PR Senior Account Manager - Cape Town

Publicis Groupe Holdings B.V; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Publicis Groupe Africa in Cape Town is seeking a Senior Account Manager to lead a portfolio of clients, ensure proactive issue resolution, and own editorial plans and strategy with the AD/SAD.

You will oversee client reporting, monthly billing, profitability for your stream, and guide the team in media relations, pitching, writing, and research while building strong client relationships.

Qualifications

• Strong Account management experience with client portfolio ownership.
• Ability to develop editorial plans and strategy with AD/SAD.
• Experience in media relations and pitching.
• Excellent writing and editing skills.
• Billing and profitability awareness.
• Team leadership and delegation skills.
• Proactive in staff development and learning.
• Ability to manage multiple client priorities with disciplined time management.

Responsibilities

• Maintain real-time knowledge of client activities, update status documents, run client status meetings, and own initiatives.
• Demonstrate delegation to ensure timely completion with quality.
• Take responsibility for specific projects from start to finish.
• Write and pitch quality story angles to media with creativity and news sense.
• Develop strategic and tactical client proposals in partnership with AD/SAD.
• Oversee media relations and ensure effective team execution of timelines.
• Support budgeting, billing accuracy, and profitability tracking.
• Mentor junior staff and contribute to their development.

Skills

Account management

Project management

Media relations

Writing

Pitching

Strategic thinking

Client relations

Time management

Leadership

Budgeting

Job description

Company description

MSL is an award-winning global public relations firm focused on building influence to deliver meaningful impact on business and the world.

We are a global collective of modern communicators who are building the brands and leaders of tomorrow. Our business is making our clients – of all shapes and sizes – more influential. and our passion is shaping and evolving the public relations industry and what PR can accomplish.

We love being in the right place at the right time and with our network of offices and partners across the globe there isn’t a market we don’t understand and communicate in. Given the importance of deep local insights and stakeholder relationships, we operate a bit differently than other global PR agencies: with CEOs at the country level vs one global figurehead, we build for excellence in market with as much priority as we ensure integration, sophistication and innovation across the world.

Overview

As a Senior Account Manager at MSL, you are on top of everything happening in your portfolio of clients – you know what needs to happen when and ensure it gets done. You identify any potential issues early on and display problem-solving skills to rectify any issues alongside your AD. You are the primary point of contact for clients and they trust you. With the help of your team (Intern/SAD), you ensure reporting is slick and accurate. You own the editorial plans for clients and are involved in strategy development with your AD/SAD. You ensure monthly billing is done effectively and work with your AD/SAD to ensure profitability for your stream.

Responsibilities

Core capabilities

• Account management: Demonstrate real-time knowledge of all client activities, ensure status documents are updated, run client status meetings, and take ownership for initiatives.
• Delegation: Demonstrate ability to effectively delegate tasks, ensuring timeous completion and quality.
• Project management skills: Take responsibility for specific projects from start-to-finish
• Selling ideas: Demonstrate advanced presentation and influencing skills.
• Strategy: Develop, alongside your AD/SAD, strategic and tactical client proposals, plans and calendars.
• Writing: Demonstrate an ability to write effective content for your full client portfolio and display proficient editing skills; effectively brief the content team when specialist help is needed.
• Media relations: Drive journalist relationship-building initiatives within the team, across your full client portfolio, display an excellent knowledge of the South African media landscape (and an interest in the broader African media landscape), develop solid media relationships, and oversee the effective running of your team’s entire media relations process.
• Pitching skills: Write and pitch excellent quality, relevant story angles to targeted media, displaying creativity and an understanding of newsworthiness.
• Research: Demonstrate strong research skills, and assimilation and presentation of information
• MSL Newsdesk: Participate in daily newsdesk/media meetings and ensure relevant news and angles are marked and shared with clients.
• Media lists: Ensure your team regularly updates media lists, informs the broader agency of media changes, compiles tailored media lists per client content piece, and ensures that master client media lists are kept updated.

Qualifications

Personal attributes

• Quality: Consistently deliver quality work to professional, MSL standards, and ensure quality output from team prior to submitting to AD/SAD for final approval.
• Detail-orientated: Execute unwavering attention to detail in all aspects, including documents, presentations, emails and all other communiques.
• Proactive upskilling: Constantly work to ensure an excellent understanding of content for all clients (even beyond your portfolio), your client’s industry, staying abreast of the broader news environment and spotting opportunities for media conversation building.
• Proactive learning: Demonstrate use of the Marcel Classes portal and other internal training sessions to upskill yourself, taking initiative and responsibility for your learning journey.
• Taking initiative: Demonstrate consistent self-starter approach as well as ability to solve problems effectively.
• Time management: Display impeccable time management skills, while ensuring team is managing time effectively.
• Media lists: Ensure your team regularly updates media lists, informs the broader agency of media changes, compiles tailored media lists per client content piece, and ensures that master client media lists are kept updated.
• Profile: Manage and build your own profile within your team and the broader agency.
• Respect: Acknowledge and respond to instructions from senior staff as soon as possible (email, instant message or spoken).

Client services

• Client relations: Demonstrate excellent client relationships and ability to manage their expectations.
• Client meetings: Drive participation in client meetings, managing meeting protocols, agendas, etc.
• Understanding: Perfect a detailed, thorough and informed understanding of your clients’ businesses and knowledge of their competitors, for effective idea generation. Demonstrate value to your clients by keeping them abreast of competitor news.
• Reviews: Overall responsibility for planning, compiling and editing of client review documents/ presentations/ reports, and participate in client review meetings with your team.

Agency operations

• Billing: Accurately review billing arrangements for clients and ensure monthly billing is done timeously.
• Budgeting: Work with your AD/SAD to ensure your stream is profitable.
• Timesheets: Demonstrate effective time recording and reporting (daily, accurate data logged on Chase, as per Groupe deadlines).
• Coverage: Ensure daily coverage tracking, regular reports and timeous client coverage updates are executed.
• Reporting: Ensure quality, timeous monthly reports are delivered, and drive new reporting ideas and processes wherever improvements can be made.
• Know the agency and the Publicis Groupe Africa (PGA): Demonstrate familiarity with both MSL and PGA's organisational structures and offerings.
• Profile: Actively look to maintain and build positive working relationships with colleagues.

Business development

• Demonstrate an ability to identify opportunities for new business and organic growth of existing business and business retention.
• Display an ability to draft excellent proposals and pitch presentation skills, in conjunction with your AD/SAD.

People development

• Assist your AD/SAD with key staffing decisions.
• Demonstrate an ability to act as a role model and mentor for junior staff, and be seen as an ambassador for the company.
• Conduct appraisals for junior staff.
• Contribute to, and participate in, personal development activities for junior staff (i.e. coaching, workshop development, etc.).

Additional information

CORPORATE EXPERIENCE is essential

CAPE TOWN based

All appointments will be based on qualifications, experience and best fit but preference will be given to candidates from designated groups.

Publicis Groupe Africa is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits any forms of Discrimination or Harassment. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all our employees in line with our Employment Equity Plan.