Morningstar’s mission is “Empowering Investor Success.” The Morningstar Direct Platform is our original and core product and largest revenue business that provides primarily public markets investors comprehensive data, research, insights and analytics to enable that mission. In 2026 Morningstar appointed a new executive, Scott Brown, to lead the Direct Platform, with a mission to accelerate its growth in the age of AI. Scott is seeking a strategic hire to partner with him on this exciting agenda - Head of Product, Data and Agent Distribution. This executive will bring depth in the investments market as well as modern digital product management expertise and have demonstrated an early track record of impact in the commercialization of GenAI technologies.

The new Head of Product, Data and Agent Distribution will lead the strategy, development, and monetization of Morningstar’s data and AI-powered products focused on the public markets. This role will define how our data and agentic intelligence are built, packaged, and delivered across channels, including APIs, cloud data platforms (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks), LLM integrations, and partner ecosystems. Importantly, for the strategic evolution of Morningstar, this leader will own the AI intelligence layer of the business—including data products, APIs, and delivery structure—and is accountable for how Morningstar’s AI-enabled products scale across internal platforms and external ecosystems. This encompasses partnerships with external distribution channels and off platform monetization of data, APIs, and agent consumption.

The mandate is to evolve from fragmented data delivery toward a scalable, AI-powered data and agent platform that expands reach, drives growth, and enables integration into client systems and workflows. This individual will partner closely across Morningstar to facilitate the integration of data and agents into user workflows and software experiences. This product leader will also partner closely with Morningstar’s technology leadership in the design and delivery of an enhanced platform infrastructure to enable scaling of the new AI-enabled product suite.

The ideal candidate is a strategic data and AI platform product leader with deep market experience in investments and / or financial markets. They will bring real world experience scaling data businesses, modernizing distribution models and driving commercial outcomes through innovation in how data and intelligence are packaged and delivered.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Data & Agentic Product Strategy: Define and execute a unified strategy for data products, APIs, and agentic capabilities for the Direct Platform business, aligned to business priorities across regions, segments, and customer types. Own the strategy, roadmap, and development of agentic capabilities, including how AI agents are designed, powered by data, and exposed across platforms and APIs. Lead the transition from legacy data feeds and point-to-point delivery to modern, platform-based and AI-powered distribution models. Sharpen and articulate Morningstar’s differentiated value proposition in the AI and data platform ecosystem.

Distribution, APIs & Ecosystem Expansion: Drive expansion of Morningstar data into cloud data platforms (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks) and third-party technology marketplaces. Define and scale distribution through APIs, data-as-a-service (DaaS), LLM integrations, and partner platforms. Own third-party AI platform relationships and ecosystem integrations. Enable seamless integration of data and agent capabilities into external platforms, applications, and client environments. Identify and execute build/buy/partner opportunities to accelerate capability development and market reach.

Platform & Technical Leadership: Partner with engineering and product leaders to build a scalable, extensible data and agent platform. Lead the roadmap for modernization, including rationalization and retirement of legacy delivery mechanisms. Define standards for data architecture, APIs, and agent interfaces to support scalability and interoperability. Embed AI into data products and distribution, enabling intelligent data access, enrichment, and automation.

Customer & Market Understanding: Deeply understand how developers, enterprise platforms, and data-driven clients consume and integrate data. Translate usage patterns, integration needs, and developer feedback into actionable product and platform innovation. Design products and interfaces optimized for programmatic consumption and system-to-system integration.

Team Leadership: Build and lead a high-performing, globally distributed team. Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, and innovation. Act as a connector across product, technology, data, partnerships, and commercial teams.

IDEAL EXPERIENCE

Financial Markets or Investments Experience

5+ years of experience in senior management with either a financial markets participant (investment manager, investment bank etc.) or with a company catering to financial markets participants. Therefore, has a strong understanding of market dynamics, asset classes, client workflows etc.

Leadership in Data & Platform-Driven Business

15+ years of experience in data products, data platforms, AI products, or API-based businesses in enterprise environments. Proven track record of owning and scaling a data- or platform-driven revenue stream.

Data Distribution & Platform Architecture Expertise

Deep experience with modern data distribution models, including APIs, data feeds, and cloud data platforms (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks). Strong understanding of API-first and platform-based architectures, including partner integrations and ecosystem distribution. Experience leading data migration from legacy delivery models to cloud-native or platform-based distribution.

AI and Product Innovation

Demonstrated experience building or leading AI-powered or agentic products (e.g., LLM-enabled applications, intelligent automation). Transformation experience is a plus.

Commercialization & Customer Orientation

Proven ability to define and execute data monetization strategies, including pricing, packaging, licensing, and usage-based models. Experience working with developers, enterprise platforms, and data-centric customer segments.

CAPABILITIES

Collaborating and Influencing

• Communicates the broader vision of Morningstar’s mission and purpose, and how their team’s work contributes to it.
• Makes it a priority within their organization for colleagues to learn about other parts of the business.
• Sets expectations within their organization to consult with and provide support to other parts of the business.

Leading Change

• Communicates a sense of personal ownership and responsibility among colleagues. Models the highest ethics. Provides guidance and direction about the kinds of ideas or changes Morningstar’s success requires.
• Advocates for significant, impactful changes that drive the organization forward, rather than settling for small, incremental improvements.

Driving Results

• Makes process changes to existing ways of working to significantly improve results.
• Proactively seeks to improve processes, raising quality and productivity through efficiencies or by implementing best-in-class solutions.
• Enables higher performance by incrementally improving approaches based on calculated risks. Benchmarks the performance of business or function against industry best practices.

Compensation and Benefits

At Morningstar we believe people are at their best when they are at their healthiest. That’s why we champion your wellness through a wide range of programs that support all stages of your personal and professional life. Here are some examples of the offerings we provide:

• Financial Health

  • 100% 401k match up to 6% of salary

  • Stock Ownership Potential

  • Company provided life insurance - 1x salary + commission

• Physical Health 

  • Comprehensive health benefits (medical/dental/vision) including potential premium discounts and company-provided HSA contributions (up to $500-$2,000 annually) for specific plans and coverages

  • Additional medical Wellness Incentives - up to $300-$600 annual

  • Company-provided long- and short-term disability insurance

• Emotional Health 

  • Trust-Based Time Off

  • 6-week Paid Sabbatical Program

  • 6-Week Paid Family Caregiving Leave

  • Competitive 8-24 Week Paid Parental Leave

  • Adoption Assistance

  • Leadership Coaching & Formal Mentorship Opportunities

  • Annual Flex Stipend - $1000 annually to cover personal education & well-being expenses

  • Tuition Reimbursement

• Social Health 

  • Charitable Matching Gifts program

  • Dollars for Doers volunteer program

  • Paid volunteering days

  • 15+ Employee Resource & Affinity Groups

Total Cash Compensation Range

$311,100.00-477,000.00

Inclusive of annual base salary and target incentive

Morningstar's hybrid work environment gives you the opportunity to collaborate in-person each week as we've found that we're at our best when we're purposely together on a regular basis. In most of our locations, our hybrid work model is four days in-office each week. A range of other benefits are also available to enhance flexibility as needs change. No matter where you are, you'll have tools and resources to engage meaningfully with your global colleagues.

001_MstarInc Morningstar Inc. Legal Entity