such as R, Python or SPSS would be an advantage, but is not required

·       Familiarity with social listening tools, such as Crimson Hexagon or Brandwatch

·       Familiarity with common data visualisation tools, such as Tableau

·       Knowledge of a major world language would be an advantage, such as Spanish, Hindi, Mandarin or Arabic

·       An interest in fashion and technology

Application questions

In your application, please answer any two of the four following questions (circa 300-400 words each). This can be done in a slide deck or in a cover letter, as you prefer. There are no right or wrong answers, we are simply interested in how you approach the question!

1.         What role could journalism have in enhancing a company’s formulation of commercial strategy?

2.        What are the most underappreciated emerging threats or opportunities to the retail industry? Why?

3.       How could one infer and map out the competitive landscape using only publicly accessible information?

4.        How could one estimate if a new technology, industry trend, or business model is a temporary fluke or a significant market shift?

Optional information

If you feel like your formal CV does not fully represent your talent or experience, please take an opportunity to briefly explain or demonstrate in your own way something that would help us better understand your potential for this role. For example, this could be showing us samples of your writing, passion projects or volunteering.

How to apply

If this opportunity sounds interesting, please apply by sending us an application that includes answers to the above questions, your CV (or a portfolio of work) and cover letter by 12.8.2019. If you have any questions about the role, please contact insights@hm.com.