Head of Sales at Rose Avenue Group

Our client, Acorn Holdings Limited, is the premier developer, operator, and asset manager of rental housing in Sub-Saharan Africa through Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) brands Qwetu and Qejani. They are looking for a Head of Sales. As the Head of Sales, you are responsible for planning, implementing, managing, and overseeing the company's overall sales strategy informing retail and residential revenue. The job entails establishing reputable retail partners and sustaining revenues through occupancy drivers.

Job Responsibilities:

KEY LEADERSHIP CAPABLITIES

Understand the consumer & customer

• Build an understanding of consumers/ customers/ suppliers/ stakeholders & leverage this understanding when making business decisions.
• Build sustainable relationships with key stakeholders to shape the operating environment.
• Address difficult issues proactively when dealing with stakeholders.

Commercial understanding

• Make commercial decisions that impact positively both short- and long-term bottom-line results.
• Drive unnecessary costs out of the business.
• Ensure the set processes and controls are executed to minimize business exposure to risk.

Collaborate & Influence

• Actively listen and build positively on other ideas.
• Exhibit trust, fairness, and ethical awareness.
• Mobilize and allocate resources effectively to achieve what is best for the business.

KEY OUTPUTS AND ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Residential Revenue planning and execution

1. Plan sales strategies in accordance with business objectives, to achieve the revenue targets as per the business plan.
2. Plan the residential revenue for the financial year and drive customer acquisition at optimized costs and spending
3. Evaluate alliances and partnerships to inform strategy for regional presence.
4. Manage the contact center and the team delivering telesales and service to new and existing customers respectively, providing a delightful brand experience and instant resolution.
5. Collaborate with the Customer Experience and Property Management teams to drive various brand and communication initiatives which also engage customers at the properties.
6. Provide advisory to management based on the Customer Service Centre’s statistics, sales rates, costs, customer metrics, and feedback from customers as well as the CRM system to aid in setting up business objectives.
7. Plan and optimize usage of the various sales budgets.
8. Support in the residential debt management process.

• Convenience and Retail Revenue

1. Create a robust retail strategy by identifying retailers who can provide value addition to resident customers across all properties and provide significant retail revenue as per the business plan.
2. Ensure the retail spaces are mapped out well during property development.
3. Set in place a governance mechanism for all the retail partners across the properties, including planning and developing appropriate pricing and stocking in accordance with the needs of the resident customers.
4. Engage with retail partners to let out the vacant space across properties.
5. In-depth analysis of revenue and assurance from retail partners by tracking performance.
6. Drive engagement and strong relationship building to ensure timely debt collections and continuous improvement in service and product offerings from retailers present across all properties.
    

Other Requirements:

• Min. Bachelor’s degree from a recognized accredited university in marketing, strategic management, or business management.
• At least 8 years of experience working in digital sales, marketing, and brand management, especially in banking, FMCG, telecoms, retail, etc.
• High level of leadership skills and team management skills (including at least 4 years of proven experience in managing teams at the supervisory level).
• Proven experience (at least 3-4 years) in building an exceptional brand.
• Knowledge and experience in modern sales and marketing practices in the services industry to provide
• Visionary guidance on strategic changes to improve the purpose-built student accommodation business.
• Experience in effectively communicating with and managing the expectations of customers (internal and external), and other stakeholders who impact quality service. 
• Experience in optimizing processes to drive strategy.
• Research and data analyses experience in managing market intelligence.