Job Details
Job Title: Relationship Consultant
Department: Stakeholder Relations: Government, Civil Society, Business
Reporting To: Strategic Relationship Manager
Date of Circulation: 14 October 2015
Job purpose
To manage and influence relationships with key stakeholders as identified and prioritised in the strategic plan to promote Brand SA’s branding and communications objectives in partnership with these stakeholders, to external audiences. To play a key programmatic role in the definition and delivery of projects through obtaining the brief from internal or external stakeholders, developing internal briefs where required, needs and expectations of the stakeholders and ensuring they are effectively addressed in the roll-out plan facilitated by Brand SA and through efficiently leveraging stakeholder resources. The Relationship Consultant is one of the main Brand SA custodians of the relationship with identified stakeholders and a key output is to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of these collaborations.
Minimum Requirements:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science/ Economics/ Marketing/ Business Management/ Project Management.
- Preferred: Postgraduate degree in Political Science / Economics / Marketing / Business Management (e.g. MBA)/ Project Management.
- Comprehensive understanding of the social, business, political and legislative environment (domestic and international) within which Brand SA operates.
- Thorough knowledge of the workings of the political, business and macro-economic environment (domestic and internationally).
- Understanding the socio economic environment (domestic and internationally).
- Working knowledge of systems and processes and how they contribute to organisational performance.
- Advanced knowledge of how to determine value from a customer perspective.
- Ability to segment clients as well as contribute to a stakeholder strategy development process.
- 5+ years combined project management experience in marketing, communications, public relations, stakeholder relations, at a mid-management level.
- 5 years’ experience using systems such as excel and or Microsoft projects to deliver high level Gannt and planning charts.
Key Performance Areas:
- Development of programme specific projects and initiatives
- With reference to Brand SA business plan and signed MoU’s with priority stakeholders, unpack, research, workshop and develop implementation plans to activate the delivery of a project / initiative / campaign in line with the integrated marketing and communications programme and stakeholder expectations.
- Maintain and manage relationships with the right decision-makers and influencers and canvass all input from geographic and stakeholder plans and target group information.
- Sell the project / initiative / campaign plan for buy-in and approval (sign-off) with relevant stakeholder priority base (levels, locations, platforms, decision-makers, beneficiaries)
- Sell the project / campaign / initiative to the relevant stakeholder bases and decision-makers / beneficiaries to ensure buy-in in terms of the content, tone, roll-out mechanism(s), budget, audience target(s), collaborative ownership, time lines and output.
- Feedback stakeholder inputs, research, scanning of the environment, and other relevant information (budgets, changing priorities) back to Marketing and Communications for refinement and amendment in the activation plans to ensure sign-off.
- Compliance, monitoring and reporting
- Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the stakeholder-implemented initiatives (including risks) and reflect this in the quarterly reporting in accordance with the contracted performance measurement and business plan scorecard of the organisation.
- To scan the wider public policy environment to identify and leverage opportunities for future work where supportive of the strategic aims of Brand SA, develop leads to establish relationships with public policy makers and influencers and identify opportunities for joint future work where appropriate. (E.g. new international relations strategy, diplomacy rules for sectors and geographic regions).
- Ensure adherence to the project corporate identity, copy right, correct representation, referencing, necessary Brand SA support to affect the objectives of the stakeholder roll-out plans. Ensure collateral is available at all Brand SA stakeholder activations.
- Monitor resource spend and financial expenditure in accordance with the approved project plans. Develop an ROI for increased stakeholder value. Complete a variance report on a monthly basis and identify reconciliations where appropriate.
- General administration
- Ensure all portfolio of evidence is correct, appropriate and uploaded onto insite or an identified sharepoint portal. Maintain all project documentation for retrieval.
- Develop error-free submissions for presentation by the GM to EXCO.
- Process all necessary payments, S&Ts, travel and other disbursements.
- Ensure leave management is monitored and managed within the business unit.
Required Skills, Competencies and Attributes
- Excellent business acumen, i.e. strategic ability to position and sell Brand SA’s mandate and initiatives in response to emerging political, business and environmental trends.
- Excellent presentation skills, i.e. the ability to use the right presentation techniques and emphasise the right content to influence and persuade target audiences.And excellent verbal and oratorical skills to ensure delivery of Brand SA content to high level audiences.
- Above average interpersonal and communication skills to engage credibly with people at different levels and with different needs (public relations).
- Marketing skills, i.e. the ability to identify and capture a target market or audience’s needs and sell a message branded with the identified need.
- Excellent negotiation and ‘deal-making’ skills.
- Excellent fundraising and negotiating partnerships that will bring added value in financial and resource terms.
- Advanced MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, sharepoint and MS CRM or any other CRM system)
- Competent in project management, i.e. ability to get things done through co-ordinating different role players in working together without formally being in charge of them.
- Excellent proposal and account / portfolio writing and planning ability.
- Self-management, i.e. well-developed skills to structure own work, work alone and in a team and take initiative to get what is needed resourcefully and within proper governance rules and structures.
- Results oriented (output driven)
- Thorough and excellent follow-through ability
- Willingness to work extended hours and travel substantively (within and across borders where necessary).
- Perform under pressure.
- Above average level of perceptiveness and discernment, i.e. know how to read situations correctly, political savvy, and respond accordingly to instill confidence and direction.
- Networking ability, i.e. building and maintaining long term relationships for business and collaborative opportunities.
- Service oriented, i.e. desire to serve and customer oriented.
- Persuasive, i.e. ability to convince others from different functions and levels of an
idea or concept to obtain support.
