Section Head - Market Strategy & Insights PM Global South

The role is responsible for understanding how markets are evolving, identifying strategic opportunities and risks, developing market clusters, monitoring relevant local regulatory developments and translating market information into actionable strategic implications for Global South.

The role works closely with the Central Market Intelligence organization, which provides standardized data, methodologies and foundational market information. Market Strategy & Insights is not a regional reporting or data-production extension of the Central Market Intelligence team. Instead, it is responsible for applying, enriching and challenging the available data through regional context and converting it into strategic insights and recommendations for Global South.

• You will work closely with Portfolio Strategy & Business Planning, Application Specialists and Regional Product Marketing to ensure that market developments are translated into meaningful strategic and portfolio actions.

Regional Market Strategy & Insights (30%)

• Develop and maintain the strategic understanding of markets across LAMEA and ISEAA, acting as the primary Global South business interface to Central Market Intelligence
• Interpret market data and information from Central Market Intelligence and other sources in the context of regional business priorities and define the regional strategic questions and intelligence requirements that require support from the Central team
• Identify structural market changes, growth opportunities, risks, customer trends, competitive developments and emerging technologies
• Supplement standardized market data with local market intelligence, qualitative insights and regional context where required
• Challenge assumptions and identify areas where standard global datasets do not adequately reflect local market realities
• Translate market information into clear strategic implications and recommendations for Global South and Prevent duplication of data production and standardized reporting activities between the organizations

Market Segmentation, Clustering & Bundling (20%)

• Develop and maintain the Global South market segmentation and clustering approach

• Identify opportunities to bundle or cluster countries based on similarities in customer needs, applications, regulations, infrastructure, competitive dynamics, economics and product requirements

• Work jointly with Portfolio Strategy & Business Planning to determine the implications of market clusters for portfolio strategy and business planning

• Use both Central Market Intelligence data and regional/local intelligence to validate market clusters

• Continuously review market clusters as market conditions evolve

• Recommend differentiated approaches where markets cannot effectively be clustered

Local Market & Regulatory Intelligence (20%)

• Monitor local market developments and regulatory/policy changes that may affect customer demand, market attractiveness, product requirements or business models

• Provide an early-warning capability for local developments not covered by the formal Central Market Intelligence or Homologation monitoring processes

• Assess the commercial and strategic implications of relevant local developments

• Connect local developments with broader regional market trends

• Escalate regulatory topics requiring formal interpretation or compliance assessment to Homologation

Stakeholder Management & Regional Alignment (15%)

• Act as the strategic market sparring partner for the Global South Product Marketing organization

• Work with Application Specialists to incorporate deep application and customer expertise into the regional market perspective

• Work with Portfolio Strategy & Business Planning to translate market insights and market clusters into portfolio implications

• Support Regional Product Marketing with relevant market insights for regional execution

• Collaborate with Central Market Intelligence while maintaining clear ownership of Global South strategic market interpretation

Leadership and Section Management (15%)

• Lead a defined section with clear accountability for execution quality, delivery discipline, and business outcomes within the assigned scope

• Build a high‑performing direct team, ensuring role clarity, ownership, and effective collaboration with closely linked regional, operational, logistics, and interface teams.

• Translate function‑level engagement priorities into concrete section‑level actions, supporting the Daimler Truck Engagement Survey agenda with measurable improvements in team effectiveness.

• Coach and develop individual contributors and entry‑level managers, strengthening functional capability, problem‑solving skills, and readiness for next‑level roles.

• Drive strong team morale, engagement, and ownership by fostering an inclusive, performance‑oriented culture and constructive cross‑functional collaboration.

• Reinforce performance and people discipline by setting clear expectations, tracking outcomes, recognizing contributions, and aligning individual development actions with section and business priorities. 

Actively contribute to succession readiness at section level by identifying talent potential, enabling role enrichment, and ensuring continuity for critical responsibilities

BE / B.Tech Engg. with 15+ years of experience

• 8+ years of professional experience in market strategy, business strategy, market intelligence, commercial strategy, consulting, product strategy or a comparable strategic function

• Proven experience in developing market strategies, market segmentation and identifying growth opportunities across multiple markets or regions

• Demonstrated ability to translate market data, customer insights, competitive intelligence and external trends into clear strategic recommendations and business implications

• Experience working across multiple countries and diverse market environments, ideally in emerging and developing markets

• Experience in market clustering, market prioritization or developing differentiated market approaches is highly desirable

• Strong understanding of how regulatory, economic, competitive and customer developments can influence market attractiveness and business opportunities

• Proven ability to work with incomplete or ambiguous information, develop hypotheses and establish a fact-based strategic point of view

• Experience influencing senior stakeholders and working effectively across regional and global organizations, ideally without direct reporting authority

• Experience in the automotive, commercial vehicle, mobility, transportation or industrial sector is an advantage

• Intercultural competence and experience working in global, multicultural teams

• Confident presentation skills for senior leadership and external stakeholders

• Language skills: Fluent English (Portuguese, Spanish, German are a strong plus). 
• Understanding of pricing mechanisms, discount structures, business models, and stakeholder management