Market Insights and AEO Manager

About IRIS

IRIS Software Group is one of the UK's largest privately held software companies, trusted by 100,000+ businesses, schools and accountancy firms to keep their operations running. Our software pays 1 in 6 UK employees, supports over 12,000 schools, and is relied on by 91 of the top 100 UK accountancy firms.

We're a Great Place to Work® certified employer, recognised for our commitment to well-being, inclusion and development - and we're growing fast.

Purpose

We're looking for someone who can read competitor moves, market signal and AI search behaviour, and turn them into guidance our Sales, Product and leadership teams can act on. You'll own the single source of truth for competitive intelligence across our Accountancy and HCM portfolios, and you'll own how IRIS shows up when buyers research us through AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overviews. Part detective, part translator: you'll spot what's happening in the market before anyone else does, and make sure the right people know what to do about it.

Key responsibilities

• Monitor the competitive landscape across Accountancy and HCM in the UK and US, competitor launches, pricing changes, campaigns, positioning shifts and financial performance (keeping our competitive knowledge base accurate and current).

• Track and interpret our AI answer engine visibility and citation share by product and competitor, flagging where we're gaining or losing ground and why.

• Test whether positioning and messaging changes are actually moving the needle on visibility and engagement, and turn digital/AI-search signal into clear commercial recommendations.

• Run win/loss analysis and contribute to capture deal feedback, and find the patterns behind why we win and lose by competitor.

• Own competitive pricing and packaging analysis, translating competitor moves into practical guidance for live deals.

• Build and maintain battlecards, comparison matrices and competitor profiles that give Sales deal-ready guidance, and run regular competitive training for customer-facing teams.

• Support live deals with fast, specific input when it matters most.

• Present insight and recommendations across Product Marketing, Sales, Product, Customer Success and senior leadership, including input to board-level reporting on our AI visibility trajectory.

About you

You're naturally curious and can't help digging past the obvious. You're as comfortable pulling a clear commercial story out of a spreadsheet as you are presenting it to a room of senior leaders. You know the difference between what you know, what you're inferring, and what you're guessing, and you're upfront about which is which. You build trust across teams without needing formal authority to get things done, and you can run several priorities at once without dropping any of them.

Essential criteria

• 5+ years' experience in competitive intelligence, product marketing, market research, digital or insight analytics, or a related B2B SaaS role.

• Strong analytical skills — able to turn large volumes of information into clear, actionable insight.

• Strong quantitative and data-visualisation skills, confident in Excel and BI dashboards, with the ability to tailor reporting to different audiences.

• Confident reading digital and search signal (e.g. GA4, Search Console) and translating it into a commercial point and a recommendation.

• Strong written and verbal communication — able to pitch insight to technical and non-technical audiences alike.

• Comfortable working across GTM, Sales, Product and leadership.

• Sound judgement on source credibility and the ethics of intelligence gathering.

• Highly organised, with the project-management discipline to run multiple priorities to deadline.

Desirable

• Experience in accountancy, HCM, B2B software, or a comparable regulated/professional software market.

• Hands-on experience with AI answer engine tools (e.g. Profound), competitive benchmarking tools (e.g. SEMrush), or market-sizing sources (e.g. IBISWorld).

• GA4 and BI tools such as Power BI or Looker Studio, and SQL for competitive and visibility analysis.

• Comfortable using AI tools such as Claude or ChatGPT to speed up research, synthesis and content.

• Experience managing knowledge and content in SharePoint or an equivalent system.

• Working knowledge of Salesforce and how competitive/visibility insight connects to pipeline and attribution.

• A degree in business, marketing, economics or a related field.

Why You’ll Love Working Here

• Impact: Your work will influence millions globally.

• Growth: Continuous learning and career development opportunities.

• Belonging: A culture that celebrates diversity and empowers every individual.
  

Ready to Apply?

Click Apply - we’re excited to learn about your unique perspective and experience. If you need adjustments during the process, let us know. We’re committed to making this opportunity accessible to everyone.

What to expect from our hiring process

Our process is designed to be fair, transparent and straightforward. Stages vary depending on the role — more senior positions may involve additional steps, and some areas include role-specific assessments such as a technical test or case study — but typically you can expect:

1. Application review — we assess your experience and potential

2. Initial call — a short conversation to learn about you and share more about the role

3. Skills assessment — tailored to the position, e.g. case study, coding challenge or portfolio review

4. Final interview — meet the team and explore how you'll make an IMPACT at IRIS

We'll always walk you through the specific stages at the start of the process so you can prepare with confidence.

If you need any adjustments or accommodations during the process, let us know, we’re committed to making this experience accessible for everyone.