Job Specification

Purpose of Position :

To provide day to day support for the Division's In-Market Business Development Representatives (IBDRs) for corporate calls, presentation materials, company background and profiles, and to continuously provide IBDRs with the most recent competitive advantage information about Ontario that support investment attraction efforts. To triage potential investment opportunities from the IBDR team, federal government officials, local economic developers and directly from investment clients. To work directly with companies who are seeking information about Ontario's competitive advantages for investment. To develop, foster and maintain positive working relationships with internal and external clients including working effectively within a team environment in other areas of the Ministry as well as Municipal, Provincial and Federal governments to promote and market Ontario as the location of choice for domestic and international businesses.
To work in cooperation with Marketing Branch and Ministry sector expert colleagues to develop, implement and coordinate investment lead generation campaigns that deliver qualified leads (e.g. companies that have internal funding, a project leader, a well defined project plan and timeline for the project to invest in Ontario) into the Investment Division sales funnel. To maintain, manage and provide expertise on the electronic Customer Relations Management (eCRM) system and prepare and develop regular and ad-hoc reports for Division management.

Duties / Responsibilities :

The mandate of the Investment Lead Generation Unit within the International Representation Branch is to increase the number of foreign investments attracted to Ontario using a structured sales model based on private sector sales approaches. In this context, the Investment Sales Specialist position:
1. Co-ordinates and executes investment lead generation activities including conducting and/or co-ordinating research with the IBDR firms to identify high opportunity companies and their decision makers/influencers; developing and managing the procurement of targeted client prospect lists; liasing with the IBDRs to plan and execute corporate call campaigns, and identifying and effectively using the most effective tools and techniques for each potential lead to create qualified leads. Assesses and evaluates leads to identify quality of lead and whether it should enter the Division's sales funnel (e.g. internal funding, project leader, well defined project plan, timeline) and works with Division staff to smoothly transition qualified investment leads to the Division's Business Development Specialists for servicing.
2. In cooperation with marketing and sector expert colleagues within the Ministry and across the government, develops, leads, implements and co-ordinates direct marketing campaigns. Develop strong relationships with all levels of government and industry stakeholders, including ministry international representatives to support lead generation activities. Creates, develops, maintains, updates and prioritizes sector competitive advantages documents.
3. Works daily with the IBDRs to develop and execute international investment sales campaigns to identify and generate potential investment attraction opportunities by arranging and/or participating in investment meetings and supporting the IBDRs with follow up, research of prospects, and presentation materials that meet potential client needs). Maintains positive working relationships with prospects and potential clients.
4. Triages potential leads from all sources including determining priority, analysing the opportunity and decisions (e.g. forward to appropriate MEDI Division, or another Ministry or external contact for follow up or defer or decline).
5. Determines need to procure research services to research a company, sector etc. Develops and/or participates in development of procurement documents (e.g. definition of requirements, terms of reference), inputs to selection, provides background information and advice to research contractor and inputs to performance review of suppliers.
6. Maintains ongoing liaison and effective team and working relationships with other internal and external team members to identify market opportunities; assess opportunities and handoff opportunities with appropriate briefing regarding status, interaction, issues and opportunities at the appropriate stages of the process.
7. Acts as Divisional electronic customer relations management (eCRM) software expert including monitoring the integrity of the data and integrity and currency of the system and reports by providing advice and guidance and/or reviewing input and reports to ensure that team members have properly input/maintained their entries. Develops and maintains and/or coordinates the development and maintenance of a variety of eCRM reports (e.g. performance metrics, Pipeline/Upside/Forecast, project/business cases, site selection progress and status, contacts, etc.) to ensure currency, consistency and alignment of reports with business changes.
8. Inputs and maintains currency of all own interactions with prospects and clients, new accounts, hand offs etc. to eCRM system
9. Participates in special projects (e.g. transition to a new software system, etc.).
10. Monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of the sector/Region/market sales and marketing campaigns and initiatives throughout the year and makes recommendations for future considerations.
11. Researches, plans, develops, implements and co-ordinates customized sales tools for use by the IBDRs and other Ministry staff with the target audience (e.g. presentations, brochures, sector snapshots etc.)
12.Liases with a variety of investment stakeholders and partners, including other federal/provincial jurisdictions or ministries involved in economic development to plan and execute direct marketing and sales strategies joint campaigns and benefit from key learning opportunities/activities within the sector.
13. Participates as part of a team to coordinate and successfully implement international in-market investment attraction activities in the sector

Staffing and Licencing :

Position requires the ability to undertake domestic travel.

Knowledge :

Position requires knowledge of and ability to apply proven private sector processes, sales business practices, current and innovative research and selling tools and techniques, including performance measures to to best meet client needs. Knowledge of sales, economic development, investment and marketing theories, principles and practices; economic cycles and market upheavals and business management operations and requirements to effectively understand and target investment opportunities based on market factors and company opportunities and develop and deliver a value proposition to potential leads. Knowledge of relevant Federal and Provincial Legislation; Ministry and Division mandate, goals, objectives, programs, policies, practices, standards and guidelines and knowledge of Ontario's competitive advantages for investment attraction including provincial, federal and municipal economic development programs, services and resources and the ability to translate advantages into sector specific direct marketing campaigns to act as prime for lead qualification (e.g. develop campaigns, triage, evaluate prospect viability and lead quality, determine sales funnel qualification, transition qualified lead) and to assist foreign and domestic attraction clients in accessing potential opportunities available to them. Knowledge of relevant Ontario sectors, market, economic cycles, business climate and needs to develop, implement and manage sector campaigns; research companies; identify and prioritize prospects and opportunities; assess and analyze leads; identify relevant in-market events; interact with credibility with prospects and determine action on leads to optimize identification of viable projects. Knowledge of current and emerging investment and industry issues (e.g. contracting economy, increasing competition, process/quality improvement etc.) and their impacts to assess and evaluate impact on prospects and meeting of Ontario investment goals in triaging prospects. Superior knowledge of computer operations and relevant software (e.g. Microsoft Dynamics/other eCRM, word processing, database management, PowerPoint, Excel, to act as Division expert on eCRM software and support the transition from Sales Force to Microsoft Dynamics, develop and prepare reports and maintain and manage sector campaign documents. Knowledge of project management theories, principles and techniques to lead and co-ordinate multiple, concurrent sector campaigns. Knowledge of procurement processes to participate in development of documents and input to contractor selection. Knowledge of relevant customer service and program service standards to provide excellence in customer service. Excellent communications and interpersonal skills necessary to successfully support the IBDRs on a day to day basis and for working with investment clients directly.

Skills :

Judgement and analytical and evaluation skills are required to quickly, accurately and consistently triage a large volume of incoming opportunities, which are often complex, challenging and multi-faceted, based on a number of factors (e.g. alignment with strategic goals, opportunity size/strength/value, client capabilities, etc.); prioritize/reprioritize opportunities; determine most appropriate tools and techniques to determine qualification and make qualification decisions; identify the most effective and appropriate in-market events and determine when external researchers are required. Oral and written communication skills to support the IBDRs and investment clients; develop and prepare a variety of reports to determine companies and opportunities to be pursued, identify their decision makers etc. and develop and deliver presentations (e.g. eCRM reports, direct marketing sector strategies). Research and analytical skills to determine extent of research, most effective resources to use and assess, need for further justification/back up and analyze and evaluate each opportunity. Effective relationship management skills are critical to effectively work with and coordinate with, IBDRs, and SEOs and effectively and efficiently receive handoffs and hand off opportunities at the appropriate time and with the appropriate briefing, documentation and information and to provide advice, training and guidance to external researchers. Considerable tact and political acuity and acumen in assessing opportunities which may have political issues and accurately determining when to escalate the opportunity to a higher level for consultation and/or decision making when declining opportunities with political elements. Conceptual and innovative skills to understand, assess, analyze and evaluate a variety of factors to develop, lead, implement and coordinate effective sector campaigns, which further the Division's mandate. Project management, organization, coordination and prioritisation skills to project manage multiple, concurrent investment attraction efforts in multiple jurisdictions. Coordination and organizational skills, resilience and flexibility to work both independently and within a team in fast paced, sales oriented, entrepreneurial environment. Political acuity, interpersonal and customer service skills to maintain positive working relationships internally and externally and to advise prospects that their opportunities were declined without negatively impacting the image of the Division and the mandate. Superior computer and eCRM software skills to act as expert resource on eCRM, provide advice and guidance regarding the system and usage, prepare reports and maintain integrity of the reporting process. Professionalism, high ethical standards and ability to maintain appropriate confidentiality to establish credibility and relationships with clients and within the sector and positively represent and promote Ontario as a potential investment location.

Freedom of Action :

Position reports to the Manager, Lead Generation Unit, with advice, guidance and training available from the Team Leaders. Position requires working under relevant legislation and within established Ministry policies, procedures, standards and guidelines and within Ministry/Divisional/Branch program objectives to contribute to enhancement of economic development and expansion of investment in Ontario. Position is responsible for clear, thorough and conceptual understanding of investment sales and developing and implementing effective sector campaigns based on the sector strategies which focus on quick identification of prospect targets so that decision makers can be quickly identified and contacted. Position is responsible for determining human and time resources requirements for campaigns and effectively and efficiently coordinating resources and working with Team Leader as required to ensure resource needs are met. Position is responsible for coordinating research, determining when external researchers need to be hired for assignments that support the Division's objectives. Position is responsible for triaging, analyzing, prioritizing and evaluating potential opportunities; determining appropriate action (e.g. evaluating as quality and qualified lead to enter the sales funnel, deferring, declining) and leading the transition of the lead to the BDS in conjunction with the Team Leader. Position is responsible for conveying the action to be taken to the prospect and/or determining when the conveyance of the decision to the prospect should be escalated to a higher level, including providing feedback and support materials to prospects whose opportunities have been deferred and suggesting that they come back when prepared. Position is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the eCRM, ensuring team members update projects and developing/coordinating development of regular and ad hoc reports, including reports for the ADM, Director and Manager. Position requires developing annual work plan (e.g. setting targets, time frames, methods) based upon program objectives for submission to supervisor. The work plan is assessed in relation to effectiveness in meeting program objectives. Work is reviewed at intervals identified in work plan for adherence to stated objectives and performance is measured primarily by the number and quality of qualified leads and effective and efficient management of the process in accordance with all relevant requirements. Position requires referring situations to supervisor that are politically sensitive or that would have a large impact on the economic development of Ontario (e.g. multinational enterprise indicates considering closing operations in province; potential of large investment that requires uncommon attention/service etc.).