Communication Practitioner at The South African Revenue Service (SARS)

Job Purpose

• To provide expertise, advice and support to develop operational implementation plans and / or associated service delivery processes, production of communication products, integration of communication units by aligning and performing research to provide expert advice on communication objectives to achieve business goals to continuously enhance service delivery.

Education and Experience

Minimum Qualification & Experience Required

• Relevant Bachelor's Degree / Advanced Diploma (NQF 7) in Marketing, Public Relations, Brand Management and Communication AND 5-7 years ‘experience in the Marketing, Communication, Public relations, and Brand management industries of which 2-3 years is at a technically skilled level.

ALTERNATIVE

• Senior Certificate (NQF 4) AND 10 years’ experience in the Marketing, Communication, Public relations, and Brand management industries of which 2-3 years is at a technically skilled level

Minimum Functional Requirements

Functional/Technical experience in Communication.

Job Outputs:

Process

• Identify and resolve queries and problems timeously, apply discretion in line with process guidelines provided and escalate unresolved problems.
• Conduct a wide range of research on media and tax content issues.
• Develop and implement relevant operational plan for various communication campaigns.
• Use practical and applied knowledge and judgement to arrive at decisions.
• Production, layout and design of the digital bi-weekly newsletter.
• Provide an integrated solution driven service to the division utilizing the latest digital innovations
• Draft communication material according to predefined standard.
• Monitor and engage on possible violations of procedures and standards regarding communication organisational corporate identity.
• Accumulate information to review work progress that provides input to reporting, decision making and the identification of improvement opportunities. (I)
• Apply practical and applied knowledge and act authoritatively on methods, systems and procedures to identify trends and potential risks. (I)
• Communication of situational interpretation and judgement of work outputs and queries in area of specialisation. (I)
• Correctly apply policies, practices, standards, procedures and legislation in the delivery of work outputs. (I)
• Draw on own knowledge and experience to diagnose symptoms, causes and possible effects in order to solve emerging problems. (I)
• Initiate process and procedural change, implement the change and provide guidelines and support related to new requirements as a result of the change. (I)
• Plan for value-added process improvements, initiatives and services to deliver on operational strategy and objectives. (I)
• Provide specialist input through the investigation of opportunities for operational and process, product and risk optimisation. (I)
• Develop and maintain productive working relationships with peers and SARS role players to achieve predefined objectives.
• Quality checking of creative and production material from external suppliers
• Facilitate brainstorming sessions between the production unit and client service unit
• Act as the central point of contact for the Communication and Marketing Division.

Governance

• Ensure that completed work adhere to relevant policies, procedures, governance and legislative requirements and report on deviations and discrepancies.
• Implement and provide input into the development of governance, compliance, integrity and ethics processes within area of specialisation. (I)
• Implement an integrated workflow process for the Communication and Marketing Division

People

• Develop and maintain productive working relationships with peers and team members to achieve predefined objectives. (I)
• Search for, integrate and share new knowledge attained through formal and informal learning opportunities in the execution of your job. (I)
• Provide an integrated solution driven service to the division utilizing the latest digital innovations

Finance

• Adhere to organisational policies and procedures to ensure cost effectiveness and reduction of financial costs. (I)
• Contribute to the reporting of the external suppliers’ expenditure and liaise with Finance and Procurement
• The administration of external suppliers’ contracts

Client

• Contribute to a culture of service excellence, which builds positive relationships and provides opportunity for feedback and exceptional service. (I)
• Provide authoritative, specialist services, expertise and advice to internal and external stakeholders. (I)
• Production, layout and design of the digital bi-weekly newsletter
• Develop new client service solutions with artificial intelligence solutions in mind

Behavioural competencies

• Accountability - The acknowledgement and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies within the scope of the role or employment position.
• Analytical Thinking - Understands a situation, issue, and or problem by breaking it into smaller pieces, or tracing the implications of a situation in a step-by-step way
• Attention to detail - The ability to take all relevant details into account to ensure that a task is completed to required standards
• Commitment to Continuous Learning - Commitment to continuous learning is the commitment to think about current and future development needs
• Communicating with Impact - Communicates effectively in both the written and verbal format. Delivers clear, succinct messages and ensures understanding of others message
• Conceptual Ability - The ability to identify patterns or connections between situations that are not obviously related and to identify key or underlying issues in complex situation
• Creativity - Degree, to which one analyses problems, makes decisions and thinks innovatively
• Expertise in Context - Degree to which one possesses definitive technical and or fundamental understanding of the business
• Fairness and Transparency (V) - Build diverse and inclusive workplaces where decisions, practices, processes and transactions are transparent and fair.
• Honesty and Integrity (V) - The quality of being upright, truthful, sincere and freedom from deceit or fraud (H). Guided by values, ability to demonstrate moral judgement and doing the right thing consistently (I).
• Initiative - Refers to the identification of a problem, obstacle, or opportunity and taking action
• Organisational Awareness - Knowledge of own organisations, policies, procedures, services, products and business operating model.
• Problem Solving - Must be able to systematically identify, analyse and resolve existing and anticipated problems in order to reach optimum solutions in a timely manner
• Respect (V) - Ability to be considerate for self and others.
• Trust (V)- Firm belief in the reliability, truth or ability of someone or something.

Technical competencies

• Business Knowledge - Activities, tasks and practices associated with obtaining and using high level of knowledge in business areas, functions and products.
• Business Writing Skills - The capacity to communicate ideas, facts and quantitative data in writing using appropriate grammar, syntax, sentence and document structure in the business environment
• Corporate Communications Strategy - The ability to plan, implement, manage and review corporate communications to support organisational strategy in terms of vision, values and brand awareness
• Data Collection and Analysis - Ability to determine trends from raw data to assist decision-making in various aspects of work at SARS
• Efficiency Improvement - Contribution to improving the operational efficiencies within the team, incl. re-evaluation of processes, policies, procedures and provision of recommendations to enhance operational efficiency
• Functional Policies and Procedures - The knowledge and interpretation of the functional policies and procedures, including monitoring their consistent application internally within SARS.
• Quality Orientation - Promotes and maintains high standards of quality at work Reporting - Ability to create reports for various SARS stakeholders as relevant, in a lucid and effective manner, keeping in mind the purpose of the reports.
• Research - Conduct research, analyse trends and produce quantitative and qualitative information to inform business decisions
• Written Communication - Ability to express ideas, request actions, formulate plans, & policies, etc. by means of clear and effective writing, in order to support professional communication internally within SARS and externally