Manager | Business Partnerships | Cobena  

The Manager for Business Partnerships will report to the Director for Business Partnerships and work closely with the rest of the team to ensure exemplary delivery of consultancy and business partnership services.

He/she is in-charge for the delivery of consultancy services as well as the management of relationships with clients and will coordinate with the internal and external resources required to service projects, respond to request for proposals from clients and balances the expectations of clients of what can be reasonably delivered by Cobena. The Manager for Business partnerships assists in the preparation and development of proposals, delivery of consultancy services and successfully prospect new and develop existing business accounts to maximize the return on efforts exerted by Cobena. He/she will exert all efforts to help the company achieve its financial objectives (Revenues, Expense control and Operating profit).

Responsibilities:

• Business development: identifying and prospecting of customers
• Prepares the necessary business development proposals and makes the presentations to client to solicit new business
• Takes the lead in the development of consultancy proposals in response to client’s requirements
• Harnesses the required internal resources to deliver superior results and outstanding customer service
• Project-manages the delivery of the required consultancy services ensuring all requirements are delivered “right first time” all the time
• Supports the Cobena team in the brainstorming and data collection, diagnosis and design of the proposed solution that will best address the client’s requirements

• Determines and clarifies the client’s strategic and operational problems via consultation
• Collects, analyses and interprets data and statistics
• Conducts the following:
  • Interviews with internal and external stakeholders
  • Workshops to support the achievement of client objectives as outlined in the consultancy proposal
  • Necessary research: desk and field-based in order to adequately address client requirements, knowledge gaps and provide opportunities for innovating on the solutions to be recommended to the clients
• Guides/ collaborates with the Cobena data scientists in the process of the understanding client data, external inputs, as well as in all analysis and report preparation
• Prepares the draft presentation and final reports for submission to the clients
• Assists in designing the execution plan and the framework for the effective achievement of client goals and monitoring of the programs and projects in support of the same
• Utilizes the proprietary tools of Cobena in the day to day conduct of business internally as well as externally
• Completes projects to a specific schedule and within an agreed budget, monitoring significant project costs incurred along the way
• Liaises with clients on a day-to-day basis
• Promotes the expansion of business with existing clients
• Works with other senior managers within Cobena to generate new accounts and with the Cobena operations team to monitor account performance and profitability, as well as to ensure that clients process invoices, payments on time
• Keeps up to date with developments in the industries assigned to him/ her including latest management/ transformation/ innovation and data analytics trends
• Coaches/ mentors/ supports the development of the junior staff

Technical Skills Requirements

• Knowledge in the industry and field assigned to him/her
• Experienced in making strategic decisions and executing these to achieve desired results
• Strong Marketing / Finance/Operations background
• Highly numerate

Non-Technical Skills Requirements

• Analytical Problem-Solving: Approaching high-level business challenges with a clear eye on what is important; employing the right approach/methods to make the maximum use of time and human resources.
• Effective Communication (written and oral): Carefully listening to customers, their teams from different levels of the organization, data analysts and relevant staff to come up with the best design that addresses the problems/ business opportunities of clients; can simplify what are otherwise complex problems/ systems/ data to internal as well as external customers
• Industry Knowledge: Understanding the way their assigned industry functions and how data are collected, analyzed and utilized; and how these are utilized for effective decision making and performance management

Personal Attributes:

• Impeccable integrity
• Highly analytical and intelligent.
• Strong interpersonal skills, ability to communicate well. Collaborates with functional and cross-functional teams well. Strong problem solving and creative skills and the ability to exercise sound judgment and make decisions based on accurate and timely analyses.
• Passionate about business, competitive and optimistic
• Strong sense of personal commitment and sense of urgency to his/her colleagues, team and company, highly dependable

Educational Attainment and Work Experience Requirements:

• College/Masters graduate in any of the following areas: Business management, marketing, finance, advertising, economics, computer science and or related field(s)
• With at least two years working experience
• With experience managing individuals and teams