PR Account Director

MSL South Africa is part of one of the largest Public Relations (PR) and strategic communications networks in the world - MSL, as well as the PR & Influencer arm of Publicis Groupe Africa (PGA). Through its diverse skills base, coupled with cutting edge PR and Influencer platforms, MSL seeks out the places that build Influence and deliver measurable Impact for its clients, while also safeguarding their brand reputation in an ever-evolving global environment.

As an Account Director at MSL, you have overall responsibility for your portfolio/s of clients, which may be expanded from time-to-time to include other MSL teams and clients. You will be required to lead the teams managing this / these portfolio/s to deliver on all PR requirements for the clients under your purview. You are a trusted advisor and consultant for all the clients in your portfolio/streams – they come to you directly to escalate matters/with matters of importance.

With the help of your team (i.e. intern/AA/AE/AM/SAM), you ensure the smooth running of all your accounts – with a focus on ensuring your stream is profitable and your clients are happy.

• Account management:
  Demonstrate real-time knowledge of client activities, ensuring that all operational hygiene activities happen smoothly (status documents updates, contact reports etc.), take overall ownership for initiatives on your accounts, and ensure that your team is meeting the agreed-to client scope of work.
• Delegation:
  Demonstrate ability to effectively delegate tasks to your team, while still ensuring timeous completion and quality of work.
• Project management skills:
  Take responsibility for the management of specific projects from start-to-finish, whether doing the project or overseeing your team’s implementation.
• Selling ideas:
  Demonstrate advanced presentation and persuasion/influencing skills.
• Strategy:
  Develop strategic and tactical client proposals, and work with your AM/SAM to develop bespoke plans and calendars for clients.
• Writing:
  Demonstrate an ability to write effective content for your full client portfolio and display excellent editing skills, giving guidance to team members on their writing; ensure the team effectively briefs the content team when specialist help is needed.
• Media relations:
  Ensure that journalist relationship-building initiatives are driven 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), maintain solid media relationships, and oversee the effective running of your team’s entire media relations process.
• Pitching skills:
  Write and pitch (or oversee your team’s writing and pitching of) 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 1 x weekly newsdesk/media meeting and ensure relevant news and angles are marked and shared with clients.
• Media lists:
  Work with SAM/AM to ensure that your team regularly updates media lists, informs the broader agency of media changes, compiles tailored media lists per client content piece (which are saved to the server), and ensures that master client media lists are kept updated.

• Quality:
  Consistently deliver quality work to professional, MSL standards, and ensure quality output from your team prior to submitting to client.
• Detail-oriented:
  Execute unwavering attention to detail in all aspects, when reviewing or drafting documents, articles, presentations, emails and all other communiques.
• Proactive upskilling:
  Constantly work to ensure, within your team, an excellent understanding of content for all clients (even beyond your portfolio), your clients’ industries, and that both you and your team stay abreast of the broader news environment to spot opportunities for media conversation building. Proactively identify areas in which your team/team members are less skilled, and work to upskill your team in these areas.
• Proactive learning:
  Demonstrate use…