Strategic Relationship Manager: Civil Society at Brand South Africa

Minimum qualifications requirements & experience:

1. Bachelor’s Degree, or equivalent, in Political Science /Economics /Sales and Marketing /Business Management.
2. Postgraduate degree in Political Science / Economics /Marketing /Business Management/ Communication (Added advantage).
3. 5+ years combined experience in stakeholder relations account management, marketing, communications and public relations, at a senior level.
4. A track record in successful brokering / negotiating collaborations and joint ventures in a highly political / pressured environment.

Key Performance Areas:

Contribute to the development of the overall stakeholder management strategy.

1. Establish the correct networks and channels and provide input on portfolio priorities, plans and budgets.
2. Feed market insights into the overall knowledge management system.

Contribute to the development of programme specific projects and initiatives.

1. With reference to the Brand South Africa business plan and signed MoU’s with priority stakeholders, unpack, research, workshop and help develop implementation plans to activate the delivery of a project / initiative / campaign in line with the integrated marketing and communications programme and stakeholder expectations.
2. This would also involve ongoing press briefings, speech writing, setting the scene.
3. Establish relationships with the right decision-makers and influencers and canvass all input from geographic and stakeholder plans and target group information.

Sell the projects / initiatives and campaign plans for buy-in and approval (sign-off) with the stakeholder priority base.

1. 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, timelines and output.
2. Provide feedback on 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.

Facilitate and manage the stakeholder relationships in the delivery of the projects /campaigns and initiative plans.

1. Facilitate, drive, and maintain the established relationships with key stakeholders on the signed-off projects / initiatives to ensure that delivery happens on schedule and that expectations, perceptions, feedback are managed actively and successfully.
2. This also involves, on occasion, actual organising and delivery of meetings, events and functions.

Compliance, monitoring, and reporting.

1. 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.
2. To scan the wider public policy environment to identify and exploit opportunities for future work where supportive of the strategic aims of the Brand South Africa and to 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).
3. Ensure adherence to the project corporate identity, copy right, correct representation, referencing, necessary Brand South Africa support to effect the objectives of the stakeholder roll-out plans.
4. This function also entails brand monitoring to ensure brand alignment.
5. Monitor resource spend and financial expenditure in accordance with the approved project plans.