Sr Director, Analyst - Smart Manufacturing (Remote: US)

About the role:

Are you driven to help manufacturing companies become smarter, more efficient, and more profitable through technology? We want someone who understands the technologies that will change the way manufacturing works and can aid executives in making critical decisions.

The person in this role is expected to write reports that provide insights on how best to sort through and then implement technology. We need someone who can connect tech capabilities to real business outcomes.

We seek someone with experience, ideally hands-on, with core manufacturing technologies like MES, ERP, or industrial IoT and AI applications and implementations. Additionally, we need someone with familiarity with smart manufacturing technologies, including AI/GenAI, agentic AI, machine customers, digital twins, automation, robotics, cloud and edge computing, AR/VR.

Gartner Analysts are industry thought leaders who create must-have research, market predictions and best practices for a broad range of world-leading organizations. A Senior Director serves as a leader within Gartner’s Research and Advisory sector, 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 research 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.

What you will do:

• Create innovative, thought provoking, and highly leveraged “must-have research” content

• Develop new research 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 research 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 Research and Sales: Provide sales support serving as voice of the market to help research 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 research content peer review

• Build credibility as an industry expert to represent Gartner research, methodology and strategy

• Actively participate in innovation, ideation, and research discussions and collaborate effectively with peers in the research community

• Identify research process improvements or develop new processes that help the team and Research & Advisory 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 research and interaction.

What you will need:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience; Graduate degree preferred

• 12+ years of relevant field or industry experience

• 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 clie