Strategy& - Business Strategy Analyst - ESG/Sustainability and Climate Change at PwC South Africa

Job Description & Summary

A career in our Strategy and Transaction Services Deals Consulting practice, within General Consulting services, will provide you with the opportunity to help clients seize essential advantages by working alongside business leaders to solve their toughest problems and capture their greatest opportunities. We work with some of the world’s largest and most complex companies to understand their unique business issues and opportunities in an ever changing environment. We help create sustainable change by stimulating innovation, unlocking data possibilities, navigating risk and regulatory complexity, optimising deals, and aligning costs with business strategy to create a competitive advantage.

Mergers and Acquisitions is a fundamental part of how companies seek to win in their markets and we help clients make the right decisions. With us, you’ll get to know a company from the inside out, and combine razor sharp analysis with creative problem solving. Strategy and Mergers & Acquisitions go hand in hand, so while we are often assessing companies and markets in the context of a transaction, many of our projects go beyond Mergers & Acquisitions, helping clients develop innovative strategies to deliver revenue and profit growth.

To really stand out and make us fit for the future in a constantly changing world, each and every one of us at PwC needs to be a purpose-led and values-driven leader at every level. To help us achieve this we have the PwC Professional; our global leadership development framework. It gives us a single set of expectations across our lines, geographies and career paths, and provides transparency on the skills we need as individuals to be successful and progress in our careers, now and in the future.

As an Associate, you'll work as part of a team of problem solvers, helping to solve complex business issues from strategy to execution. PwC Professional skills and responsibilities for this management level include but are not limited to:

• Invite and give in the moment feedback in a constructive manner.
• Share and collaborate effectively with others.
• Identify and make suggestions for improvements when problems and/or opportunities arise.
• Handle, manipulate and analyse data and information responsibly.
• Follow risk management and compliance procedures.
• Keep up-to-date with developments in area of specialism.
• Communicate confidently in a clear, concise and articulate manner - verbally and in the materials I produce.
• Build and maintain an internal and external network.
• Seek opportunities to learn about how PwC works as a global network of firms.
• Uphold the firm's code of ethics and business conduct.

Role Summary:

Strategy&, PwC’s global strategy consulting business, has a new exciting opportunity available for an ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) Associate that will provide you with the opportunity to help clients seize essential advantages by working alongside business leaders to solve their toughest problems and capture their greatest opportunities. Your passion for ESG will set forth the ability for clients to develop effective, responsible corporate strategies in the strive for Net zero.

ESG is one of the most important strategic topics for client executives across all industries and a key component of PwC’s purpose statement to “Build trust in society and solve important problems”. This is a major focus and component of PwC’s strategy for the next decade.

We work with some of the world’s largest and most complex companies to understand their unique business issues and opportunities in an ever changing environment. We help create sustainable change by stimulating innovation, unlocking data possibilities, navigating risk and regulatory complexity, optimising deals, and aligning costs with business strategy to create a competitive advantage.

We are one of the top three strategy consultancies globally, bringing the very best strategic thinking to help clients solve their toughest problems, and build the differentiating capabilities they need to outperform their competitors. In joining, you’ll help develop strategies that translate into action and help our clients power ahead in fiercely competitive global markets.

Strategy& has several distinct characteristics, including a unique career track, a world-class and globally defined training curriculum, structured mentorship programmes, and leading people processes.

When you join Strategy&, you join a global team with a proud heritage of pioneering ideas and through leadership. Strategy& focuses on the development of high impact and pragmatic strategies to solve complex problems and maximise market potential and differentiation. This is achieved through leveraging and strengthening core capabilities within the business and driving sustainable shareholder/stakeholder value and bottom line and impact. Our strategies incorporate detailed analytics, global and local leading practices and case studies, innovation, industry and domain SMEs, design business architecture and design of journey.

Qualifications / Certifications required:

• Honours or Masters degree from a top tier University with supporting qualifications in ESG

Experience required:

• 1-2 years working experience in support of an in-depth expertise in ESG and experience in delivering consulting work in ESG Strategy and Circular Economy.
• Experience in the ESG field incorporating Strategy and Consulting work and a solid understanding of the related regulation and market demands.
• Experience working for a strategy house or a consulting firm.
• Detailed understanding of the value drivers within ESG.
• Experience in leading and managing complex projects.

Responsibilities of role:

You will work as part of a team of problem solvers with extensive consulting and industry experience, helping our clients solve their complex business issues from strategy to execution. Your responsibilities on client assignments will include:

• Providing global and local insights on ESG strategies
• Develop project and programme strategies to develop and implement ESG strategies.
• Oversee client assignments through natural conclusion
• Manage client risks, governance and project administration (including financial management, project profitability, scope and timelines)
• Manage client, internal leadership and other relevant stakeholder relationships
• Manage, lead and inspire client engagements
• Support clients to implement organisational change through various types of client engagement and use of change management processes.
• Plan and manage the delivery of quality work by project teams.
• Build productive and lasting relationships within Strategy& and PwC at all levels and be seen as a valued member of the office community
• Drive the development of high quality proposals and other business development initiatives.
• Be actively involved in business development activities to help identify and research opportunities on new/existing clients
• Shape and deliver projects to meet and exceed the expectations of our clients and our own quality criteria
• Continue to develop internal relationships and developing your PwC brand

Skill sets required:

• Work cross functionally with PwC competencies in a seamless and cohesive manner
• Be culturally and diversity aware and supportive of our South African and African contexts
• International work experience is important to demonstrate cultural sensitivity and ability to work highly challenging environments
• Demonstrate deep knowledge and awareness of current market trends and activities of key competitors
• Develop and shape proposals and propositions across countries, functions, sectors and accounts
• Adhere to and promote quality and risk management standards
• Focus on improving profitability while managing business risk
• Excellent oral, written and interpersonal communication skills to facilitate interaction across hierarchies and functions
• Demonstrate strong quantitative skills and attention to detail, at the same time as having the ability to step back and identify high level issues
• Possess the flexibility and commercialism to manage a diverse range of responsibilities in a dynamic and results oriented environment.
• Able to demonstrate flexibility in adjusting to highly varied projects and rapidly coming up the learning curve in unfamiliar industries and functions
• Proven track record of successfully completing different types of projects, ranging from strategy to implementation, across a number of unrelated industries

Role related attributes:

• Ability to lead teams in an autonomous strategic, consulting environment and be seen as a strong team player with excellent communication and client handling skills
• Self-motivated and capable of developing innovative approaches to difficult issues
• Excellent attention to detail
• Highly analytical mind and structured thinking with sound business judgment and maturity, including the ability to develop a “big picture” view (intellectual curiosity)
• Ability to build strong relationships at all levels of the organisation (client and internal), rapidly building rapport, establishing your credibility and gaining trust
• Good organisational, time management and planning skills
• Positive outlook and contributor to a healthy team environment