Senior Director Analyst - Software Engineering AI Strategy and Value

Role Description

This is an individual contributor role, based remotely in North America.

Gartner Analysts are industry thought leaders who create must-have insights, market predictions and best practices for a broad range of world-leading organizations. A Senior Director serves as a leader within Gartner’s Business and Technology Insights (BTI) group, establishing oneself as a credible voice within their designated market at local, regional and global levels. Utilizing exceptional research and analytical skills, a Senior Director plays a significant role in producing pragmatic and provocative insights which Gartner clients consume and apply to propel their business toward key objectives. They are a trusted source of advice for clients, reinforcing Gartner’s value every day by engaging them via in-person meetings, virtual meetings, sales support visits and Gartner conferences to discuss complex client challenges and offer appropriate recommendations.

This role sits within Gartner’s Software Engineering Practice and advises leaders of software engineering organizations around the world. The focus is on helping organizations effectively apply AI and agentic capabilities across the SDLC and in the software they deliver to drive new sources of value. The role provides strategic guidance on how to develop a comprehensive software engineering AI strategy, prioritize high-value opportunities, and measure and communicate the impact of AI to drive ROI.

What you will do:

• Create innovative, thought provoking, and highly leveraged “must-have insights” content
• Develop new insights and ideas through thought leadership and offer compelling, actionable approaches to client's needs and requests that accelerate the client's ability to act
• Develop in-depth analysis to identify the root cause of a client’s barriers or overall needs and reframe thinking to drive strategy forward
• Demonstrate thought leadership in establishing Insights positions across a team of analysts
• Bring provocative, independent insights to Gartner leaders that can evolve the course of a research agenda
• Research, analyze and predict market trends and shifts to provide clients and vendors with actionable insights
• Provide clients and prospects with actionable advice aligned to their designated content area via virtual or face-to-face interactions
• Create and deliver high value presentation materials on and off stage for Gartner events, industry and professional association conferences, and client briefings
• Support BTI and Sales: Provide sales support serving as voice of the market to help Insights teams create content and to drive engagement with clients to make progress against their critical priorities to grow their business
• Provide high quality and timely content peer review
• Build credibility as an industry expert to represent Gartner insights, methodology and strategy
• Actively participate in innovation, ideation, and research discussions and collaborate effectively with peers in the Insights community
• Identify research process improvements or develop new processes that help the team and BTI provide excellent service delivery
• Be a mentor and a coach by supporting more junior team members
• Be client-centric while actively seeking to help clients engage regularly and often with Gartner insights and interactions

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience; Graduate degree preferred
• 12+ years of relevant field or industry experience
• Proven software engineering leadership experience, having led large-scale, multi-team software delivery organizations with accountability for execution, quality and outcomes
• Deep expertise in software engineering strategy and value measurement for AI, including roadmap planning, technology decision-making, performance assessment, metrics and ROI evaluation
• Hands-on expertise in AI-native software development, including embedding AI across the SDLC, leveraging AI to improve developer productivity and optimizing software delivery outcomes, and AI engineering to deliver AI applications and agents
• Demonstrate executive presence; can immediately establish credibility with executives and additional stakeholders
• Strong organizational skills; ability to work under tight deadlines and produce high quality deliverables
• Demonstrate excellence in research and writing ability
• Strong written and verbal proficiency, analytical and presentation skills; ability to engage clients and respond effectively to questions
• Proficient in analyzing and synthesizing data; can effectively apply patterns and frameworks while drawing and defending conclusions to client challenges
• Strong communication skills - able to explain complex concepts concisely and simply
• Subject matter expertise; comfortable presenting at large and small-scale speaking engagements
• Strong business and financial acumen
• Deep knowledge of the global and competitive landscape within subject area as well as the interplay in that market
• Ability to work independently, while also being intrinsically motivated to collaborate across teams and support the workflow of others, in a multicultural global team
• Learning agile and adept with navigating highly matrixed environments
• Ability to represent Gartner's research methodology and strategies effectively at all levels
• Willingness and ability to travel up to 25% (where applicable)

Benefits

• World-class benefits
• Highly competitive compensation
• Disproportionate rewards for top performers
• Flexibility in a hybrid work environment
• Generous PTO
• 401k match up to $7,200 per year
• Opportunity to purchase company stock at a discount