An Engagement Lead is responsible for bringing two target audiences together in a better relationship. This could mean serving as a Membership Engagement Manager, whose primary responsibility is to successfully manage the relationship between the dues-paying members or volunteers in an organization and the organization’s mission and purpose. Or, it could require working as a representative of a company, engaging with job applicants and in the marketplace, in order to build the goodwill that attracts top talent.
There are Engagement Specialists working to improve client relationships within a corporate setting. Their job is to reduce client churn, while possibly upselling new services to existing clients. Engagement Specialists also work on large client projects where the success of their company’s deliverable depends on the buy-in of all client stakeholders. In a business, the Engagement Specialist may be working actively to help positively influence corporate culture and to ultimately retain talent.
The work of an Engagement Specialist in any of these roles requires the ability to influence the experience of the target audience. The role may include troubleshooting any problems between the target audience and the sponsoring organization.
The Engagement Specialist must work to understand the unique perspective of the target audience, and their wants, needs, and priorities, in order to improve their interaction with the company or organization. The role typically requires the development of an engagement plan that could include activities designed to build these relationships. The role may also require service delivery, and budget or project management. They may handle billing or invoicing or even work with HR to develop employee engagement programs. Typically, they must identify potential partners in these endeavors. They may spend time educating a target population or coordinate activities to reach this target audience.
The Engagement Specialist will identify and utilize tools designed to improve the relationship between provider and audience. They will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams. They may also analyze data to determine which audience engagement techniques are succeeding and which ones need to be revamped.
This work may require travel off-site, and it usually requires a lot of client-facing (or candidate-facing) time.
ResponsibilitiesAs an Employee Engagement Lead, primary responsibilities include creating a positive work environment by developing engagement strategies such as employee recognition programs and team building activities supported by the collaboration with respective client areas, leaders and HR and support groups.
Skills Include:
- Creativity in developing programs and methods for engaging an audience toward the success of a goal
- Relationship-building skills with business leaders, the community, and the target audience of employees, clients, or others
- Organizing, including the ability to manage multiple projects and tasks simultaneously
- Empathy, using skills that allow the Engagement Specialist to determine what is most important to their target audience, and then working to deliver on an organizational promise
- Engaging, having a natural like of people, a knack for leading, and sales skills that help engage others in goals
Engagement Leads should also be:
- Interested in learning new things
- Flexible, dynamic, and engaging, with strong interpersonal skills
- A team player with the ability to forge new partnerships that bridge people and organizations
- Able to prioritize under deadline pressure
- Responsive to requests from clients, employees, or management
- Experts in delivering outcomes, achieving goals, and solving problems
- Strong communicators with skills in writing and public speaking
- Excellent with time and task management skills
- Able to work independently
- Able to see the big picture as well as the small details
Minimum Requirements:
- Matric/ Grade 12
- A minimum of 2 years in an employee engagement role.
*** In alignment with the Employment Equity Act, preference will be given to applicants from historically underrepresented groups and in line with EXL’s EE targets ***
Skills Required
- Matric or Grade 12 qualification
- At least 2 years of experience in an employee engagement role
What We Do
Choosing a digital partner is about more than capabilities — it’s about collaboration and character. Unrealistic overhauls and off-the-shelf products ignore what matters most — your unique needs, culture, goals, and your legacy data and technology environments. At EXL, our collaboration is built on ongoing listening and learning to adapt our methodologies. We’re your business evolution partner—tailoring solutions that make the most of data to make better business decisions and drive more intelligence into your increasingly digital operations. Whether your goals are scaling the use of AI and digital, redesign operating models, or driving better and faster decisions, we’re here to partner with you to help you gain—and maintain—competitive advantage with efficient, sustainable models at scale. Our expertise in transformation, data science, and change management helps make your business more efficient and effective, improve customer relationships and enhance revenue growth. Instead of focusing on multi-year, resource- and time-intensive platform designs or migrations, we look deeper at your entire value chain to integrate strategies with impact. We use our specialization in analytics, digital interventions, and operations management—alongside deep industry expertise — to deliver solutions that help you outperform the competition. At EXL, it’s all about outcomes—your outcomes—and delivering success on your terms. Share your goals with us and together, we’ll optimize how you leverage data to drive your business forward. For more information, visit www.exlservice.com.
