Director, Communications An experienced Communications practitioner to support the Communications efforts across Africa.

The jobholder will bring a positive commitment to joining an Africa leadership team focused on rapid success and growth. He or she will have a track record at building competence and confidence in the strategic use of communications within the organization, and will deliver impactful and credible communications to key external stakeholders, as well as the equally important employee base.

Based in Johannesburg, he or she will report to the Communications Vice President, Middle East & Africa. The main mandate of MEA Comms is to be responsible for building and advancing, as well as defending and protecting, the reputation of Master Card, its products, enterprise and brand in MEA.

This jobholder position will lead on all communications fronts across Africa, covering the two Divisions of South Africa and Sub-Sahara Africa. These fronts are: External and Media Communications, Social and Digital, Internal Communications, CSR and Event Management.

The position will effectively act as deputy for the MEA Comms VP in Africa and will, as such, provide strategic counsel to the SA and SSA senior management team and market managers, and support strategic business initiatives by ensuring best-in-class communications counsel to business leaders and internal clients. He/she will partner with Marketing on brand building with a sophisticated approach to, and execution of, issues and reputation management with the SA and SSA management teams. He/she will have successfully managed and responded to corporate and media issues and crises. He/she will be expected to draw on a robust corporate or agency experience to bring fresh, proactive strategic thinking to the enterprise.

Responsibilities:

Lead responsibility to tell the MA Africa story at a global level, internally and externally:

• Lead Master Card's communications strategy and media presence across Africa. Work with the MEA Comms VP, senior management, country mangers and business unit leads to devise and implement successful communications programs at local and pan African levels, allocate resources and direct execution.
• Manage our PR Agencies in Africa including day to day management, development of strategy, overseeing contracts and budgets, continuously scope for better vendors, etc.
• Direct a strategic and interactive employee communications and engagement program in close partnership with MEA Internal Comms and SA/SSA HR to make sure all Africa employees understand and subscribe to the MEA business strategy, and their voices are heard at the leadership level
• Utilize all existing Master Card MEA and Global internal communications channels, and devise where appropriate new ones, to make sure the Africa division story is well told within Master Card.
• Plan and execute colleague events and get togethers like annual party, iftar, team offsites, colleague volunteering events, etc.
• Manage major SA and SSA events especially the ones that are attended by the Regional Vice President or by senior visiting executives like board meetings, Master Card Africa Forum, World Economic Forum, African Banker Awards, etc.
• Work with Marketing to put in place a solid social media communications platform to ensure optimized share of voice for Master Card in social networks across Africa and effective 2-way communication therein.
• Support the MEA Comms VP to ensure structures, personnel (internal and agency), resources, work flow, and communications processes are in place to deliver an solid pan-African strategic plan against the SA/SSA business objectives and the MEA Comms strategy.

Experience Required:

• The ideal candidate will have a distinguished track record as a high achieving communications executive with a demonstrated capacity to build and execute communications programs that support business growth within a dynamic and changing corporation.
• Excellent writing skills in English
• A recognized influencer who has successfully advanced a company's growth proposition with special depth in the areas of external and internal communications
• Corporate Affairs experience as it relates to delivering the company's message and implementing events and programs for non media audiences at international, national and local levels.
• Team player who will work well with senior business and functional leaders of Master Card SA and SSA
• Keen understanding of the African scene beyond just media and into culture, economy, socio politics and development agenda
• Educated to degree level, with a minimum of 6 years experience in corporate communications or primarily in company communications, with other experience that may derive from positions with a national or international public association or public relations agency.

• Abide by Mastercard’s security policies and practices;
• Ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the information being accessed;
• Report any suspected information security violation or breach, and
• Complete all periodic mandatory security trainings in accordance with Mastercard’s guidelines.