Position Summary

Pulse is Africa’s leading innovative media company, informing and engaging Africa’s young audience - and providing expansive media reach and creative marketing solutions to partners. We run news websites and social channels and marketing and production across Francophone and Anglophone West Africa and East Africa.

We are a platform leading in reach with our news and entertainment content - with millions of regular users per month. We are also a marketing partner, empowering brands with our expansive media-to-reach and 360-degree in-house marketing solutions. Additionally, Pulse is the licensee publisher of the regional Business Insider Africa.

We are looking for a Managing Director who will be responsible for leading the expansion of Pulse into Uganda - and executing our vision and short and long-term strategic goals in the market. You will help to lead the efforts to launch a new Pulse platform in Uganda and grow the organization. We are therefore looking for a candidate with a proven track record of taking on a range of responsibilities including driving strategy implementation, sourcing and recruiting talent, business development, client and partner relationship building, internal operations, resource management, team leadership, and development. You will have the support of our international teams and be a key driver of Pulse’s growth in East Africa.

Key Responsibilities

Plans & Operations

• Develop short and long-term local operational and commercial plans and budgets in line with given frameworks and company-wide budgets.

• Based on the company’s objectives cascade plans down to the relevant local team members - communicating and directing conversations around priorities and goals.

• Develop strategies for sustainable value creation across the sales, account management, content, and admin department and direct day-to-day business operations to achieve planned results.

• Work with all departments to closely track target achievement, guiding and adjusting plans where necessary due to changing circumstances.

• Monitor and control expenses for sustainable business performance, developing and implementing plans to improve cost-efficiency wherever necessary and possible.

• Direct and control people and resources, ensuring the recruitment and retention of highly-skilled, developed, and well-motivated teams to achieve the company's objectives.

• Cultivate innovation in the teams, encouraging a steady flow of new ideas, collaboration and teamwork, and a work environment of continuous improvement.

• Develop effective internal control systems and propose improved processes to positively impact business goals.

• Ensure data-driven internal and external business reporting to help sound decision-making.

• Ensures that all activities are performed in compliance with local, state, and federal regulations and laws governing business operations.

• Ensure collaboration across Africa with the whole Pulse team and follow collaboration set-ups in place

Sales & Business Development

• Develop the overall sales and business development plan for Pulse in the market and build a team to accordingly support this.

• Prospect, structure, and reach out to top clients in the market.

• Prepare and deliver sales presentations to prospective clients, pitching winning creative digital strategies that help clients and agency partners to solve their business challenges and achieve their marketing goals and objectives.

• Seek out and develop relationships with executives from various industries and media and creative agencies.

• Develop client offers to increase the breadth of services offered by Pulse and tailor current services to be more relevant to the market.

• Manage sales activities and set revenue and activity targets for team members for customer acquisition and retention.

• Accurately report sales performance against targets and budgets.

• Develop and maintain an effective marketing and public relations strategy to promote the products, services, and image of Pulse in the wider community.

• Seek out partnerships and attend industry events, exploring new opportunities to improve Pulse’s positioning.

• Stay up to date on the latest trends, industry issues, and solutions, and be aware of competitive activity in the market

Desired Skills & Experience

• A proven track record in a senior-level management role in the Digital/ Creative/ Media/ Marketing/ Advertising industry is preferred.

• Thorough knowledge of market dynamics and requirements.

• An advanced degree or MBA is desirable.

• A high level of commercial awareness and sales and operations management experience.

• Solution-driven and a track record of innovation.

• A good understanding of financial management.

• Excellent networking skills and a demonstrated ability in key client/partner relationship management.

• Exceptional people leadership skills and ability to inspire confidence and trust to motivate teams.

• Excellent project management skills.

• An entrepreneurial mindset and ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, start-up environment with dynamic business priorities.

• Excellent communication and organizational skills, and excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Experience working with international teams.

• Experience with Zoho CRM is desirable

Joining the Pulse Team

As Managing Director of Pulse Uganda, you will be directly reporting to the Managing Director for Pulse in East Africa.

The whole Pulse team is made up of incredible and passionate individuals who go above and beyond to inform and engage our young audience with quality content, also delighting our clients and partners with their creative ability to engage their target audiences.

As a team, we value creativity and curiosity, which helps us to stay ahead of the curve. Our Pan African team collaborates cross-functionally and values each other’s unique perspectives and opinions - true to our core values of teamwork. We also value trust as a team - both in how we work with each other transparently and how we deliver reliably for our clients. Our editorial and content team lead with credibility, which our audience values immensely