PR Account Director - Client Experience

Remuneration:	negotiable Cost to company
Location:	Johannesburg, Sandton
Education level:	Degree
Job level:	Mid/Senior
Type:	Permanent
Reference:	#002
Company:	Weber Shandwick

Job description

Main objectives of the job:

Be a strategic partner and trusted advisor to clients by helping them address business imperatives or issues with the right marketing /communications solutions. Champion a superlative client experience by leading a dynamic integrated team to develop breakthrough ideas, innovative programs, and executional excellence. Advocate the agency’s full breadth of capabilities and expertise across today’s digitally lead media landscape. Lead business development activities with exciting and new clients.

Main responsibilities:

• Own responsibilities for executional leadership of clients' programs, budgets, timelines, and plans.
• Drive the development of tactical plans, translating strategies into tactics; ensure team deliverables align with strategies.
• Proactively support and suggest improvements to exceed client expectations by leveraging industry knowledge and experience.
• Manage ongoing team resourcing/staffing to ensure successful delivery of work product.
• Virtual management of a team in 5 10 African countries.
• Project management of various events and activities throughout the continent.

Role:

• Know and embrace the client experience promise: know beyond and enable and inspire teams to consistently deliver on it.
• Display personal ownership and engagement for client engagement; be “in” clients business, developing a deep understanding for industry
• Actively cultivate and nurture client relationship to build trust, long-term partnership, and client satisfaction.
• Balance needs and priorities of client stakeholders, internal teams, and Weber Shandwick organisation.
• Act as internal and external navigator, strategically steering work product based on an understanding of client business and needs.
• Understand and translate client brief into strategic, programmatic solution.
• Lead, inspire, and empower colleagues from various functions to coordinate work across departments, communicate effectively, and collaborate to deliver as one team.
• Be responsible for advancing the Weber Shandwick “Engaging Always” purpose by fostering creativity and innovation.
• Formulate. Research and draft to advance client business goals with innovative ideas that are rooted in client business strategies.
• Architect engagements; establish a budget, timeline, and quality standards.
• Drive the success of client programs from start to finish, with passion and executional excellence.
• Be proactive and predictive; identify opportunities and anticipate issues, proactively recommending actions accordingly.
• Maintain broad and deep industry/sector knowledge relevant to clients 'business; bring simplicity, clarity, and understanding to actively help clients navigate dynamic communications environment, relevant trends, and important influencers.
• Maintain working knowledge of firm innovations, offerings, and points of view.
• Grow business prospects with existing clients, expand scopes of work, and advance new business opportunities.

Key competencies:

• Demonstrate intellectual curiosity, behaviours that drive change, and willingness/desire to navigate uncertainty.
• Demonstrate key drivers of business imperatives/issues to create strategic solutions that resolve issues and/or shape better business outcomes.
• Advance great work and innovative ideas, rooted in demonstrable understanding of client business objectives audiences, and culture.
• Be a strong connector – across practices, specialties, and geographies – and by using organisational networks to successfully navigate formal and informal communication and decision-making channels.
• Effectively and persuasively communicate ideas and strategies to clients and colleagues, including both oral and written expertise; where necessary, push boundaries and bravely defend great ideas with solid rational.
• Master tools, resources, and business acumen to deliver strong financial performance and growth.
• Maintain knowledge and practiced experience with digital and social platforms, as well as multi-channel fluency to develop integrated programs.
• Extensive knowledge of the African countries' business and media landscape.

Requirements

Required qualification and experience 

• Five to nine ears experience.
• Strong decision-making.
• Team management, people development.
• High proficiency of digital and social.
• Strong writing skills.
• Relevant qualification in the communications or journalism field

Posted on 27 Nov 11:29