Account Director - Public Affairs & Advocacy

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.