The Head: Corporate Affairs and Stakeholder Engagement is responsible for the design, leadership, and execution of a unified stakeholder strategy, building and enabling long-term trust and social capital with SAICA’s stakeholders, including members, regulators, industry Headers, government entities, and other key partners. 

The role ensures that stakeholder engagement strategies add value to the membership and are aligned with SAICA’s strategic objectives, promoting collaboration, trust, and value creation. It supports the Executive: Strategic Affairs and the Chief Executive Officer by fostering strong partnerships that drive SAICA’s influence and impact across the profession and beyond. 

This role is the custodian of the organisation’s reputation and the architect of the member experience. It integrates traditional stakeholder diplomacy and corporate affairs management with modern data analytics and digital process enhancement to ensure that every interaction, whether with a regulator or a general member is seamless, consistent, and value driven. Furthermore enhance strategic alignment and foster collaborative relationships across SAICA’s diverse stakeholder ecosystem. Develops and implements a streamlined approach to engagement, ensuring SAICA-wide integrated messaging, clear relationship ownership and integrated monitoring across SAICA’s stakeholders. Ensuring that the stakeholder framework brings together member stakeholders as well as the stakeholders key to growing and transforming the profession

KEY OUTPUTS

1.Stakeholder Engagement and Reputation Management Strategy

• Develop and implement a comprehensive SAICA-wide stakeholder engagement and reputation management strategies, proactively addressing potential risks and opportunities, as well as a fit-for-purpose, all-encompassing crisis communication and management approach aligned with SAICA’s vision and mission.
• Develop a comprehensive Media & PR engagement plan incorporating various themes and media articles and initiatives to build, restore trust and reputation in the light of organisational insights and pulse.
• Guide the development of the "Internal Golden Thread" communication strategy in collaboration with all internal divisions and ensure translation of complex external stakeholder goals into "plain language" for employees, ensuring everyone knows how their daily work impacts the organisation's reputation.
• Develop an annual stakeholder engagement plan for various classes of stakeholders.
• Develop a stakeholder maturity model and strategy for various classes of stakeholders:
  • Partnership Stakeholders;
  • Membership Stakeholders;
  • Advocacy Stakeholders
• Identify key stakeholders and define tailored engagement approaches for each group.
• Utilise insights from across the organisation including the Value Research & Reporting to craft data-driven engagement plans, enabling the organisation to anticipate and address stakeholder needs proactively.
• Monitor effective stakeholder engagement across all stakeholder groups and ROs, remediating and updating plans as required.
• Establish metrics for evaluating engagement initiatives and outcomes and use these insights to refine strategies, enhancing traction on strategy delivery and ensuring value realisation for SAICA and its stakeholders.
• Ensure SAICA’s engagement efforts are effectively deployed across regions, with tailored approaches that reflect regional priorities while maintaining alignment with central objectives.

2.Relationship Management & Advocacy

• Create Member Value Proposition and ensure members feel heard and represented, translating their needs into organisational priorities.
• Build and maintain strong, collaborative relationships with stakeholders in collaboration with the relevant subject matter division, ensuring alignment with organisational goals.
• Act as a primary liaison between SAICA and stakeholders, facilitating communication and resolving issues in collaboration with the relevant subject matter division.
• Regulatory Influence by maintaining proactive dialogue with regulators to help shape a favourable industry environment.
• Collaborate across the business, ensuring that each Stakeholder Group/ Key individual has a Relationship Owner (ROs) and support these ROs to effectively plan, deliver and follow up on engagements.
• Participate in stakeholder forums, events, and consultations to promote dialogue and collaboration.
• Implement and utilise AI-driven tools to enhance communication with stakeholders. These tools can help in drafting personalised messages, scheduling meetings, and even predicting stakeholder responses based on historical data.
• Represent SAICA in relevant and assigned external forums, advocating for the accounting profession and addressing key stakeholder concerns.
• Stay abreast of policy and regulatory developments affecting stakeholders, ensuring SAICA’s proactive response.
• Support the relevant subject matter division to collaborate with industry Leaders and government bodies to influence policy and decision-making processes.

3.Strategic Communications and Public Relations

• Strategically lead and provide oversight of corporate communications messaging, including proactive member communications, public relations and media relations activities that enhance the public image. 
• Develop, implement and monitor an integrated corporate communication strategy that aligns with business objectives and brand strategy, -whilst detailing the SAICA IGTM strategy- to enhance brand image, reputation and visibility reputation, ensuring seamless, vertically and horizontally integrated messaging.
• Leverage all relevant channels through-the-line, including digital, face-to-face, publishing media, etc. to engage stakeholders to drive thought leadership and build brand advocacy.
• Drive service innovation by exploring new communication channels and technologies, including AI-powered chatbots and personalised content delivery.
• Enhancement of digital communication tools such as the (Intranet) to ensure consistent, easily accessible, relevant up and to date employee communication.
• Work with the CEO and the relevant Executives that have planned media engagements to ensure that the engagements are strategically aligned with SAICA’s annual objectives and avoids reputational risk for SAICA. Furthermore, ensure that stakeholder communication follows the set SAICA communication protocol, policies and guidelines.

4.Stakeholder Engagement and Reputation Management Framework Development

• Design a structured framework detailing the principles, policies, and processes that guide the organisation's approach to stakeholder engagement and how the organisation interacts with its ecosystem.
• Develop a Stakeholder Governance RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) that clearly defines who "owns" the relationship with specific entities, in line with the relevant related SAICA policies and procedures.
• Develop a multidimensional Stakeholder Matrix that segments groups not just by role, but by their influence, interest, and impact on the organisation’s strategy to create tailored engagement models.
• Establish "Golden Threads" of messaging to ensure the organization speaks with one consistent voice across all channels.
• Develop a Digital Engagement & Monitoring Framework leveraging data analytics to create a Stakeholder and Reputation Health Dashboard

5.Reputation & Crisis Management

• Identify potential risks in the external environment that could impact the organization’s reputation.
• Lead crisis response engagement efforts during sensitive periods to maintain trust and transparency.
• Use social listening tools to monitor "weak signals"—subtle shifts in member sentiment or regulatory chatter that could signal an upcoming issue
• Ensure a "Single Source of Truth." Use digital platforms to push consistent messaging simultaneously across SMS, email, and social media to prevent rumours.
• Implement sentiment analysis and data-driven insights to inform stakeholder engagement strategies and enhance stakeholder experiences
• Provide insights, reports, and recommendations to support strategic decision-making.
• Assist in integrating stakeholder feedback into SAICA’s strategy and operations.
• Act as a bridge between the Stakeholder Engagement function and other areas of the organisation

6.Embrace and drive organisational transformation

• Actively contribute to cost containment efforts by identifying opportunities for operational efficiencies, optimising resources, and ensuring value-driven decision-making in daily activities. 
• Support SAICA’s transformation into an insights-driven organisation by leveraging data and analytics to enhance decision-making, improve processes, and drive continuous improvement in your area of work 
• Effectively utilise digital tools and technology to enhance productivity, streamline workflows, and improve service delivery. Stay informed about new and emerging technologies relevant to your role 
• Adopt and embrace AI-driven tools and automation to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and effectiveness in job-related tasks, while continuously seeking opportunities to improve processes through innovative technology solutions 
• Identify and support SAICA’s management of risks related to sustainability, including environmental risks, regulatory changes and social risks, and integrating them into business continuity and risk management plans
• Ensure adequate talent retention, management and development for direct reports.