▷ (Apply Now) Account Director - Public Affairs & Advocacy

Job Description

What youll do:

Client Service:

- Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the clients business and industry, stay current on news, trends, and issues, and take an active interest in the client s business to pre-empt issues and provide strategic counsel.
- Work closely with the government relations advisors in ensuring timely execution of the public affairs campaign/ project.
- Lead outreach and engagement with think tanks, industry bodies, media, and other influencers of policy, on behalf of clients and as part of the client outreach plan
- Act as a client leader and maintain a clear and consistent communication channel between the client and the account team and resolve misunderstandings if they occur.
- Manage quality implementation for the client portfolio within budget and timelines.
- Timely Decision Making The ability to identify a problem and find solutions. Makes decisions in a timely manner, using available information and under tight deadlines.
- Support senior management on crisis management issues if required.
- Be a seasoned writer and able to write for senior management level audiences.
- Conduct formal presentations in a variety of settings and able to persuade and influence decision makers within client and prospective client companies.
- Build relationships with key opinion leaders who are key to your clients industries and businesses.
- Be a source of creative ideas and effectively use Burson s proprietary tools Creative Studio, BAV, Decipher and other businesses under the Burson umbrella (i.e. PSB, Axicom, etc.) to build brands and nail client objectives.
- You must possess a strong familiarity with how Generative AI tools are used across communications programmes, especially in planning, research, ideation, content creation, and daily operations.

Business Development:

- Work with senior leaders to identify opportunities to grow existing accounts and track potential opportunities for new business. Always maintain a strong pipeline of new business.
- Participate in new business brainstorms and take ownership of portions of new business proposals under the guidance of senior management.

Talent Management:

- Coach, mentor, and delegate responsibilities to junior staff helping them identify their areas of development and consistently serve as a positive role model fostering teamwork.
- Create an inclusive and welcoming environment that engages all individuals without bias and demonstrate flexibility in a changing work environment.
- Provide continuous constructive feedback- not just during performance reviews- and keep immediate superiors briefed on team member performance ensuring recognition of good performance and resolution of concerns in a timely manner.
- Provide on the job training to team members on account management to develop team s expertise on client business and conduct formal training sessions when required.
- Guide and inspire junior staff to develop media contacts and strategies.

Financial Management:

- Know and meet your billability target, track, and record time in Maconomy in a timely manner.
- Manage account administration duties such as billing and financial reporting.
- Ensure all activities carried out for clients are properly documented and budget and status reports are submitted.
- Work with senior leaders to manage your team and allocate resources for agency
- Follow agency procedures on client budgets, budget tracking, contract approval and billing rates.

Agency Responsibilities:

- Use Burson s intranet and resources; keep your profile updated.
- Help in recruiting top talent by knowing our capabilities and network.
- Adhere to Burson s confidentiality and disclosure agreements and abide by the company s code of ethics/conduct.

Experience that contributes to success:

- Graduate/ Postgraduate in Law, Economics, Public Policy, Political Science, Business & International Affairs and Communications (with specialization in government/policy communication).
- 10+ years of work experience, specializing in tech policy &/ or FMCG policy. A person who is well versed with policy communications for forming coalitions & doing advocacy work with think tanks & key opinion leaders.