Senior Consultant – Strategic Research & Technology Insights EA-1366

NAXCON GmbH, headquartered in Weil am Rhein with additional offices, including Stuttgart, is one of Germany's leading engineering and IT service providers.

Our experts possess extensive expertise in software and hardware development, modern electronics, and cutting-edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).

In addition to delivering high-quality engineering solutions for our customers, we are passionate about driving our own innovation projects as well as research and development activities. Renowned companies from a wide range of industries place their trust in our expertise, reflecting the outstanding knowledge, professionalism, and commitment of our engineers.

Position: Senior Consultant – Strategic Research & Technology Insights

Location: Berlin, Bonn, Munich, Meckenheim

Field: Defence

Type: Full-time/80% Remote

Project Environment

The role is positioned within a strategic research and insights function focused on identifying, analysing and developing strategic topics that support corporate strategy and the creation of new business opportunities.

The position continuously monitors national and international market, technology and innovation trends and translates them into strategic recommendations for management, specialist departments and customer projects.

The Senior Consultant is responsible for several strategic topic portfolios and develops them continuously. The main areas of focus include:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Cybersecurity
• Defence
• Cloud technologies
• Digitalisation
• Data and Analytics
• Emerging technologies
• Other strategically relevant future technologies

The objective is to identify relevant market and technology trends at an early stage, assess their strategic importance and derive robust decision-making foundations for management and customer projects.

The role also supports internal and external projects through strategic research, executive summaries, management briefings and analytical decision documents.

Responsibilities

• Conduct in-depth analysis of complex and diverse strategic consulting topics.
• Assume subject-matter responsibility for selected strategic themes as a senior specialist.
• Identify and analyse national and international market, technology and innovation trends.
• Evaluate the strategic relevance, opportunities, risks and potential impact of emerging technologies.
• Develop strategic recommendations for management, specialist departments and customer projects.
• Manage and continuously develop several strategic topic portfolios.
• Conduct technology scouting and technology-foresight activities.
• Develop scenarios, trend assessments and strategic outlooks.
• Prepare market, competitor, ecosystem and technology analyses.
• Apply structured research, evaluation and prioritisation methods to complex questions.
• Produce executive summaries, white papers, strategic analyses and management briefings.
• Prepare decision papers and recommendations for senior-management committees.
• Design, plan and lead one or more consulting, research or strategy projects.
• Define project objectives, work packages, methods, schedules and deliverables.
• Coordinate internal and external stakeholders involved in strategic research initiatives.
• Support consulting, innovation and transformation projects with evidence-based research and analysis.
• Prepare and deliver presentations for management, specialist departments and customers.
• Present complex technological and commercial topics in a clear and audience-appropriate manner.
• Contribute expert input to management boards, risk-review meetings and other decision-making bodies.
• Monitor the ongoing development of assigned strategic topics and update recommendations accordingly.
• Ensure that research results are traceable, well-structured and suitable for executive decision-making.

Required Qualifications

• Master's degree, diploma or comparable advanced qualification in one of the following areas:
• Computer Science
• Business Informatics
• Business or Economics
• Engineering
• Natural Sciences
• A comparable discipline
• A doctorate in one of these or a comparable subject area is advantageous.
• German language skills at CEFR C1 level.
• English language skills at CEFR B2 level.
• Demonstrable experience in at least one of the following areas:
• Strategic research
• Market analysis
• Technology analysis
• Innovation management
• Strategy consulting
• Strong knowledge of several future-oriented technology domains, such as:
• Artificial Intelligence
• Cybersecurity
• Defence technologies
• Cloud technologies
• Digitalisation
• Data and Analytics
• Emerging technologies
• Strong knowledge of established research, analysis and evaluation methods.
• Experience translating complex findings into management-level decision support.

Required Professional Experience

The candidate should have:

• At least eight years of professional experience in strategic research, market analysis, technology analysis or strategy consulting.
• At least five years of experience developing and managing strategic topic portfolios or future-oriented technology themes.
• At least five years of experience preparing:
• Executive summaries
• Management briefings
• White papers
• Strategic decision documents
• At least five years of experience analysing and evaluating technological developments, particularly in areas such as:
• Artificial Intelligence
• Cybersecurity
• Defence
• Cloud technologies
• Digitalisation
• At least three years of experience supporting complex consulting, innovation or transformation projects through strategic research and analytical services.

The required experience should reflect continuous and substantive responsibility in the relevant subject area rather than occasional or isolated involvement.

Required Skills

• Strategic research
• Market and technology analysis
• Technology scouting
• Technology foresight
• Trend monitoring
• Scenario development
• Innovation management
• Strategic portfolio development
• Strategy consulting
• Competitive and ecosystem analysis
• Research design
• Qualitative and quantitative analysis
• Technology assessment
• Opportunity and risk evaluation
• Executive decision support
• Executive-summary preparation
• White-paper development
• Management briefing
• Project and stakeholder management
• Presentation and facilitation
• Strategic communication
• Development of management recommendations

Personal Competencies

• Strong analytical thinking and the ability to evaluate complex economic and technological relationships.
• Strategic mindset and the ability to identify relevant market and technology trends.
• Ability to derive practical and evidence-based recommendations from research findings.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to communicate complex topics appropriately to management, specialist departments and customers.
• Independent and responsible working style.
• Ability to manage and prioritise several strategic topics in parallel.
• Strong teamwork and collaboration skills.
• Ability to work effectively in interdisciplinary teams and with diverse stakeholders.
• Strong innovation orientation.
• Ability to introduce new ideas and continuously develop strategic topics.
• High level of structure, reliability and attention to detail.

Working Conditions

• Approximately 80% of the work may be performed remotely.
• Business travel of up to 20% of working time may be required.
• Travel may be undertaken by private car, rental vehicle, train or other public transport in accordance with the applicable travel policy.
• Candidate profiles must include nationality information.
• Applicable security-related nationality and country restrictions must be observed.
• Eligibility for deployment in a security-sensitive environment must be confirmed before assignment.

Application and Evidence Requirements

Applications should include a detailed CV and relevant project references.

Each project reference should contain:

• Industry
• Project title
• Brief project description
• Duration of the candidate's assignment
• Detailed description of the candidate's responsibilities and activities
• Strategic research or technology-analysis tasks performed
• Strategic topics covered
• Management deliverables produced
• Contribution to consulting, innovation or transformation projects

Any time-limited certificates submitted as evidence must remain valid at the time of application. Equivalent evidence may be accepted where its comparability can be demonstrated.

What we offer:

• International Working Environment: Join a diverse and multicultural team where people from different backgrounds and cultures collaborate to achieve outstanding results.
• German Language Development: Whether you are a beginner or an advanced speaker, we provide a supportive environment to help you improve your German language skills.
• Dedicated Point of Contact: You will have a personal contact within the company who will support and guide you throughout your employment.
• Professional Growth: Our engineers have the opportunity to work on exciting projects across different industries, continuously expanding their expertise and developing new skills.
• Regular Team Events: We organize regular company events to strengthen team spirit, encourage collaboration, and create a positive working atmosphere.
• Competitive Compensation: We value our employees and offer an attractive compensation package that reflects your qualifications, experience, and performance.

Note:

• Travel expenses for on-site interviews are covered by the candidates themselves