Senior Specialist – Brand and Innovations at Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

The Position

Senior Specialist – Brand and Innovation Job Reference: SSB/COMMS/02/2024

The Senior Specialist – Brand and Innovations plays a critical role in supporting the development and management of AGRA’s brands and sub-brands while nurturing an innovative culture within AGRA. 

Reporting to the Director of communications, Innovations, Advocacy, and External Relations, the Senior Specialist – Brand and Innovations will work closely with cross-functional teams and external stakeholders to gather insights, manage the brand health, and develop actionable brand key performance metrics and insights for timely decision making. 

The overall purpose of this role is to safeguard AGRA’s brand health, identify unique positioning opportunities for the corporate and sub-brands, and lead the identification of innovative growth opportunities. The ideal candidate will aim to support AGRA build positive brand affinity, and resonance as a leading institution in Food Systems transformation in Africa. 

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead the development/ use of rigorous analytical data and visualization to guide decision-making processes and enhance brand investments at AGRA.
• Identify, cultivate, and monitor, key strategic brand elements to support AGRA’s overall brand strategy implementation as an African Institution.
• Assess and identify strategic positioning opportunities for AGRA’s brand and sub-brands.
• Oversee the development and management of the Brand Strategy and brand identity application for the corporate brand and all related sub-brands.
• Conduct in-depth research to understand target audiences, industry trends, and stakeholder needs, providing insights for brand communication and advocacy and external engagement plans.
• Track and report AGRA’s presence and differentiation across multimedia platforms.
• Track and report the performance of AGRA brands across platforms and generate strategic insights and quarterly management reports.
• Foster a culture of innovation within AGRA, encouraging creative thinking and identifying opportunities for innovative initiatives and new product development processes.
• Leverage new and existing data to generate compelling data insights that will drive corporate communications, advocacy, and external engagement efforts.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and external partners to gather and build stakeholder databases and lead efforts to increase usage of this data in program design, engagement, and communication efforts to build favorable brand advocacy.
• Develop measurable KPIs to assess AGRA’s brand health, reputation, and stakeholder perception across business lines and country programs.
• Work closely with the communication, advocacy, and external relations team, strategy and business line teams, and partners, to assess and identify strategic positioning opportunities to strengthen and differentiate AGRA in the food system transformation agenda.
• Conduct audience surveys, sentiment analysis, and perception studies to evaluate the effectiveness of AGRA’s investments and engagement efforts.
• Research emerging industry trends, stakeholder needs, and technological advancements and generate insights into audience behavior that will support teams to generate innovative ideas and evaluate their viability for product and brand enhancement.
• Work closely with partners to identify insights that would validate the food systems agenda and track the effectiveness of AGRA’s brand, program, communication, external engagements, and advocacy initiatives. Identify and recommend key strategic partners, innovation, Agricultural technical experts, alliances, and communities of practice to achieve brand goals.
• Collaborate with funding and implementing partners monitoring and evaluating data sets to identify learning and engagement opportunities or initiatives.
• Develop and monitor the implementation of approved brand guidelines and policies to ensure adherence to brand manuals, and hymn books for internal and external audiences.
• Track and evaluate AGRA’s brand presence through monitoring of own communications and other voices for reputation and enhanced visibility.
• Monitor key performance indicators and brand health metrics, track negative sentiments globally, and make recommendations for improvement.
• Implement data governance procedures and frameworks to ensure compliance and proper management of communications data, images, and beneficiaries.
• Generate timely reports on brand performance, innovation impact, reputation, and audience insights to inform decision-making.
• Develop and track key performance indicators (KPIs) related to brand differentiation, visibility, audience insights, innovation impact, and brand.
• Conduct in-depth research to understand AGRA’s core and secondary target audiences, consumer touch points, and industry trends.
• Develop measurable indicators that can allow for monitoring, assessing, and tracking the contribution of AGRA’s external engagement, communication and advocacy investments, and efforts in achieving strategic institutional.
• Identify key data point partners to collaborate with and develop measurable key performance indicators to measure and report AGRA’s brand health.
• Track and develop detailed Net Promoter Score reports for timely decision-making.
• Provide support and advice to teams to develop appropriate policies and guidelines that ensure adherence to mandatory brand health guidelines for AGRA and its partners.

Key Qualifications and Experience Required:

• Master’s degree in data science / MSc in Data Analytics, marketing, communications, business administration, or a related field is required. A postgraduate degree or specialization in brand management, innovation, CIM, or market research is an added advantage.
• Proficiency in market research methodologies, data analysis, and interpretation. Experience in conducting qualitative and quantitative research, customer segmentation, and competitive analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to build and implement a culture of innovation, creative thinking, and project implementation. Experience in design thinking or other innovation frameworks is advantageous.
• Skills in Data visualization with Power BI and Artificial intelligence (AI).
• Strong analytical and critical thinking abilities to gather and interpret big data, derive actionable insights and make data-driven recommendations. Proficiency in data management and analysis tools and techniques is desirable.
• Ability to collaborate and build relationships with cross-functional teams, external partners, and stakeholders. Strong interpersonal skills, negotiation abilities, and the capability to influence and align stakeholders toward common goals.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills to effectively convey insights, recommendations, and strategies to diverse stakeholders. Experience in creating compelling technical and story-based presentations and reports.
• Comfort and proficiency in working with technology tools and platforms related to big-data analysis, market research, brand management, and brand communications. Experience and knowledge of digital marketing tools like SEO, email management audience listening tools, and analytics is mandatory.
• Project management proficiency and expert use of MS project mandatory.
• Experience leading innovation or R&D teams in complex organizations or projects.
• Strong knowledge and experience in strategic brand management, including brand positioning, brand differentiation, brand equity, and brand communication strategies.
• Familiarity with economic development models, inclusive agriculture transformation, and food systems in Africa. Understanding of the social, economic, and environmental aspects of the agricultural landscape.
• Capacity to think strategically, identify trends, and propose innovative solutions aligned with AGRA’s goals and objectives. The ability to understand the broader context of the organization’s mission and vision.
• Fluency in English; Knowledge of French or Portuguese will be an advantage.