Head of Strategy and Product Consulting in Islington

Head of Strategy and Product Consulting A leading global provider of new generation IT solutions to the global Travel, Transportation and Logistics industries is looking for a Head of Strategy and Product Consulting for their Loyalty software product Line of Business. The

Head of Strategy and Product Consulting

is the companys loyalty strategy expert. This role operates at the intersection of platform strategy, commercial positioning and market-facing expertise and leads the Strategic Product Consulting group. The role is shaping how the product is positioned and monetised today and how it will be designed for the future. Areas of Responsibility Product Line Strategy Own the product strategy. This is the central intellectual and commercial output of the role

a living strategic direction that is coherent, differentiated, and operationally grounded. The Head of Strategic Product Consulting synthesises four distinct streams of intelligence into a single, authoritative strategic direction for the platform: Competitive intelligence:

Maintain a rigorous, honest, and current assessment of where the product leads, where it is at parity and where it has gaps relative to direct competitors and emerging entrants. Translate that assessment into specific platform investment decisions. Technology outlook:

T

rack relevant developments in AI, real-time data infrastructure, composable loyalty architectures and open partner ecosystems. Identify which technology shifts represent platform opportunities and which represent existential risks to the products positioning. Account signals:

Aggregate intelligence from live customer deployments. Pipeline data:

Work with Sales to identify which capability gaps are causing deal losses or delays and weight those signals appropriately in the strategic plan. Lead the annual strategy review cycle in collaboration with Strategic Product Managers (SPMs) across member experience, partner management, and engagement. Translate the three-year strategy into an annual plan that SPMs can operationalise in their respective domains with clear priorities, sequenced investments and defined trade-offs.

Market Positioning & Competitive Narrative Define the target market segments and total addressable market (TAM) based on the defined product strategy and construct and own the competitive positioning within these segments. Define target market segments and potential and maintain a quantitative assessment of the addressable market. Maintain a competitive map: for each relevant competitor and capability dimension, document the products honest position (lead, parity, or gap) and keep it current as the market moves.

Construct win themes and differentiation narratives for the products current (and future) core market segments: airline loyalty programmes, cruise loyalty, hospitality loyalty and travel group multi-brand programmes. Ensure narrative consistency across Sales, Presales, Consulting and Marketing. Develop and publish points of view on the future of travel loyalty in conference keynotes, white papers, analyst briefings and executive roundtables. This thought leadership is a positioning instrument, not a content marketing exercise.

Monetisation & Commercial Model Own the commercial model. Pricing and packaging decisions directly determine the revenue potential, competitive positioning and the value customers believe they are receiving. The Head of Strategic Product Consulting is the decision-maker on these questions

not a contributor to them. Pricing model:

define and maintain the pricing architecture across the relevant models (per active member, per transaction, hybrid or outcome-based), ensuring the model is competitive, scalable and aligned with how customers measure value from their loyalty investment. Module packaging

: determine how the functional capabilities are bundled, tiered and sequenced for different customer segments and deployment profiles. Define entry-level, standard and premium configurations that create clear expansion paths. Expansion path design

: architect the commercial logic that enables a customer who starts with core programme management to expand into additional modules or components Deal structuring

: deliver the commercial framework for business opportunities and direct on non-standard deal structures, multi-product bundles and strategic partnership pricing. Define the guardrails within which Sales operates autonomously and the thresholds above which exceptions require escalation. Pricing guidelines for Sales

: translate the commercial model into clear, usable guidance that Sales teams can apply in pursuit and negotiation. Maintain those guidelines as the market and competitive landscape evolve. Strategic Customer Engagement & Presales Authority Lead high-value customer consulting engagements and act as the senior product authority in major pursuit cycles.

Embed directly in customer environments to surface loyalty strategy gaps, map their operating model against best-practice configuration and deliver transformation blueprints that drive commercial outcomes. Operate at CxO level (Chief Loyalty Officers, CMOs, and CEOs) as the advisor who bridges a customer's strategic ambitions and what the platform makes possible.

In presales, provide the expert voice that converts a platform evaluation into a strategic partnership decision, contributing to RFI and RFP responses, leading senior client presentations and ensuring competitive positioning reflects the current state of the narrative. Function Leadership & Team Development Establish and develop the Strategic Product Consulting team (comprising of roles of Product Consultants and Product Specialists) with a mandate to grow the function in line with commercial demand.

Set standards for how the group operates, define its methodology, and integrate it effectively with Sales, Product Management and the broader organisation. Recruiting and developing the right team is an enabler of the four responsibilities above; it is not the primary output of this role.

Qualifications

Must have: 10+years loyalty domain expertise in travel and/or transportation including programme design, accrual and redemption mechanics, tier strategy, partner ecosystem management, member lifecycle and commercial loyalty economics. Airline loyalty depth is particularly valued. Demonstrable product strategy experience: ability to synthesise competitive, technology and commercial signals into a coherent multi-year platform direction. Prior product management or product strategy ownership is strongly preferred.

Commercial model fluency: direct experience with SaaS and AI pricing design, packaging decisions or enterprise commercial governance. The ability to construct and defend a pricing rationale to both Finance and the customer is essential. Proven ability to engage and influence at CxO level in complex, multi-stakeholder enterprise environments across both customer advisory and internal alignment. Strong content and narrative development: executive-grade strategy documents, competitive assessments and positioning frameworks.

Work samples will be requested at interview. Comfort building from first principles in a high-ambiguity environment. This is a role that defines its own operating model. Profound team player with the ability to collaborate with peers and across roles and functions to drive for the joint success. Good to have Prior experience at a loyalty platform vendor in a product strategy, presales or commercial capacity.

Consulting background from a consulting firm with a dedicated loyalty or travel practice Familiarity with the broader IT travel ecosystem and how loyalty intersects with airline or travel operator commercial strategy. Experience with AI-augmented product and analytical tools and a genuine interest in how AI changes both platform capabilities and consulting delivery. Familiarity with competitive intelligence frameworks, win/loss analysis methodologies or analyst relations in enterprise SaaS.

Additional languages skills beyond English (Spanish, German, French preferred) Practicalities - Flexible Location. - Competitive Package. - International travel required.