Director - Global Head of Solar Research

Overview

Wood Mackenzie is the global leader in analytics, insights and proprietary data across the energy and natural resources landscape. We are looking for a Global Head of Solar Research to join our Power & Renewables team. This role is responsible for setting the solar research agenda, driving high‑quality research and thought leadership, serving as the public face of Wood Mackenzie on solar industry issues, and leading solar product initiatives and commercial success.

The position works closely with solar analysts, regional power teams, and cross‑functional sales, marketing, and product teams.

• Define and drive the solar research agenda: anticipate and identify emerging themes that shape the energy transition, ensuring datasets and written research meet the highest quality standards and deliver clear, actionable answers to customers’ most pressing questions.
• Develop thought‑provoking research that challenges conventional wisdom and generates new insights for industry participants, while interconnecting relevant research and data within other parts of the company.
• Drive AI adoption across research teams to continuously improve accuracy, efficiency, and overall research quality.
• Take commercial ownership of our solar products and the product roadmap, ensuring research aligns with customer needs, maintaining and building new sources of competitive advantage, and identifying and pursuing growth opportunities.
• Serve as the main point of contact for our solar products, administering and communicating changes and initiatives to sales, marketing, product, and leadership teams.
• Collaborate with leadership on product strategy, resourcing, marketing priorities, and support analysis for commercial performance.
• Establish an industry presence as an influential speaker and thinker, maintaining strong relationships with key stakeholders in the solar and broader power industry.
• Identify datasets and data sources necessary to support underlying analysis, ensuring proper quality control in development.
• Support consulting engagements related to solar energy, as needed.

• Extensive experience in the power industry, with a strong focus on solar energy; a mix of research or consulting experience and hands‑on experience in a solar developer, supply‑chain company, or large power purchaser.
• Deep understanding of global solar industry trends, challenges, and opportunities, and a robust network of solar‑industry contacts.
• Experience successfully executing commercial strategies across teams such as marketing, sales, product, or others.
• Strong problem‑solving skills and a forward‑thinking approach to AI.
• A passion for accelerating progress in decarbonizing economies and making a difference in how we power the planet.
• Excellent writer and public speaker with the ability to engage audiences of all sizes.
• Strong analytical and numerical skills, with the ability to distill complex, disparate ideas into simple, provocative concepts.
• An entrepreneurial mindset and a track record of taking commercial ownership.
• Effective at working across a highly matrixed organization.

We are an equal opportunities employer. This means we are committed to recruiting the best people regardless of their race, colour, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. You can find out more about your rights under the law c.gov.