Development Aid
Position Title: Senior Education Advisor
DRS is looking, on behalf of our client, an international NGO, for a skilled Senior Education Advisor responsible for leading the identification and development of new opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa. The position will be in charge of winning new contracts and maximizing the value from existing customers to deliver business growth for the organization and a great experience and outcome for our customers and the societies they represent.
Job Title: Senior Education Advisor, Sub-Saharan Africa
Starting date: Mid-April 2023
Contract duration: Permanent Contract with a 6-month probation period
Location: Nairobi, Kenya or Cape Town/Centurion, South Africa
Reporting to: Head of Education Reform
This role is a high-profile position dealing with senior dignitaries, government officials, Ministries of Education, and other international organizations. The ideal candidate will have an understanding and experience of curriculum and assessment in education with experience working in a publishing or teaching environment. He/she is expected to bring strong commercial acumen, capable of creating and maintaining great customer relationships at the highest level to the role, as well as experience in reporting, pipeline, and forecasting.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
Generate Business – Generate Leads (Identify Target Customers):
- Help with the regional business development strategy of the organization for the development and conversion of opportunities
- Manage local monitoring of RFPs and ITTs through tracking of key procurement and regional education intelligence websites/portals and actively seek funding opportunities
- Qualify all identified opportunities for fit against the organization’s proposition and for alignment with the Commercial strategy and framework to ensure resources are allocated to the greatest potential value
- Identify and implement the most appropriate methods of promoting the organization’s services to target customers (ministries and education systems) in a region by leveraging or commissioning research on national government strategies and initiatives, local practices, cultural norms, and competitor approaches
- Work with Marketing & Communications to raise the profile and credibility of the team across the region(s), internally and externally, to position the organization as a partner of choice for education reform services by identifying local opportunities to support the development of an annual PR strategy and its implementation through customer interactions, events, conferences, publications, and marketing content e.g. contract stories
- Identify suitable local consultants to work with to support relationship-building and profile-raising activities as well as for delivery of contracts as required
- Develop expert knowledge of changes in regional education policy, media commentary, trends in requests, and competitor activity to inform business development approach
- Build strong relationships and work with the Commercial Data Analyst to obtain insight and business intelligence on key markets and across regional teams (English and International Education) to obtain local intelligence to identify local needs that align with the organization’s education reform proposition
- Liaise at the highest level of government officials representing the organization with Heads of State and government ministers to discuss requirements, provide education advice and present propositions, and demonstrate alignment with their needs
- Develop an initial business case, assess and validate the opportunity and make a proposal to qualify the opportunity to Commercial leaders
- Leverage data on CRM systems to enable the pipeline to be monitored and managed and to ensure visibility to potential workflow within the wider team and with key internal partners
Win Contracts – Solution Design and Bid/Proposal:
- Accountable and responsible for penetrating new markets and growing the organization’s revenue and presence
- Work with the customer to develop clear technical and service requirements and complete an effective handover of Bids and Proposals
- Maintain the relationship with the customer during the bids and proposal process and facilitate direct access for the team where required
- Oversee the progression of the bid/proposal throughout development to ensure that customer needs will be met and that the initial business case remains valid
- Provide the customer voice during the proposal production and sense check proposal against customer requirement
Win Contracts – Opportunity Approval and Close Sale:
- Validate opportunity against commercial strategy and approval criteria and propose / present to Commercial leaders for review and approval
- Identify resources required to support sales negotiation with customers, brief team on role and requirements, and lead preparations for customer meeting/s
- Help with the pricing strategy for the opportunity considering margin targets, contingency requirements, competition, type of opportunity, and strategic importance
- Support the negotiation process, liaising with other experts as necessary
- Maximise the chances of winning the contract by an understanding of client context and close of the sale
- Ensure effective customer on-boarding and transition of project to the Delivery team
Manage Customer Account:
- Manage new relationships throughout the end-to-end sales process and work closely with the lead project manager during the delivery phase to ensure services are delivered on time, to quality, and to the satisfaction of external and internal stakeholders. Where applicable, ensure an effective transition of the customer to the account management team
- Work effectively with regional sales teams to ensure that resources and knowledge are leveraged effectively and that the customer experience is coherent
- Manage a portfolio of existing customers within a specified region(s) ensuring that they receive a great customer experience from the organization and that the maximum lifetime value is derived from the relationship
Key relationships (internal and external)
- This should include key stakeholders internally and externally e.g., Seniors, customers externally, and peers.
Qualifications
- Degree qualified or related experience (essential)
- Post Graduate qualification (desirable), education-related (preferable)
- Project Management e.g. Prince2 (desirable)
- At least 7 years of total experience from which at least 5 in international companies is required.
Essential skill(s) & experience
- Establishing relationships at the highest levels of government
- High degree of commercial awareness, with a strong understanding of finance, margins, and P&L
- Achieving challenging targets
- Excellent negotiator
- Ability to work under pressure to achieve deadlines and meet commercial requirements
- Ability to influence and build relationships at a senior level with customers, internal and external suppliers, and employees
- Ability to understand a wide range of education services and projects that vary in complexity and timeframes
- Strong communicator and ability to present the organization at regional PR events and influence widely within a region(s)
- Excellent networking and diplomatic skills, and the ability to follow up quickly
- Agile thinker with the ability to adapt to changing circumstances through creative problem-solving
- Excellent organizational and leadership skills
- Legal understanding and acumen
- Strong IT skills, able to operate MS Office and CRM software
- Ability to leverage business intelligence to identify and deliver opportunities
- Proven track record prospecting, developing, and winning contracts with ministries of education, organizations with government mandates, NGOs, etc.
- Significant business development experience essential, experience in the field of education is desirable
- Proven ability to deliver on profit and sales targets
- Extensive experience in dealing with government and other senior-level clients across a variety of cultures and locations
- Experience in presenting proposals and negotiating contracts
- Experience in building and maintaining senior relationships
How to apply
The updated CVs in English should be submitted to m.lagidze@developmentaid.org, under the title: DRS 11456. Due to the high number of applications received, we can reply to shortlisted candidates only. Please note that the above requirements can be modified during the recruitment process according to the client's procedures.