Teneo is looking for a talented and driven Senior Vice President with a passion for strategic communications to join our Strategy and Communications team in the Middle East. Teneo’s Strategy and communications service offering provides all aspects of integrated communications counsel to business and government leaders and CEOs. This role is part of a thriving team advising high-profile clients on how to create effective narratives, manage reputation, engage with key audiences and tell proactive stories which support clients’ strategic objectives.

We’re interested in meeting candidates with wide-ranging perspectives, and we’re open to hearing from you whether you currently work agency side or in-house. The successful candidate will ideally already be based in KSA or have recently worked for clients/employers in the Kingdom.

It’s key for us that you can cut across sectors and switch seamlessly between all our disciplines, from reactive issues management to proactive storytelling. And we’d love it if, like us, you’re intellectually curious, creative, collaborative, and eager to learn.

As a Senior Vice President you’ll be a primary contact for clients, responsible for providing the highest quality of service to our clients and playing a pivotal role in driving forward activity across multiple account teams, delivering regular insight and analysis, and supporting clients’ reputational and strategic objectives. Senior Vice Presidents manage and coach our Senior Associates and Vice Presidents and work into and learn from our Managing Directors.

Working at Teneo in the Middle East

Teneo works with some of the world’s biggest public sector and corporate entities across a wide range of sectors and issues, including energy, tech, FMCG, financial services and government offices. Our clients include a significant number of the FTSE 100 and Fortune 100, as well as other global public and private corporations and government entities. We’re an ambitious, global consultancy which allows candidates unmatched opportunities to develop and work with inspiring, motivated people.

Although this role is to primarily support our publicly listed corporate clients with financial communications and investor relations, we actively encourage our people to grow and develop their advisory skills across all our disciplines, including financial and M&A, digital, creative campaigning and corporate communications, change and employee engagement, leadership coaching, sustainability, strategy and research, issues and crisis management, and restructuring and management consultancy, to solve complex business issues for our clients.

Key Responsibilities

As a Senior Vice President with the Strategy and Communications team at Teneo, your role will include:

1. Providing investor and capital markets expertise – Guide clients in their engagement with buy and sell-side stakeholders, relevant stock exchange(s) and institutional, retail and governmental shareholders.
2. Leading communications strategy development and deployment – leverages research, insights and discussions with client to lead the creation of communications strategies, leveraging Teneo’s resources, offerings and expertise across business segments.
3. Overseeing strategy development and deployment – oversee the development and implementation of the investor relations and financial communication strategy, for institutional and retail investors. Will include leading the development of earnings announcements, investor presentations, Q&As, media talking points and risk analysis and mitigations.
4. Account management – lead on account delivery, managing a team of experts to deliver high quality client servicing and acting as the main point person with the client. Actively coach and mentor junior team members.
5. Client management – build and maintain strong relationships with the client, seeking growth opportunities where possible. Proactively manage the client and work to take advantage of opportunities/ resolve issues as needed.
6. Supporting new business development - actively build a network of new client/ prospect relationships, working on new business opportunities including leading proposals and participating in client pitch meetings. Demonstrates commercial acumen in costing and managing the delivery or projects. Develops understanding and fluency across Teneo’s service offerings.
7. Supporting wider team management – taking responsibility for Talent Managing junior colleagues, supporting their performance reviews and career growth within the firm. Supporting the smooth running of client servicing operations.

Furthermore, you will be expected to:

• Build strong relationships, fostering long-term partnerships and seeking organic growth opportunities through new business proposal development;
• Create advisory notes for client leadership, addressing media narratives, financial markets insights, geopolitical risks, and reputational issues, while monitoring media coverage for clients and competitors;
• Provide support and insight to your client teams, proactively highlighting opportunities, and potential areas of concern;
• Build a strong network of effective relationships internally and externally;
• Proactively seek formal and informal learning and development opportunities to support your professional growth and contribute to the sharing of learnings across the wider team; and
• Actively coach and mentor Senior Associates and Vice Presidents on your account teams. Lead, manage and motivate more junior colleagues.

Essential Skills and Experience

• A bachelor’s degree or higher in communications, journalism, political science, law, public policy, international relations, business, finance, accounting, or a related field
• 7-10 years + of experience in a strategy, communications or finance/investor relations role – within agency or in-house
• Strong understanding of finance, capital markets and/or investor relations
• Experience in the Saudi market – its media, Investor Relations and business landscapes
• Native or fluent proficiency in Arabic
• Outstanding leadership skills, especially in multicultural and interdisciplinary settings
• Experience offering client senior client counsel across a broad range of corporate reputational or market-related topics
• Strong ability to grasp clients’ business objectives and relevant wider industry dynamics to enable drafting of compelling narratives and content
• Experience working with international media, including handling crises and issues
• Exceptional written and verbal communications skills
• Excellent presentation skills
• Analysis and data visualisation skills
• Excellent command of Microsoft Office (PowerPoint and Word)
• Excellent project management skills
• Client and team management skills
• Experience coaching, mentoring and developing more junior colleagues

Desired Skills and Experience

• Understanding of digital communications
• Experienced in managing people
• Problem solver with a positive attitude
• Flexible and always willing to try
• Detail oriented and committed to high quality deliverables
• Intellectual curiosity and entrepreneurial spirit
• Humble, honest and respectful
• Resilient and performs well under pressure
• Comfortable with uncertainty
• Readiness for frequent travel and stints at clients’ offices

What we can offer  

New joiners are supported by an induction programme, and continuous development is a key focus of life at Teneo - learning and knowledge sharing are at the heart of this. We have an environment and culture that is focused on supporting your development and career progression. We support this with a dedicated Learning Team who provide a range of learning opportunities and personal development support.  

Given our client base you’ll be working on career-defining work that is exciting, rewarding and one where you can make a real impact to high profile projects. 

Teneo works with clients on complex issues and challenges that often require a multidisciplinary approach that leverage our main business segments – Strategy & Communications, Management Consulting, Financial Advisory, People Advisory, and Risks Advisory. You will have opportunities to work alongside our experts in these disciplines to develop and deliver an integrated solution. 

Company Benefits   

As well as this we offer a whole host of benefits and reward including: 

• Competitive salary  
• 21 days holiday 
• Discretionary annual bonus 
• Annual salary review 
• End-of-service benefits    
• Private medical insurance (individual and immediate family members) 
• Regular social, cultural and charitable activities 
• Flexible and remote working with office laptop provided 

About Teneo

Teneo is the global CEO advisory firm. We partner with our clients globally to do great things for a better future.

Drawing upon our global team and expansive network of senior advisors, we provide advisory services across our five business segments on a stand-alone or fully integrated basis to help our clients solve complex business challenges. Our clients include a significant number of the Fortune 100 and FTSE 100, as well as other corporations, financial institutions, and organizations.

Our full range of advisory services includes strategic communications, investor relations, financial transactions and restructuring, management consulting, physical and cyber risk, organizational design, board and executive search, geopolitics and government affairs, corporate governance, ESG and DE&I.

The firm has more than 1,800 employees located in 45+ offices around the world.

More about the role:

Burson, a global communications leader within the WPP network, is seeking a driven and experienced Account Manager to join our team to work across practices including Corporate, Health & Wellness and Energy & Industrials team in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This pivotal role is central to creating value for our clients, and you will be instrumental in developing and executing impactful communications strategies, providing expert counsel, and driving media engagement to achieve tangible business outcomes, all while working in a fast-paced and high-volume environment.

What you'll do:

• Serve as the day-to-day point of contact for a portfolio of clients across key sectors.
• Oversee and manage account activities, ensuring projects are delivered on time and to high-quality standards.
• Contribute to and implement integrated corporate communications strategies, aligning with client objectives.
• Lead the placement and written development of high-impact thought leadership content, including op-eds and articles.
• Lead comprehensive media relations activities, including building media lists, proactive pitching, and journalist engagement.
• Actively mentor and guide junior team members, fostering their professional development.
• Thrive in a client-servicing environment, efficiently managing multiple priorities and complex campaigns.
• Continuously build knowledge and expertise in client-related sectors, anticipating challenges and opportunities

Experience that contributes to success:

• Proven track record in communications, ideally supporting clients in healthcare, renewable energy, sustainability, industrials, or government sectors.
• Minimum of 3-5 years of progressive experience in communications and media relations, preferably from an agency background.
• Prior experience at a Senior Account Executive (SAE) or Account Manager (AM) level is highly preferred.
• Demonstrated strong capabilities as a corporate communications and media relations operator.
• Exceptional organizational skills, with the ability to manage complex projects and high-volume workloads effectively.
• A natural ability to build strong client relationships and provide confident, informed counsel.
• Proficiency in developing and executing B2B and Corporate communication strategies that drive measurable results.
• Bi-lingual (Arabic) preferred.

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