Vice President, Research, Insights and Education

Position Overview

Reporting to the President and CEO and serving as a member of the Executive Leadership team, the Vice President, Research, Insights and Education (VPRIE) leads NACS’s research education strategy, ensuring NACS remains the definitive source of knowledge, benchmarking and professional development for the convenience and fuel retailing industry.

The successful candidate will be a strategic, credible research and education leader who combines analytical rigor with a strong commercial and member-service orientation. They will elevate NACS’s research and benchmarking products, deepen member and industry insight, modernize and expand the association’s education portfolio and ensure technology and data serve as force multipliers for the organization’s strategic plan.

The VPRIE is responsible for the entire suite of NACS State of the Industry offerings and consumer and retail insights research; the organization’s business intelligence & data analytics platform; the full portfolio of NACS education and executive development programs across NACS events; the growing executive education program with top universities; and relationships with key data, insights and thought leadership groups engaged with NACS.

Key Responsibilities

1. Research, Insights and Analytics

• Own the NACS State of the Industry enterprise platform as the industry’s premier benchmarking resources, ensuring data quality, timeliness, credibility and relevance.
• Set the multiyear research agenda, prioritizing studies and benchmarks that align with the NACS strategic plan and member needs.
• Expand NACS’s benchmarking portfolio, including human resources/talent benchmarking and category and merchandising performance, to reflect emerging member priorities and ensure insights products anticipate industry disruption.
• Lead consumer insights research tracking shopper behavior, purchase decisions, demographics and emerging trends across the convenience and fuel retailing channel.
• Translate research and data into actionable insights, trend reports and strategic guidance for member retailers, suppliers and NACS leadership.
• Develop and commercialize insights and business intelligence products and services.
• Represent NACS research externally to media, analysts, government bodies and industry stakeholders as an authoritative voice on convenience and fuel retailing.
• Support association advocacy through data collection and interpretation on issues such as payment card costs, nicotine, labor regulations, alternative fuels and other critical industry topics.
• Oversee the methodology, collection, processing, interpretation, data warehousing and presentation of NACS industry data and manage research deliverables against hard deadlines connected to industry events, publication schedules and advocacy activities.
• Serve as staff liaison to the NACS Research Committee, which includes retail members and supplier advisors, and work with the Committee to identify industry performance and trends, as well as macroeconomic, social, political and related retail-channel developments.
• Gather and report additional data needed to support NACS advocacy and consulting activities.
• Partner with data and analytics partners to strengthen and expand NACS market data offerings.

2. Industry Education and Professional Development

• Own the strategy and development of NACS’s education portfolio, including NACS Show education programming, the NACS State of the Industry Summit, Convenience Summit Europe and Asia and topical forums such as the Human Resources Forum.
• Lead and manage the Education team, setting priorities, assigning responsibilities, supporting team development and ensuring effective execution across the full education portfolio.
• Provide expert interpretation of industry data through events, presentations and other formats.
• Lead NACS’s executive education partnerships, which currently include the NACS Executive Leadership Program at Cornell, NACS Financial Leadership Program at Wharton, NACS Marketing Leadership Program at Kellogg, NACS Women’s Leadership Program at Yale and the Innovation Leadership Program at MIT and expand access to leadership and management development for the industry’s workforce.
• Oversee the NACS webinar program and other ongoing learning offerings, ensuring content relevance and strong member engagement.
• Identify new education formats and delivery channels, including in-person, virtual and on-demand, to reach a broader and more diverse segment of the industry workforce.

3. Organizational Leadership and Strategic Partnerships

• Partner with the Transportation Energy Institute, NACS Foundation, Conexxus, retailers, suppliers and academic and research institutions to strengthen the industry’s collective knowledge base. Serve as a visible, credible spokesperson for NACS research and industry education at conferences, in media, and before policymakers.
• Define data ownership, quality, and governance standards for research and insights data in partnership with enterprise data governance efforts.
• Champion the responsible use of artificial intelligence and automation to enhance research analysis, personalize insights delivery and improve education program design.
• Ensure research, insights, and education data feed executive dashboards and member-facing reporting in a consistent, integrated manner.
• Lead business development for consulting and advisory services built on NACS data, insights and subject-matter expertise, including retainer and project-based engagements.
• Work with coalitions of trade associations, consumer groups, manufacturers and other stakeholders when research support is needed.
• Develop and manage the annual budget for research, insights, and education, including event and vendor contracts.
• Lead change management and adoption for new research products, data platforms and education offerings.
• Balance rigor, member value, revenue generation and innovation across the research, insights and education portfolio.

Skills Required

This dynamic leader will help NACS remain the trusted, authoritative source of knowledge for the convenience and fuel retailing industry, one that equips members with the data, insight and skills to compete and grow, positioning NACS as the definitive voice on the industry’s performance and future direction.

• Strong understanding of retailer financial reporting, relevant ratios and measures of financial position.
• Strong grasp of statistical reporting and insight-generation methods and principles.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills supported by effective data visualization.
• Experience in data analytics, consulting, retail or consumer products with a background in analysis and insight generation.
• Ability to travel extensively to engage stakeholders, deliver presentations and pursue business development opportunities.
• Mastery of Microsoft Office Suite and relevant statistical, analytical and presentation software.
• Bachelor’s degree required; master’s degree preferred.

NACS Culture

We hugely value, invest in and are devoted to the constructive culture that we’ve built and work on every day at NACS. Almost everything we do requires broad, multi-department collaboration to ideate and execute creative initiatives that deliver compelling value to our members and our industry. What that requires is a relatively flat organizational structure that empowers teammates at different levels from all departments to constructively engage and support each other. Titles really don’t matter in such an organization. What matters is a culture of constructive behaviors that relishes divergent perspectives to craft well thought-out initiatives and then come together to execute them. NACS Values:

• Do the right thing
• Focus long term
• In their terms
• Be fiscally responsible
• Strive for excellence

The NACS culture is highly collaborative, and we are better when we are together. NACS is a culture that believes in working together from the office.

Other Pertinent Information

• Comprehensive Benefits Package
• Salary commensurate with experience
• Approximately 10% travel
• In-Office Position w/ Work from Anywhere (WFA) Days
• Metro Accessible – 2 blocks from King Street metro

Salary Range: $300,000 - $425,000 annually. Actual compensation will be based on several factors, including but not limited to relevant experience, education, skills, and other qualifications.

NACS is an Equal Opportunity Employer, dedicated to a policy of non-discrimination in employment on any basis. All applicants will be considered for all positions on the basis of qualifications and without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, and any other legally protected status.

For more information, visit convenience.org. Follow NACS on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.