Africa Growth VP

About The Company

IWG is the largest provider of flexible workspace solutions in the world. Trading under multiple brands (including Regus, Spaces, HQ, Signature and No18) we have a physical network of over 4,000 locations across 1,000 towns and cities in 120 countries. Our mission is to help our millions of customers to have a great day at work, every day.

COVID-19 forced an unprecedented experiment in flexible working, which is now driving a surge in demand for our flexible workspace solutions. To meet this demand, we are rapidly accelerating the growth of our network. To deliver our ambition we are recruiting partners to open and operate IWG locations. Our target audience are building owners, franchise operators and competitors, we will collaborate with our partners under a variety of commercial structures demanding a dynamic and broad-based approach to business development.

Find us at www.iwgplc.com

About You

You will be passionate about working in a high-growth sector and ready to play a leading role in disrupting the commercial real-estate industry. You will also have a track record of hiring, motivating, and leading a team to consistently exceed sales or business development targets. Through your drive, tenacity, coaching, and support, the team will close multiple high-value, commercially complex deals, at pace, to achieve their target.

This is a high-intensity and multi-faceted job. You need to maximize your time to support your team to be self-sufficient in generating leads, while helping them pitch and convert deals quickly. You will lead by example and use your outstanding communication skills to present a truly compelling narrative to prospects, so they see the value in being an IWG partner.

Most importantly, you will have the right, can-do mindset: passion, curiosity, pride and drive.

Job Purpose

IWG has an ambition to get to 10,000 locations over the medium-term by executing our growth strategy and leveraging multiple channels including (but not limited to):

• Company-owned locations.
• Managed partnerships (with building owners).
• Franchise partnerships (with building owners and franchise operators).
• M&A.
  
  
  

Key Responsibilities

• Reporting to our CEO for Asia, Middle East and Africa you will be responsible for setting and delivering the growth plan across Africa.
• This is a dynamic, high growth region so we need you to hire and lead a world class team and consistently drive performance.
• Leading and driving a team of Partnership Sales Directors and their teams across the region to;
• Generate awareness and visibility of the IWG partnership proposition in the market by developing B2B connections.
• Identify, contact, and pitch prospective partners through a range of Business Development activities including networking and cold calling.
• Sourcing partners capable of delivering rapid growth of our network through conversion of existing buildings or by quickly securing new buildings.
• Sell the range of partnership solutions to all prospects, converting interest into commercial negotiations and securing board approval for new partnership deals.
• Convert commercial discussions into signed contracts with the support of the IWG legal team.
• Spend a significant amount of time in the field supporting country teams to deliver the growth agenda.
• Ensure all team members deliver at least ten new deals every year.
• Plan and execute the promotion of our proposition to potential partners and the broader market through all routes to market such as trade shows.
• Use existing and develop a network with large real estate institutions to deliver portfolio deals.
• Conduct due diligence with prospective partners and work with legal to get development agreements finalised and signed.
• Sign deals with partners that allow us to grow the network quickly, in the right locations and profitably whilst giving partners a return on investment.
  
  
  

Required Skills, Experience & Qualifications

• Senior B2B sales leadership experience in a fast-growing, dynamic multinational business, across Africa.
• Business development background in complex solution / service led sales.
• Previous experience in commercial real estate investment or franchise development is an advantage.
• Proven ability to remotely manage and motivate a business development team to develop, track, and close large deals, with a track record of regularly exceeding targets.
• Flexible and broadminded with a “can-do” attitude, possessing a disciplined approach to business development.
• Self-starter used to self-generating interest and focusing relentlessly on delivering results.
• Demonstrable track record of sourcing & delivering, at pace, multiple deals of a meaningful scale ($1M investment).
• Self-sufficient, deal-focused, and can-do mindset, willing to take risks to succeed.
• Outstanding communications skills and the ability to present a compelling narrative to a wide variety of audiences, both large & small.
• Able to work under pressure and to think independently to create interest in a proposition.
• Strong business and financial acumen to give others confidence & to give credibility to the selling process.
• Proven capability to work across diverse cultural populations.
• Expertise in developing relationships with both internal and external stakeholders, including “C” level executives and decision makers.