Job Description

Job Summary

• The primary purpose of this role is to lead the conceptualization, development, implementation, and monitoring of integrated communications, marketing, and stakeholder management initiatives to generate visibility and goodwill for the institution, support corporate communication and marketing objectives, mitigate reputational risk/crises and summarily drive differentiation and competitive advantage for the LBS brand.
• The role-holder will constantly project the institution amongst its audience as a world-class management education institution operating out of Africa while preserving/growing her reputation and brand equity.

Essential Duties / Key Job Roles and Responsibilities
Include but not limited to:

• Essentially lead the LBS’ communications team to develop and implement internal and external communication strategies for the School to ensure that unified, consistent, and positive messages define and promote the corporate identity and mission, based on detailed target audience understanding and stakeholder mapping.
• Plan, develop and supervise the execution of strategic brand and communications initiatives.
• Identify and capitalize on opportunities to promote and positively represent the School through internal and external communication, contributing to thought leadership.
• Develop processes and policies to grow and protect the School’s brand where gaps are identified.
• Develop effective and relevant Brand, PR, and media strategies and platforms for the institution, through the development and implementation of brand/communications activity calendars and sound management of media/communications budgets.
• Supervise the management/editing/quality control of the LBS website for optimal user experience and effectiveness.
• Leverage quality branded content and community management strategies to consistently engage followers/audiences, and grow brand footprint/followership across key social engagement platforms (e.g. LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, etc) and within other specific, relevant platforms e.g. GBSN Network.
• Ensure the quality of production and design of communication materials and the accuracy of the content.
• Maintain good media relations with leading media houses.
• Supervise the management of the brand asset library and resources–including photo gallery, video archives, and photography and video production budget.
• Issue News releases for conferences and other major School events held throughout the year.
• Create and enhance public awareness and knowledge of LBS as a Centre of excellence in business and management education within the community.
• Favourably influence public policy relating to business and management education within (and beyond) the LBS operating environment.
• Support the academic community in the development of a range of articles, thought leadership pieces, and press releases for a broad range of business, management, and educational media within the local environment.
• Develop and maintain positive relationships with a variety of affiliated organizations/institutions/partners and stakeholders primarily through their PR staff and through personal visits where appropriate.
• Work with the marketing department to assist in the development of marketing and advertising plans of LBS executive management programmes through media buying and placement.
• Seek alternative methods and creative strategies to increase internal and external awareness of key events and changes in the School including the launch of new products, special events, local and global community service, and other topics of interest.
• Liaise with relevant units in executing cross-functional projects such as career fairs, Alumni events, graduation ceremonies.
• Develop executive communication collateral such as the Dean’s speeches/articles for relevant events and publication.
• Supervise and approve output of all team members; Also take responsibility for coaching and capacity-building for the communications team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Communications required, Master’s Degree preferred.
• An MBA would be an added advantage
• Professional Qualification: Membership of relevant professional organizations. e.g. CIM (UK), NIPR, CIPR, APCON

Experience:

• Minimum of eight (8) years’ work experience–five (5) of which must be within Strategic Communications, Public Relations, Advertising Media, or Marketing Communications.

Competencies and Skills for The Role:

To be successful in the role, it would require the candidate to show:

• Project management skills
• Knowledge of SEO and web traffic metrics
• Knowledge of appropriate Content Management Systems-CMS (Drupal, WordPress, Hootsuite, etc.) and HTML.
• Initiative, Creativity, and Imagination.
• Tact and diplomacy.
• Ability to work flexibly and under pressure.
• Knowledge of Google Analytics and Adobe Acrobat/Illustrator
• Superior ability to write in a journalistic style that is customary for corporate and external publications
• Demonstrated ability to manage reputational risk
• Produce detailed and accurate work to tight deadlines and budget
• Ability to forge strong and effective relationships within the media environment and with internal stakeholders.