Research Programs & Market Insights Lead, Product Marketing

Santa Clara County, CA (On-site)

$175K/yr – $200K/yrSenior Level10+ years expFull time

Posted 12 days ago

Job Summary

Own and lead the primary research program across Product Marketing and Product, directing external partners and cross-functional teams to uncover customer needs, market dynamics, and decision drivers that shape go-to-market and product strategy.

  • Lead end-to-end research programs with partners and internal stakeholders.
  • Translate findings into decision-ready insights for senior leaders and GTM teams.
  • Shape strategy through market sizing, customer decision dynamics, and thought leadership.

Job Description

Responsibilities

  • Lead Research Programs: Lead the primary research program for Product Marketing and Product, setting priorities and quality standards.
  • Lead Through Partners: Direct research agencies and panel providers to execute studies end to end, managing scope, methodology, and budget. Oversee workstreams and review design and findings for rigor and quality.
  • Understand Customers and Buyers: Lead research on customer needs, jobs to be done, buyer journeys, and decision-making, and bring findings together into a clear, customer-centered view of the market.
  • Market Sizing and Segmentation: Lead market sizing and segmentation research to inform how we understand the markets we serve and new developing markets.
  • Customer Decision Dynamics: Direct structured research, including win/loss, to understand how customers evaluate and choose, and turn the findings into insight for go-to-market and product teams.
  • Brief Senior Leaders: Present findings to senior and executive management in Product Marketing and Product Management with clear, decision-ready insight.
  • Drive Thought Leadership: Develop research perspectives on customer and market trends that inform strategy and messaging.
  • Lead Through Influence: Guide cross-functional initiatives, apply modern tools and AI to improve how research is done, and mentor colleagues.

Requirements

  • Domain Expertise: Deep technical understanding of the technologies, architectures, and go-to-market strategies within the B2B Data, AI, and Cloud Infrastructure industries.
  • Proven CI Execution: 10+ years of hands-on experience in competitive intelligence, technical product marketing, or sales engineering, with a proven track record of personally creating high-impact competitive content.
  • Hands-on Tool Proficiency: Direct experience using and managing competitive intelligence platforms (e.g., Klue, Crayon) and conversational intelligence tools (e.g., Gong) to gather field insights.
  • Strong Research & Synthesis Skills: Proven ability to independently dig through competitor documentation, financial filings, and analyst reports to extract actionable, validated insights.
  • Sales Collaboration: High comfort level working directly alongside Field sales teams in active sales cycles, translating technical specs into "how-to-win" sales talk-tracks.
  • Execution-Oriented: A self-starter who thrives on detailed execution, with the ability to own projects end-to-end without administrative oversight or direct reports.
  • Superior Communication: Outstanding oral and written communication skills, with the ability to present complex technical findings clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Education: • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Business, or a related field.
  • • MBA and/or a strong technical background in data management or AI/ML workloads is highly preferred.
  • Equivalent combination of additional experience as stated above can be considered in place of academic degree listed.

Preferred

  • MBA and/or a strong technical background in data management or AI/ML workloads is highly preferred.

Salaries

Posted range

$175K/yr – $200K/yr

Taken straight from the job posting.

The middle of this range ($188K) is in line with the median base salary for Product Marketing Lead roles in the United States ($181K).

Product Marketing Lead median pay in the United States

$183K/yr

Most earn $152K to $200K. Based on 32 salaries, including bonus and equity.

See all NetApp, Inc. salaries

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Research Programs & Market Insights Lead, Product Marketing

NetApp, Inc. · Santa Clara County, CA · On-site