Program Analyst and Coordinator, South Africa

Advantage Group International is seeking an operations focused Analyst, who wants to jump in headfirst to join us in our journey of helping businesses be better together. 

Thirty years ago, in Toronto, Canada, Founder Ron Pirie championed the belief that businesses work better together when they commit to actively listening and responding to each other’s feedback. 

From humble beginnings and a staunch and universal belief that stronger collaboration leads to better business results in any market and any industry, our relationship benchmarking capabilities have become the gold standard for measuring business-to-business engagement in over 40 countries. 

The South African business is on a growth journey building its core program, custom research and advisory capabilities. The growth path includes expansion into EA, NA, CA and WA, along with opportunities in Professional Services, Telco and Pharma Sectors. Our clients include leading local and international FMCG brands, Distributors and Retailers. We are passionate about data, analytics, insights and business transformation. The ideal candidate is someone who is a stickler for detail, loves working with data and managing programs and operations, has and has a client-centric and growth mindset. 

The successful candidate ideally holds 1 - 2 years of experience in a market research, project management, or operations role, with an aptitude for succeeding in a flexible position. Experience with or knowledge of the South African FMCG and grocery industry is considered a bonus. This role is 70% Program Management, 20% Administrative Support, 10% Client Support.

This role will be a 6-month contract position with high likelihood of transitioning to permanent employment once the contract is finished.

The Program Analyst and Co-ordinator will support the administration and delivery of key Advantage programs in the South African business. You will help to manage our annual research programs through the key stages of program specifications, fieldwork, report production and insight delivery. Advantage Group International is a global business and the Analyst, reporting to the Program Manager, will also work closely with colleagues in our global office in Toronto, the Euro/Africa region and other markets. 

• Ensures that the Advantage programs are run on schedule and fit within the overall company-wide strategic goals to deliver high quality added-value insight. 

• Supports administrative components of qualitative research. 

• Reviews ratings received to ensure the quality of the data, response rates, and coverage are tracked and targets achieved. 

• Compiles supplier and retailer intelligence from different data sources.

• Ensures requirements from Suppliers and Retailers are captured in the program set-up and specification. 

• Monitors survey response and coverage and makes critical decisions to correct gaps and ensure fieldwork meets key milestones. 

• Supports the Program and Operations Manager/s and the Program Management team in Toronto on the preparation and verification of data processing and reporting specifications, and in assuring the integrity and quality of the data.

• Supports the Program Manager in servicing and managing client relationships to build trust through focus on what matters to them, communicating effectively, proactively helping them, and responding with a great sense of urgency and accuracy for their day-to-day program and administrative needs, such as meeting scheduling, client database management 

• Collaborates with the Managing Director and Program and Operations Manager to ensure that reports and inputs are organised to support Reporting season.

This role is initially to be home office based in Johannesburg. Expected travel is low to moderate but may be higher at peak times of the year: 

• Tertiary Qualification, minimum of relevant undergraduate University degree 

• 1+ years of relevant operations, project management, research, or data analysis experience.

• Strong organisational, program management skills needed, with the ability to engage with multiple stakeholders from Leadership, Sales, Finance & Procurement, at clients. And with multilevel stakeholders and business partners supporting the program design and implementation internally. 

• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office suite, particularly MS Excel and PowerPoint 

• Experience with Tableau or other BI tools is considered an asset 

• Proven ability to communicate in English (verbal and written)

• Interest in the FMCG and Grocery industry 

• Desire to grow with the business and develop your role

• Numeracy and a keen eye for detail and a level of comfort with data analysis 

• Outstanding initiative with a “can-do” attitude

• Ability to communicate effectively internally and with supplier/retailer contacts at all levels

• Ability to reliably work with limited supervision and a high sense of urgency 

Advantage has identified the following set of competencies that successful Advantagers, are expected to demonstrate and develop in the role over time. Most of these will apply to the Program Analyst and Co-ordinator role.

Advantage offers an attractive salary package with fringe benefits. 

Please be alert to possible recruitment fraud. Advantage Group International's Human Resources Team and hiring managers communicate only via our company email addresses with the domain @advantagegroup.com or via the tracking system with the domain @applytojob.com. Consider any variations to these domains or any other domains to be fraudulent. Email correspondence will precede a phone interview. We do not request an interview on any instant messaging applications. 

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