Google has announced an opening for the position of Country Director for South Africa on its careers portal. Alistair Mokoena, who has held the role since April 2020, succeeded Luke McKend, who left in 2018 to lead LinkedIn for Africa. McKend had been the country manager since October 2010.
Mokoena, previously the CEO of Ogilvy South Africa, boasts a substantial background in the South African advertising industry. His academic credentials include an LLB from Rhodes University, an MBA from MANCOSA, and a PhD from the North West University School of Business. Before Mokoena, Stephen Newton briefly served as Google South Africa’s country manager from June 2009 to 2010, following Stafford Masie, who was Regional General Manager from 2006 to 2009.
Job Requirements and Responsibilities
Google’s advertisement outlines four key qualifications for the new Country Director:
- Experience in sales and commercial leadership, with a focus on digital and online experience.
- Proficiency in sales coaching, mentoring, and team management.
- Experience working with chief executives and building networks among business, political decision-makers, NGO leaders, and regulatory bodies.
- Previous experience as a Country Manager or leading a business unit across the region.
“This role offers the opportunity to lead Google’s business in South Africa and to help millions of users make the most of the web,” the company stated. The selected candidate will report to the Managing Director of Sub-Saharan Africa and be part of the SSA Management Group, contributing to the region’s strategy and business development.
Google appointed Alex Okosi as managing director for Africa in September 2023, after Nitin Gajria moved to a new role in Singapore as Google’s managing director for publisher partnerships in the Asia Pacific region.
The new Country Director will lead a skilled and ambitious commercial team based in Johannesburg and represent Google across various functional teams in South Africa. They will act as the official representative of Google in the region, influencing how businesses, governments, and consumers perceive the company.
Google emphasized that the candidate’s knowledge of online media and digital technologies, combined with strong communication and analytical skills, will be crucial in shaping the growth of new and existing businesses. The role also involves educating and persuading customers to embrace Google’s latest advertising products and technologies, sharing market opportunities and challenges, and voicing product priorities.
The new Country Manager will take over at a time when Google faces significant regulatory scrutiny. In July 2023, the Competition Commission of South Africa ruled that Google’s dominance and business model distort platform competition in the country. The commission found that Google Search, holding over 90% of the search market across all devices, acts as a de facto monopoly. It highlighted that visibility on Google Search is critical for customer acquisition and website traffic, and that Google’s search result ranking heavily influences consumer behaviour.
The commission also pointed out that Google’s search results have increasingly given prominence to paid results and Google’s own properties over organic results for commercial searches. As a remedy, the commission has imposed measures to improve visibility for smaller South African platforms, including providing R180 million in advertising credits for small platforms and R150 million in training and support for small and medium enterprises and black-owned online firms. Additionally, Google must introduce a South African flag identifier and search filter to help consumers identify and support local platforms.
Google must also stop self-preferencing its own products, like Google Shopping and Travel, and implement a new element in its search results to showcase smaller South African platforms relevant to the search, free of charge.
Apart from these measures, Google is under a separate inquiry by the Competition Commission regarding revenue-sharing arrangements between news media and digital platforms like Google, and its impact on the digital advertising market.
The new Country Director will need to navigate these regulatory challenges while leading Google’s South African operations, ensuring compliance and fostering growth in a competitive and evolving market.
Main Image: IOL