The digital marketing realm has become the battleground for brand supremacy. And the only way to successfully navigate the digital maze is by partnering with the right agency.
Among the myriad options available, we’ve curated a list of the top 10 digital marketing consultancy services that have carved a niche for themselves in this domain. Through their adept strategies, these agencies have navigated the landscape and led their clients to a zenith of success, making them the torchbearers in the digital marketing realm. Join us to uncover who these agencies are and what they bring to the table.
Top 10 Digital Marketing Consultancy Services
Top
digital marketing consultancy services
2024
Disruptive takes a formidable stance in the highly competitive realm of digital marketing with a specialized focus on providing consultancy services. But they’re not just an agency; they are the catalysts of transformation for brands looking to excel in every facet of digital marketing. Armed with data-driven methodologies, Disruptive converges SEO and PPC elements to enhance visibility and substantially elevate profitability and revenue for their clients. Their sole focus on advising clients to reach the desired marketing goals portrays a unique and tested approach.
Their success narrative is endorsed by a myriad of brands that have benefited from collaborating with Disruptive. The approach involved a personalized audit and strategy formulation, ensuring an in-depth understanding of specific needs, followed by optimization and enhancement tailored to individual brand objectives. They don’t just deliver metrics; they delve into the substantive data that drives consequential results. They are stewards of transformative digital journeys, steering brands through the intricate corridors of digital marketing with expertise, fostering not just growth but sustainable success in a marketplace teeming with potential.
iFocus stands as a beacon of innovation and expertise, particularly known for offering tailored solutions that align with distinct business objectives. Their modus operandi is simple yet profoundly effective; clients provide the business goals, and iFocus, backed by a team of Google-certified and Facebook-certified experts, crafts meticulously designed strategies to meet those objectives. Small to medium businesses find a haven in iFocus, especially when internal resources are stretched thin. The agency amplifies marketing efforts and ensures each strategy is holistic and reflects the business’s unique needs and market dynamics.
Every interaction with iFocus is characterized by a deep dive into understanding the client’s industry and specific requirements. Their consultants are seasoned in varied fields equipped to bridge gaps in marketing efforts with questions and insights that reveal overlooked opportunities. Their acclaimed approach is backed by a diverse client base, a testament to their adaptability and proficiency in navigating different industry landscapes. When you engage iFocus, you’re not just hiring a consultancy; you are partnering with a collaborative entity committed to transforming your marketing aspirations into tangible, successful outcomes through well-rounded, data-driven strategies.
Bain & Company’s integrated approach in the digital marketing landscape is underscored by its acquisition of FRWD in 2018. This collaboration manifests as a robust fusion of consulting expertise and innovative media, creative, and technology capabilities designed to transcend traditional marketing paradigms. FRWD, now a seamless element of Bain’s Customer Practice, is stationed across 15 global offices and powered by top consultants from diverse backgrounds in marketing and technology. Their core service offering hinges on an exquisite blend of strategic, top-down approaches and specific, bottom-up insights to present marketers with a meticulously crafted, risk-adjusted, actionable, and visionary roadmap.
With over 200 experts at the helm, Bain & Company offers marketing consultancy services deeply entrenched in practical implementation aimed at accelerating business outcomes with unwavering confidence. Bain’s Advanced Diagnostics engages channel-specific experts to unlock and optimize untapped growth potentials at both brand and portfolio levels. Marketing Acceleration is characterized by active marketplace hypothesis testing to refine strategic priorities and capture scalable insights. With a myriad of sophisticated systems and tools designed to instill repeatable processes and facilitate transformation scalability across diverse business units and regions, Bain & Company is a trusted marketing consultant committed to assisting clients in reaching consumers and markets.
McKinsey is renowned for orchestrating growth transformations that transcend typical market dynamics. They weave a rich tapestry of services, including branding, insights analytics, digital marketing, and customer experience, all finely tuned to usher companies into realms of substantial and sustainable value. Their renowned CustomerOne strategy exemplifies this, offering a nuanced blend of insight revelation and growth opportunity identification, executed with alacrity and enduring impact.
McKinsey are expert digital marketing consultants, leveraging analytics, cloud-based, and AI tools to provide expert training to clients, putting them in the best position to achieve their digital marketing goals. Furthermore, their data-driven ethos provides insights that unveil the nuances of consumer behaviors and brand perception, making them stand out in this highly competitive service. With McKinsey, clients are not just embracing a service but entering a dynamic partnership where growth, innovation, and transformation are not just promised but intricately woven into every interaction, driving sustainable growth and competitive advantage.
Affirma emerges as a distinguished entity in the realm of digital marketing consultancy, adroitly intertwining creativity and technology to craft memorable digital experiences. Their comprehensive suite of services is meticulously designed to narrate compelling stories that foster human connection, elevate lead generation, and optimize search profitability. Specializing in marketing automation & technology, Affirma epitomizes versatility. Their consultancy services are tailored to provide customized campaign delivery, extensive platform support, and sophisticated segmentation.
The agency’s proficiency underscores its commitment to addressing client-specific pain points with precision and innovation. With a team of seasoned professionals, Affirma’s design consulting spans graphic and visual design, UX/UI, creative production, and branding, each service meticulously crafted to encapsulate the brand’s ethos compellingly. The agency’s approach is not merely transactional. It is deeply rooted in a comprehensive understanding of their client’s business, ensuring solutions are not just delivered.
Digital Silk exemplifies the synergy of strategy and innovation in the digital marketing realm. The agency is lauded for its meticulous approach to crafting strategic marketing blueprints, empowered by research-backed insights and bespoke multichannel conversion funnels. Clients benefit from a 360° digital marketing strategy that is not only rooted in industry intelligence but is also agile, adapting to the diverse and dynamic digital landscapes. Digital Silk’s expertise in channel optimization, digital marketing automation, and analytics is accentuated by a consultative approach, ensuring that strategies are not just data-driven but are also aligned with the brand’s ethos and business objectives.
In the sphere of client engagement and brand loyalty, Digital Silk stands apart with its bespoke solutions. The agency’s prowess in enhancing client online presence is rooted in a comprehensive understanding of user behavior and industry trends. Their methodical process, from research and analysis to the marketing roadmap, is a testament to their commitment to delivering measurable results. With a focus on nurturing leads and driving revenue, Digital Silk is not just a marketing consultancy service provider but a strategic partner in digital transformation, poised to elevate brands to new pinnacles of online prominence and market influence.
Consult Yasser navigates the intricate digital marketing landscape with a tailored, data-driven approach, distinguishing itself as a beacon of innovation and strategic acumen. Boasting over 15 years of comprehensive marketing consultancy experience, this agency applies a meticulous blend of market research, analytics, and strategic planning to curate bespoke marketing strategies. Prospective clients are not only promised a thorough marketing audit but are also endowed with insightful strategies adept at bridging performance gaps and elevating brand prominence. Each strategy encapsulates a 360-degree perspective, meticulously crafted to resonate with targeted market segments while encompassing growth hacking and content innovation.
At the crux of Consult Yasser’s approach lies a robust integration of technology and analytics. Clients benefit from a fully data-driven methodology designed to optimize resource integration, enhance reporting systems, and provide pivotal data insights. The bespoke marketing dashboards exemplify customization and precision, ensuring stakeholders remain apprised of performance metrics in real-time. In a digital space teeming with generic consultancy solutions, Consult Yasser emerges as a harmonious option, positioning brands to not just navigate but also thrive amidst the dynamic digital marketing landscape.
Blast Analytics, a paragon in the digital marketing consultancy sphere, combines analytics with a goal-oriented methodology to cultivate bespoke digital marketing tactics. The agency is renowned for its adeptness in amplifying the digital marketing return on investment for its clientele, leveraging a profound comprehension of the multifaceted “customer journey.” In the complex digital ecosystem, Blast Analytics distinguishes itself by synthesizing analytics and strategic ingenuity, offering an array of services, including Search Engine Optimization and Paid Search Management tailored to escalate brand visibility, traffic, and conversion rates.
The partnerships and certifications earned by Blast Analytics underscore its commitment to excellence and innovation as a consultancy service. The agency boasts a commendable alliance with prominent entities in the data and analytics sector, ensuring clients receive optimal support engineered to enhance organizational evolution. Certifications with Adobe Experience Cloud, Tealium, Google Marketing Platform, and Tableau accentuate the agency’s prowess in delivering tailored, data-driven solutions. Each engagement is marked by a distinctive blend of strategic analytics consulting underpinned by a commitment to helping clients navigate the intricate pathways of the digital landscape, transform data into actionable insights, and realize enhanced organizational performance and customer experience.
RSM US symbolises a confluence of business acumen, technological expertise, and creative innovation, establishing itself as a pivotal force in the domain of digital marketing consultancy. This agency places an unwavering focus on ROI-driven strategies, ensuring that creativity is not just fostered but is systematically channeled to bolster the bottom line. Each strategy is born from an exhaustive and cross-disciplinary approach, where a nuanced understanding of the client’s business is not a mere precursor but the foundation of every engagement. The emphasis on a comprehensive digital marketing outlook, transcending siloed approaches, ensures that clients are not just visible but are prominent, resonant, and impactful in the digital space.
The agency’s multifaceted expertise is notably pronounced in its approach to planning and execution. Armed with an arsenal of strategies ranging from SEO to social media ads and an adeptness at enhancing visibility on platforms like Amazon, RSM US is equipped not just to navigate but to master the digital terrain. A testament to its efficacy is the tailored solutions, such as the implementation of NetSuite’s SuiteCommerce Advanced system for Murray’s Cheese, accentuating the agency’s capability to morph insights and strategy into tangible, measurable results. In a landscape marked by dynamism and competition, RSM US emerges as the epitome of strategic ingenuity, technological prowess, and creative vibrancy.
BCG’s forte in digital marketing consultancy lies in its bionic approach, which seamlessly integrates human insight and technological prowess to deliver holistic and sustainable digital marketing solutions. Clients are not just recipients of services but partners in a collaborative journey marked by tailored strategies and measurable outcomes. BCG’s emphasis on a deep-rooted understanding of each client’s unique needs, coupled with a commitment to ROI, culminates in customized solutions that are as innovative as they are effective. Armed with tools like Growth AI and Lighthouse, BCG is not just responsive but predictive, ensuring that clients are always a step ahead in the competitive digital landscape.
With accolades like the CODiE Award underscoring its innovative edge, BCG transforms data into a strategic asset, empowering companies to make informed, agile, and impactful decisions. Each strategy is a symphony of insightful analytics, creative concepts, and technology-enabled precision, ensuring digital marketing is not just a tool but a catalyst for growth and competitive differentiation. The agency’s success stories, ranging from global retail convenience companies to leading automobile manufacturers, underscore its ability to translate complex data and insights into actionable, profitable, and scalable digital marketing strategies, making BCG a beacon of innovation and efficacy in the digital marketing consultancy arena.
What is the Typical Cost Range for Hiring a Digital Marketing Consultancy Service?
When it comes to hiring a digital marketing consultancy service, costs can vary widely based on the scope, duration, and complexity of the project. Typically, the fees for these services are influenced by factors such as the consultancy’s reputation, expertise, and the range of services provided.
Small to mid-sized businesses can expect to pay anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per month for digital marketing consultancy. However, this depends on the package the consultant offers and their expertise in the field. For example, basic packages that cover essential services like SEO optimization, social media management, and content creation can range from $500 to $2,500 per month. On the other hand, more comprehensive plans, including advanced SEO strategies, pay-per-click advertising management, and sophisticated analytics and reporting, might cost up to $20,000 per month.
For larger corporations with complex needs, the cost can go even higher. They might require a tailored approach that includes a mix of digital strategies designed to reach specific business objectives. This personalized service can cost up to $100,000 per month or more, especially for internationally recognized consultancy firms (Source: Design Rush).
It’s also common for digital marketing consultancy services to charge per project. In such cases, a well-defined scope of work and deliverables is established, with costs being calculated based on the estimated hours or resources required to complete the project.
In summary, the cost of hiring a digital marketing consultancy service largely depends on the business’s specific needs, the consultancy’s expertise, and the expected outcomes. It is always advisable for businesses to request detailed proposals, including a breakdown of services and costs, to ensure value for money and a clear return on investment.
What Services Do Digital Marketing Consultants Offer?
Navigating this complex landscape requires a nuanced approach, tailored strategies, and deep insights into market dynamics. This is where the expertise of digital marketing consultants becomes invaluable. These professionals offer a suite of services designed to propel businesses forward in the digital realm. Here’s an enriched exploration of the services offered by digital marketing consultants:
Digital marketing consultants delve into extensive market research to decode the preferences, behaviors, and interactions of the target audience with brands online. They employ a variety of sophisticated tools and analytical methods to glean actionable insights, which form the bedrock of any successful marketing strategy. This exploration goes beyond superficial data, digging deep to understand emerging market trends, consumer pain points, and the evolving competitive landscape.
- Competition Analysis and Monitoring
A thorough understanding of the competitive landscape is indispensable. Digital marketing consultants scrutinize competitors’ online presence, dissect their marketing strategies, and evaluate customer engagement tactics. This comprehensive analysis unveils opportunities for differentiation and provides a clear blueprint for positioning your brand in a way that resonates with your target audience while outshining competitors.
- Marketing Strategy Consulting
The cornerstone of digital marketing success is a robust, well-articulated strategy. Consultants guide businesses in crafting an integrated marketing plan that spans various digital channels. They ensure that the messaging is coherent, the engagement is consistent, and the chosen channels are synergistically driving towards the defined business goals.
Social media is a powerhouse for brand exposure and customer engagement. Consultants furnish expertise in selecting the right platforms, crafting compelling content strategies, and engaging with audiences in a manner that fosters a loyal community. They also provide insights on leveraging influencer partnerships, running targeted ad campaigns, and monitoring social media metrics to adjust strategies as needed.
- Marketing Management Consulting
This service extends into the realm of optimizing overall marketing operations and enhancing performance. Consultants dissect existing marketing processes, identify bottlenecks, and suggest improvements that can significantly bolster efficiency and Return on Investment (ROI).
- UX Design and CRO Analysis
The intersection of well-designed user interfaces (UI) and delightful user experiences (UX) is where conversion magic happens. Consultants offer a well-rounded analysis of website design and user journeys to identify areas of improvement. They propose optimizations that enhance usability, boost conversion rates, and ensure that the digital experience aligns well with user expectations.
In the digital wilderness, visibility is key to survival and growth. SEO consultants demystify the intricacies of optimizing website structure, content, and backlinks to bolster search engine rankings and drive a steady flow of organic traffic. They stay abreast of the ever-evolving SEO best practices and algorithm changes to ensure your online presence remains competitive.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a potent vehicle for driving immediate traffic and conversions. Consultants assist in strategizing, setting up, and managing PPC campaigns to ensure optimal Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS). They delve into keyword research, ad copy optimization, and performance analytics to continuously refine campaigns for better outcomes.
- Content Marketing Strategy
In the kingdom of digital marketing, content is indeed king. Consultants aid in concocting a riveting content strategy that resonates with the target audience, drives engagement, and nudges them along the conversion funnel. They also provide insights on content distribution, SEO integration, and performance measurement to ensure the content strategy is dynamic and results-driven.
- Marketing Analytics Consulting
Harnessing the power of data is pivotal for making informed marketing decisions. Consultants provide a gamut of analytics consulting services to measure, analyze, and interpret marketing data. They help in setting up analytics platforms, defining key performance indicators (KPIs), and generating insights that fuel continuous improvement in marketing strategies.
Conclusion
This meticulous scrutiny of the top 10 digital marketing consultancy services unveils a panorama of expertise, strategic acumen, and results-driven approaches. These agencies are more than mere consultants; they are the navigators of the digital realm, orchestrating growth, visibility, and sustainable success for brands in a market that’s as vast as it is dynamic.
The narrative of each agency is a testament to the profound impact and substantial ROI that adept digital marketing strategies can usher. Their successes underscore the pivotal role of personalized, data-driven, and innovative digital marketing strategies in propelling brands to not just navigate but thrive in the digital landscape. As businesses venture into the digital horizon, partnering with a seasoned digital marketing consultancy service emerges as a prudent stride towards achieving and transcending their marketing aspirations.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can a business measure the ROI from a digital marketing consultancy service?
ROI from a digital marketing consultancy can be measured by comparing the benefits gained to the costs incurred. Key metrics include increased website traffic, lead generation, conversion rates, and sales revenue. By tracking these indicators before and after employing consultancy services, businesses can quantify the financial impact and calculate ROI effectively.
What are the primary services offered by digital marketing consultancy agencies?
Digital marketing consultancies offer services including SEO optimization, content marketing, social media management, pay-per-click advertising, and analytics and reporting. They provide strategies to enhance online presence, increase traffic, and improve conversion rates, tailored to meet specific business objectives and target audiences.
How do digital marketing consultancy services differ from traditional marketing consultancy?
Digital marketing focuses on online strategies, utilizing platforms like websites, social media, and emails, while traditional marketing involves offline methods like print ads, TV, and radio. Digital marketing consultancy services offer analytics, real-time data, and targeted strategies, ensuring measurable, adaptable, and cost-effective solutions compared to traditional marketing.
If your dream of becoming a Realtor was left unfulfilled, House Flipper 2 has promised to fulfill that broken dream. It is a building simulation in which players play as realtors. Buying, selling, and building properties are the game’s main objectives. With dynamic gameplay and life-like graphics, this game is one of the best building simulators.
In the game, players have to renovate houses to make them profitable. To cash out these profits, players need to sell these properties. Selling a home is hard to understand at first, but once players have sold their first house, they’ll get the hang of it. This guide helps players learn the process of selling houses.
House Flipper 2: How to Use Wiring
To help you deal with lighting, here’s how to use Wiring in House Flipper 2.
How to Sell a House
Houses are available throughout the map; they can be bought and restored to sell in the future. Here are all the steps players must follow to sell their houses.
Start The Auction
Players need to navigate to the “Houses” tab to sell a house. From there, an option named “Auction” will appear. This option will be visible on the top right of the screen. From there, players need to evaluate their bids; this will bring them potential buyers for their property.
Players can’t sell the houses of their parents, meaning they can only sell houses that they own.
Selling The House
Once the auction has begun and bids have been evaluated, potential clients will start to bid on the available houses. Remember, each buyer has a different taste, which could affect their buying decision. Two options will be given to the player, which are either to “Accept” or “Negotiate” the bid. Players can accept the highest offer or negotiate to get a better deal.
Declining an offer leads to additional charges for the players.
Auction Option Not Visible?
Some players often face issues when trying to access the Auction Menu. This is due to a bug or, in some cases, the need to know which houses qualify for sale. If this happens, players can visit their properties from where they can auction the houses directly.
In the unfortunate event that this method does not work, restarting the game is a great option. Players could also use an unorthodox approach to re-install the game. Although it is time-consuming, it is a working solution.
The Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Presidential Fellowships celebrates two graduate students at Carnegie Mellon University for their research on developing machine-learning tools and automated, experimental methods to predict the outcomes of chemical reactions and advance drug design. Chemistry Ph.D. students Polina Avdiunina and Zhen “Jack” Liu earned the fellowships in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
“The TCS Fellowship provides a unique opportunity for graduate students. Both Polina and Jack could really focus on exciting science that is enabled by the Carnegie Mellon University Cloud Lab and explore how machine learning accelerates chemical experiments,” said Associate Chemistry Professor Olexandr Isayev, who advises both Avdiunina and Liu.
The Presidential Fellowship provides important financial support to recruit and retain outstanding graduate students. The fellowship was made possible through a generous gift in 2015 from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global IT services and consultation organization, to support undergraduate scholarships and graduate-level fellowships across the university.
“We congratulate Tata Consultancy Services Presidential Fellowship awardees Polina Avdiunina and Zhen Liu for their work on AI-led materials design and development. The work demonstrates that in-silico experimentation and digital bio-twins are ready to transform new product development across a wide range of industries. This aligns with our belief that digital technologies such as AI are ready to accelerate sciences and will unleash tremendous innovation across all sectors,” said Harrick Vin, Chief Technology Officer, TCS.
Over a decade, through its Co-Innovation Network (COIN™) Program, TCS has supported hundreds of inventors worldwide to make a difference in their respective fields. Their inventions will advance the state of the art in several industries, thereby transforming businesses and the world we live in.
Polina Avdiunina
Polina Avdiunina came to Carnegie Mellon to pursue her doctorate and to be involved with cutting-edge research. And cutting-edge it is. She designs and conducts wet lab biochemistry experiments and remotely controls them from her computer.
“It’s like a high-tech future reality that doesn’t even feel like a reality yet,” said Avdiunina, a second-year Chemistry Ph.D. student.
She’s working with Emerald Cloud Lab (ECL), a remotely operated research facility that handles all aspects of daily lab work without the user ever setting foot in the lab. ECL was cofounded by Carnegie Mellon alumni Brian Frezza and DJ Kleinbaum, who are working with the university to build the Carnegie Mellon Cloud Lab.
“I get to work with biological molecules and drug-design projects, but I’m not pipetting; I’m not doing any wet experiments,” she said. “I program all the experimental work on the computer using ECL software for orchestrating experiments in the facility.”
Avdiunina studies protein kinases, proteins that regulate nearly all aspects of cell life. Malfunctioning kinases cause cancer and diabetes as well as metabolic and neurological disorders, which make them ideal drug targets. There are currently more than 70 drugs that inhibit specific kinases, and Avdiunina is working on finding more.
When she was a student studying bioengineering and bioinformatics at Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia, she spent a summer working with Associate Chemistry Professor Olexandr Isayev, then at the University of North Carolina, on building machine learning models that would be able to predict how well certain small molecules bind to kinases. Such small molecule inhibitors might be able to be used as drugs.
“Potentially discovering a new molecule that could become a new drug for people who need it is a main motivation for me,” she said.
Avdiunina returned to Russia to complete her degree after her summer research experience but joined Isayev’s lab at Carnegie Mellon for her Ph.D. work. The project she had worked on years earlier had reached its experimental stage. The machine learning tool has predicted hundreds of potential kinase inhibitors, and Avdiunina is now designing high-throughput screening experiments to test their effectiveness in real time. The experiments are being run at the ECL, which recently moved from San Francisco to Austin. Once the Carnegie Mellon Cloud Lab opens in 2024, the research will transfer to Pittsburgh.
“The automated experiments are a fast and effective way to experimentally check our predictions,” Avdiunina said.
Avdiunina’s current experiments focus on one specific kinase. Still, the goal is to standardize and validate the laboratory protocol, which would allow them “to test multiple kinases against hundreds of small molecules and do it automatically, so you don’t need to recreate the protocol every time,” she said.
As an undergraduate student, Avdiunina gained experience in conducting lab experiments but was more interested in working on computational projects. All of that experience is coming in handy as she collaborates with scientists who are experts at manually running the kinase assays in the lab. They work together on the various comprehensive details needed for automated processes to be run successfully, efficiently, and on a bigger scale.
“It’s not easy,” Avdiunina said. “There are a lot of things involved in that experiment, so there are many things that could go wrong. I’m calling them often, and I’m lucky to have them guiding and helping me.”
Her experience with programming has been key in helping her learn ECL’s systems. “I’m also really grateful for the ECL team. They understand that their cloud facilities are the first out there and that it does take time for people to learn how to use them. They have been investing in teaching others how to use it, and they’ve been very helpful with that.”
For Avdiunina, the “project is a perfect combination of everything for me.”
Zhen “Jack” Liu
Zhen “Jack” Liu arrived at Carnegie Mellon as a first-year graduate student with plans to study chemical biology. A rotation in a computational chemistry lab changed everything.
The idea that people can use machine learning and artificial intelligence to predict what’s going to happen in the lab without running a single experiment dazzled him, he said. He was inspired to switch his focus to computational chemistry. The problem? Liu didn’t know anything about programming.
“The first time I learned Python was when I came to CMU,” Liu said. “I knew nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
Now, five years later, he’s added an entirely new field of expertise to his resume.
“There is a huge gap between experimental chemistry and computational chemistry, so I needed to fill that gap,” said Liu, whose undergraduate degree is in organic chemistry. “It took me a lot of effort to learn the relevant knowledge and keep up the pace with my peers.”
Liu’s work focuses on developing machine learning tools to assist chemists in molecule design and reaction prediction. Since a chemical reaction can be highly complex, it takes a lot of time and effort to conduct experiments to determine the best reactants, catalysts, and conditions needed to run a highly effective reaction that delivers the highest yield of product while avoiding unintended by-products. This is where machine learning and artificial intelligence can have a big impact, especially when it comes to predicting the reaction yield.
“Accurate prediction of reaction yield is the holy grail for computer-assisted synthesis,” Liu said. “If you have a model that is accurate in predicting theoretical yield, then a chemist in the lab does not need to run that many experiments. They would just need to run experiments that are recommended by the model. This saves time for more creative things.”
Despite its importance, predicting the theoretical yield remains challenging because the yield depends on many observable and unobservable factors throughout the reaction process, including the interaction between molecules, environment conditions, and the experimental techniques used by a chemist at the bench.
The goal is to design an accurate and generally applicable yield prediction model. But models trained on large data sets are notoriously bad at accurately predicting yields. Liu set out to figure out why.
With the guidance of Isayev, Liu investigated the yield prediction task. Through a systematic benchmark study on the amide coupling reactions, they discovered that reactivity cliffs and yield uncertainty are key factors that degrade model accuracy. To overcome this challenge, Liu designed four sets of descriptors with Auto3D, each of which describes different aspects about the reactions.
“Incorporating multimodal information and stacking techniques worked out, and we achieved an R2 for yield prediction on a large reaction dataset at about 0.45,” Liu said. “Though still far from satisfying, this is a significant improvement compared to previous efforts.”
Liu’s discovery, published in the journal Chemical Science, highlights that yield prediction models must be sensitive to reactivity cliffs, which are a dramatic drop off in reactivity that occurs with a minor change in a molecule’s substructure. The models must also be robust to the uncertainty associated with yield measurements.
With this new insight, Liu is working on improving his yield prediction model. He is looking forward to running experiments through the Carnegie Mellon Cloud Lab, which Liu expects will generate very high-quality data.
“In the CMU Cloud Lab, everything is measured by machine, so many of the variables, like human operations, will be automated and standardized. We think this will be really important for yield-prediction-model building,” Liu said.
In the future, Liu will continue to develop a machine learning package and models for accelerating drug discovery.
“I would feel a sense of achievement if I could do a job that could impact others,” he said.
Roland Berger has acquired Amane Advisors, a strategic consulting firm with around 50 consultants across Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia.
Founded in 2013 in the United Kingdom, Amane Advisors specialises in strategic and management consulting services to organisations in three main sectors: water, waste management utilities, and energy. The firm works with blue-chip companies, public organisations and investors.
The Oxford-headquartered firm is particularly known for its expertise in water, having completed over 450+ water-focused projects on topics including municipal and industrial water, desalination, residential and commercial water, as well as sustainability-focused topics such as water conservation, risk, and recycling.
“By acquiring Amane Advisors, Roland Berger will benefit from in-depth industry know-how and a team of experts with a strong network in the fast-growing water and waste management markets,” said Stefan Schaible, Global Managing Partner at Roland Berger.
Schaible said that on top of a “perfect strategic fit with complementarities in water and waste management”, the joining of forces will also unlock new opportunities. “Combining Amane Advisors’ deep market knowledge and focused expertise with Roland Berger’s strong brand and global presence will create new opportunities for our joint future.”
The German went on to state that Roland Berger now holds a market-leading position in the water consulting landscape. Backing his claim, this year Roland Berger was named among the top consulting firms in the utilities sector in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the Middle East by Consultancy.org.
Among its current projects in the space, Roland Berger serves as the led strategic advisor to the Waste to Zero consortium, a global initiative led out of the Middle East.
Torsten Henzelmann, a leader at Roland Berger, added: “Amane Advisors has built a competitive advantage through its extensive expertise, database, and proprietary water and waste knowledge assets. The company has experienced strong growth over the years, responding to the increasing need for consultancy in the water sector. We are very much looking forward to working together with the team.”
With water scarcity a mounting global issue – recent Roland Berger research suggests that water scarcity could end up costing the worst-hit regions up to 6% of their GDP by 2050 – water management has become a top priority for many governments. Meanwhile, water-impacted private sector players are growing their calls for action.
“Water is not only the world’s most critical resource, it’s a strategic imperative that sits at the heart of sustainability and climate change,” said Geoff Gage, Managing Partner at Amane Advisors.
Thierry Noel, Founding Partner of Amane Advisors, added: “Water is now on top of the climate adaptation agenda and society, utilities, businesses, industry, municipalities need to accelerate in designing and implementing solutions. By joining Roland Berger, a leader in sustainability consulting, we can take the water topic globally, at an accelerated pace to address the growing urgency, and put water at center-stage of sustainability.”
The deal will see the teams of Amane Advisors join Roland Berger across the UK, France, Switzerland, the US, Bahrain, China, and Singapore.
The €2 billion goal
For Roland Berger, the acquisition is the second this year following the purchase of a boutique in Germany. “The acquisition of Amane Advisors further advances our international growth and propels us towards our goal of reaching €2 billion in revenues by 2028,” said Schaible.
Founded in namesake Roland Berger in 1967, Roland Berger currently has 3,000 employees in 50+ offices.
Things are not OK in Realtorland. The US housing market is still reeling from pandemic-era shocks, home sales are stuck in a rut, and mortgage rates, while inching downward, are still near two-decade highs. It’s a bad time to be a buyer, and maybe a worse time to be a seller.
Despite all this upheaval, there’s another story brewing in which the stakes for everyone in real estate, from agents to the average consumer, are even higher. It won’t have anything to do with the debate over whether you should put your hard-earned cash toward rent or a down payment. Instead, it’ll be about court cases.
The biggest threat facing the industry is a mounting wave of class-action lawsuits that accuse the National Association of Realtors, along with some of the country’s biggest real-estate brokerages, of conspiring to rip off consumers by keeping the commissions paid to agents unfairly high. These cases are expected to reach major milestones in the next year, and the ramifications could be staggering: Tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars hang in the balance. Hundreds of thousands of Realtors could see their commissions slashed, which might force many out of the business. The old way of buying and selling homes could go away forever.
2024 will mark the beginning of a great experiment in real estate. The status quo won’t change overnight — there will be more courtroom showdowns before that happens — but some forward-thinking brokerages and agents, as well as a handful of startups, are already trying to figure out what comes next. Things are about to get really weird — and for American homebuyers, that could be great news.
The old way in jeopardy
If you’ve bought a home, you probably never cut a check to the agent who held your hand through the ordeal. For decades, agent commissions have been mostly out of sight and out of mind for homebuyers. But in 2024, many buyers and sellers may have to start thinking hard about just how much they’re willing to pay their real-estate agents.
When a house trades hands, the money usually works its way down a circuitous path — the buyer pays the seller, who uses a slice of that sum (usually 5% to 6% of the final sale price) to pay their agent, who then splits that money with the buyer’s agent. I’ve previously written about why the system works this way and the arguments for and against the model, but as a recap: Consumer advocates say this setup discourages market competition between agents. If you’re a buyer, you want to pay as little as possible, but your agent stands to make more if the home price goes up. Plus, it’s the seller who decides what percentage each agent will make before even listing their house. As John Kwoka, an economist and antitrust researcher at Northeastern University, told me: The incentives aren’t aligned.
There are going to be real-estate agents who are not able to articulate, let alone demonstrate, their value. Those folks will probably be out of the business very quickly.
On the other hand, the NAR argues the system is designed to get a deal closed as efficiently as possible. When an offer comes in, there’s no bickering over commissions — everyone already knows who will get paid what. And the NAR, as well as the brokerages named in the lawsuits, has maintained that commissions are always negotiable. If you’re a seller and you want the agents to split only 1% of the sale price — or even 0% — you can do that.
The first major lawsuit to put this argument to the test, Sitzer/Burnett v. NAR, went to trial in 2023 — and it wasn’t pretty for the real-estate establishment. On Halloween, jurors deliberated for just a few hours before finding the defendants liable, siding with thousands of home sellers who claimed they’d been strong-armed into paying their agents the customary 5% to 6% of the sale price and dishing out $5.3 billion in damages.
And if the case has cracked open the door to major changes to the commission model, 2024 is shaping up to be the year it’ll be knocked down. The first thing to watch for will be an official ruling from the judge in the Sitzer/Burnett case, expected sometime in the spring. While the jury has already sided with the plaintiffs, the judge still needs to decide which kinds of actions the NAR and the brokerages will need to take to remedy the situation. In this case, it’s pretty clear what the plaintiffs and their lawyers want: They argue for “decoupling,” or changing the rules to make sure that buyers and sellers pay their agents separately. At the most extreme end, buyer’s and seller’s agents might be expressly prohibited from splitting commissions. The NAR has vowed to appeal the verdict, and said it expects arguments to take place later in 2024.
In addition to a ruling on the issue of decoupling, a larger case, Moehrl v. NAR, should reach trial in the last quarter of 2024. That suit involves sellers from a broad swath of the US, including Dallas, Phoenix, Philadelphia, and Miami, and damages could stack up to more than $40 billion.
Other class-action attorneys are bringing lawsuits as well. The two big cases so far have focused on home sellers, but a new case filed in November, known as Batton 2, takes aim at brokerages such as Douglas Elliman, Compass, and Redfin on behalf of a nationwide group of buyers. It’s not yet clear how big the damages could be in this case, but the sheer size of the plaintiff class points to a much-larger figure than that of the Moehrl case.
Meanwhile, the head plaintiff in the Sitzer case has filed another nationwide class-action suit against the NAR and brokerages that weren’t included in the original case, including Compass, eXp, and Redfin. While these cases won’t reach trial anytime soon, they put increasing pressure on the industry to find ways to settle, rather than risk years of time-consuming and costly litigation.
A new age of experimentation
Some real-estate agents may wait until a ruling from the judge in the Sitzer/Burnett case before changing their practices, or hold out hope until the last appeal has worked its way through the courts. Others have read the writing on the wall and are already starting to get creative with how they get paid.
“It’s a matter of allowing alternatives to be experimented with and see what sticks,” Kwoka, the Northeastern economist, told me. “We’re about to do that, ready or not.”
Even those who think the jury got it wrong are accepting that commissions are likely going to change. That group includes Brian Boero, the CEO of 1000watt, a brand and strategy agency that advises real-estate brokerages and mortgage companies. Boero said he’s busy prepping his clients for the reality of decoupling, a scenario that he expects to arrive “sooner rather than later.” According to Boero, the key for agents is to clearly explain to buyers what they do, how they get paid, and why they may need to start getting paid differently. In many instances, those conversations have been conveniently swept under the rug for decades.
“There are going to be real-estate agents who are not able to articulate, let alone demonstrate, their value,” Boero told me. “Those folks will probably be out of the business very quickly.”
Many buyer’s agents — at least the competent ones — will be fine. After all, despite all kinds of technological advances, more people are using agents today than they were before the pandemic.
“You would be foolish to buy a home without an expert helping you,” Boero said. “But I also think that a smaller, smarter, more professional real-estate industry is going to come out of this, and I think that’s a good thing.”
Decoupling also opens the door to further experimentation with agents’ fees. Joe Stockton, an attorney who previously worked at Zillow and has spent years thinking about creative fee arrangements, described to me one possibility: a tiered system in which buyers pay more for progressively broader offerings. At the top would be the “white-glove service,” or what you might expect of a sought-after agent today — the market insights, the pavement pounding in search of the best deals, all those hours spent advising and consoling and haggling with the sellers. Something like this could command $250 an hour, like a good lawyer, but be capped at some percentage of the sale price, like 3.5%. The tier below would offer good service but wouldn’t go above and beyond, and would notably exclude all that initial legwork; the agent could step in once you’d already found your options online and would command a smaller fee, like 1.5% of the sale price. At the most basic level, an agent could charge $2,000 for just making sure that nothing goes awry — you’d get none of the hand-holding and advisory services, but you wouldn’t have to pay for them, either.
“In either situation, a one-size-fits-all compensation model and fee structure doesn’t make sense,” Stockton told me. “In this new world order, the agent and the client will have the flexibility to negotiate something that makes sense for them both.”
It’s a matter of allowing alternatives to be experimented with and see what sticks. We’re about to do that, ready or not.
Right now, agents are mostly incentivized to close a transaction quickly — a $10,000 difference in the sale price would shift the amount an agent gets paid by only about $300 on the high end. But there’s a world in which a buyer’s agent’s cut goes up if they’re able to knock $50,000 off the list price, or if they find you a deal below a certain dollar amount that meets your criteria. Similar incentives could be baked into the commission for a seller’s agent as well. Nic Johnson, the CEO of ListWise, is working on such a solution: The company proposes a model in which agents bid for listings, which effectively sets the terms for how much they want to make if they’re able to boost the price of your home. So while an agent might be guaranteed only a 0.75% commission if the home sells for a predetermined baseline price, they may stand to increase that cut by several percentage points if the price goes up by $50,000 or $100,000.
“You need to make it so that the agent’s pay meaningfully varies based on different sale prices,” Johnson told me. “To me, that’s really the important thing: making sure the agent’s incentives are aligned with the homeowner’s.”
This all sounds pretty good for regular buyers and sellers — lower fees, a clearer picture of what you’re paying for, and a greater emphasis on negotiating rather than accepting the status quo. An analysis from a senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America estimated that American consumers could save as much as $20 billion to $30 billion every year if commission rates fell in line with those of other developed markets, such as Australia, the Netherlands, and the UK. But there may be downsides, particularly for buyers who might not have enough cash on hand to pay their agents out of pocket. There are possible solutions — industry bigwigs could push for changes to mortgage rules so that commissions would be folded into a loan, or sellers could agree to give buyers rebates so they can pay their agents after a sale closes — but they’re far from guaranteed at this point. In the absence of those kinds of fixes, some homebuyers might be forced to accept less help on their purchase or even decide to brave the market alone.
These kinds of questions won’t all be resolved in 2024, but this coming year will mark the beginning of an experiment that could alter real estate beyond the typical boom-and-bust forces of mortgage rates and home prices. It’s time to prepare for a new world that’s rapidly approaching — one in which tinkering with agents’ fees will migrate from the periphery to the mainstream.
“It’s a matter of driving out excess costs,” Kwoka, the economist, said. “But more importantly, it’s just a matter of allowing for new arrangements to see if they work.”
James Rodriguez is a senior reporter on Business Insider’s Discourse team.
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Just two years ago, Kanye West was still flying high on the success of his billion-dollar Yeezy sneaker brand. He bought two separate Wyoming ranches, including one that spanned more than 3,000 acres. The money seemed endless; he also shelled out $57 million, in cash, for an oceanfront Malibu house designed by famed Japanese architect Tadao Ando. And in the midst of his acrimonious divorce from Kim Kardashian, he bought a house directly across the street from her Hidden Hills residence, just because.
Both California properties are gone and going, respectively — that Hidden Hills house was recently sold at a six-figure loss, while the Malibu manor is now up for grabs at $53 million. Even in the unlikely event of a full-price offer, West stands to lose many millions of dollars on the property, once realtor fees and closing costs have been factored into the equation. And it’s not even clear if he ever spent a night at the house, which was completely gutted during his ownership.
The current listing, held by Selling Sunset star Jason Oppenheim of the Oppenheim Group, includes a few years-old photos of the place. But it doesn’t look anything like that today—aerial imagery shows most all of the walls and doors are now gone, and the interior finishes have likely made their way to a landfill. Oppenheim told the Wall Street Journal that a buyer will need to spend “several million dollars” just to make the house livable.
West had intended to redesign and update the 4,000-square-foot structure, but that was shortly before Adidas parted ways with the 46-year-old rapper due to his numerous antisemitic remarks, allegedly leaving his finances in disarray. As it stands now, the building is a concrete shell exposed to the elements. Railings and metal trim pieces around the house have visibly rusted, likely beyond salvageability.
It will be interesting to see what sale price the oceanfront property eventually commands—particularly because it sits cheek-to-jowl next to other homes, nearly all of which are worth a mere fraction of West’s $53 million sticker. But this home does benefit from its unique pedigree; it’s one of the few stateside residences ever designed by Ando, who has become one of the billionaire elite’s most sought-after architects.
West, who remains one of the world’s most successful record producers and one of the best-selling artists of all time, is likely nowhere near poor. But he seems to be shifting away from real estate ownership—when he’s not out traveling the globe with “wife” Bianca Censori, he frequently bunks up for months at a time in some of L.A.’s most expensive hotels, including the oceanfront Nobu Ryokan.
Global engineering, architecture and design consultancy Ramboll has relocated its Bristol office to a new site, it was reported.
The firm will move into No. 1 The Distillery, a new office complex, where it will occupy 4,415 sq ft on the fifth floor under a five-year lease from Royal London Asset Management.
READ MORE: Ramboll signs lease on flagship sustainable Twenty3 Southampton office
“After 15 years in our previous Bristol office, we’re excited to mark our team’s next chapter with the move to The Distillery, with space for us to grow,” Philippa Spence, Ramboll UK managing director was quoted as saying.
“Our fantastic new office will help us better serve our employees’ working experiences and wellbeing whilst acting on the principles of sustainability that lie at the heart of our business.
“We look forward to welcoming our clients to our new space in the coming months.”
The new office is a short walk from Temple Meads station and is rated BREEAM Excellent. It is open plan, offers a wellbeing room, quiet zone, and its facilities encourage low-carbon commutes.
Ramboll was advised on the move by property consultancy Colliers, with JLL the joint agent on The Distillery office scheme alongside Knight Frank.
Visit Hampshire Biz News for bright, upbeat and positive business news from the county
Job no: 568305
Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: Bridgetown
Level: Consultancy
Location: Eastern Caribbean
Categories: Human Resources, Executive Management
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.
Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.
And we never give up.
For every child, a champion
How can you make a difference?
Location: Hybrid
Duration: 22 days over 2 months
Start Date: 01 February 2024
End Date: 31 March 2024
NB: Actual retreat facilitation time is 2.5 days. Preparatory and post retreat deliverables included in contract duration. Facilitator expected to be physically present in Barbados for full retreat week of 04-08 March 2024.
Supervisor: Operations Manager with guidance from the Retreat Working Group
BACKGROUND:
In 2022 the Eastern Caribbean Area Multi Country Office successfully finalized the development of the 2022-2026 Multi-Country Program Document (MCPD) and in 2023 the accompanying Country Program Management Plan (CPMP) was finalized. This comprehensive process has introduced changes in the programme approaches, strategies, and staffing structure. It has been an extensive and emotionally taxing journey, compounded by a protracted emergency in response to the Migrant Crises in Trinidad & Tobago and preparatory and response elements of the annual Atlantic Hurricane Season which requires a constant state of alert and readiness. This compounded with the recruitment of over 20 personnel across eight countries in 2022 and 2023 has significantly impacted staff wellbeing at a time when uniting around a new strategy and welcoming new personnel should have been a priority focus.
The well-being of individual staff members and teams is pivotal for achieving results for children. Their mental state and interpersonal relationships and dynamics are key contributors to these results. This therefore requires UNICEF Eastern Caribbean Area Office to provide the space, time and platform to cultivate and foster a culture that values its staff members; acknowledges their contributions; nurtures healthy working relationships and teams; and creates a safe and enabling environment where every individual can fully realize their potential. This is even more important where nearly half of the new personnel are new to ECA and many new to UNICEF; compounded by the hybrid nature of the office with personnel dispersed across multiple countries.
To foster such an environment and build a reinvigorate sense of team and unity, it is essential to purposefully allocate quality time and space for each personnel and the collective teams to engage in the ongoing co-development and co-maintenance of a nurturing and collaborative work environment where staff can thrive as they contribute to achieving results for children.
It is for this reason that UNICEF ECA is organizing a team building retreat at this juncture to create a platform and a space for staff members to focus on unity and purpose, self-care, appreciating each other, form stronger bonds, forge new relationships, and just enjoy themselves and have some fun after such a challenging two years. The retreat is a strategic pause for the country office to reflect, rejuvenate and co-create a workplace culture that not only empowers the team to make a significant impact for children but also contribute to their personal fulfilment.
GOAL and OBJECTIVE:
Under the supervision of Operations Manager in close consultation with the Working Group, the consultant is expected to design the Team Building programme to address the following four main pillars:
- Teambuilding: Enable staff members to get to know each other outside of their formal roles to build strong working relationships. In addition, identify strengths and weaknesses and how they can be harnessed to deliver results for children.
- Team building exercises (details to be suggested by the facilitator with input from Working Group)
- Workplace culture: Create a platform to reflect, discuss and co-create a workplace culture that appreciates and acknowledges contributions and enables staff to better deliver results.
- Session on work-life balance (details to be suggested by the facilitator with input from Working Group).
- Session on communication and self-awareness (details to be suggested by the facilitators with input from Working Group)
- Self-care: Increase staff morale through the creation of a space for self-care and work-life balance.
- Introduce guided practices to help staff learn how to incorporate mindfulness into their daily routines including relaxation activities (details to be suggested by the facilitators with input from Working Group)
- Dialogue: create a space for honest and solution-oriented conversations on how to build and foster an environment of speaking up, open communication, accountability, mutual respect, equal participation by all and timely feedback.
It is expected of the facilitator to recommend impactful activities for each of the above pillars. The facilitators’ role is crucial in guiding these activities, maintaining a positive and productive atmosphere, and ensuring that the retreat meets its intended objectives.
APPROACH and METHODOLOGY:
For the forthcoming retreat, the ECA MCO strongly proposes an experiential learning approach that is participatory, inclusive, engaging, reflexive and innovative, blended with elements of fun and relaxation. This will allow a space where all team members feel comfortable to reflect, interact, participate, and share openly and easily.
The facilitators are required to use creative methods that should cultivate buy-in, spark curiosity, keep the team members invested in the process, create a sense of shared responsibility for both the process and outcome of the retreat, encouraging the teams to commit to the agreed actions and workplace cultural shifts. The structure of the retreat should therefore maintain a dynamic pace and include a mix of activities that cater to different learnings and interactions; keeping team members engaged throughout.
The ECA MCO values diverse opinions and inclusive conversations that allow all staff members to feel that their voices are heard, and that build collective understandings and outcomes. The technical proposal must provide details of the proposed methodology in the light of this approach and how these methods will help achieve the objective of the retreat, specifically how they will enable the team to reflect on and co-create their workplace culture, enhance self-care, improve dialogue and instill a renewed sense of team and unity.
MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Conduct interviews with personnel to clarify expectations and aspirations to determine the type of retreat they want and discuss options.
- Conduct an objective assessment of the current UNICEF ECA team dynamics; applying data gathering tools such as pre-retreat surveys, key informant interviews, review of 2023 Pulse Survey on Workplace Culture results, Retreat Working Group survey results, and other means as deemed necessary with the primary intention of deriving a deeper understanding of the main challenges and greatest strengths from which the overall team can be strengthened, including proposing activities to address weak indicators.
- In consultation with the Representative, Country Management Team, Retreat Working Group and Local Staff Association, design and develop the retreat agenda based on outcomes of the preliminary assessment and pulse survey results. The programme must ensure light, participatory, and fun activities that help initiate dialogue and reflection, all targeted at overcoming barriers to a supportive, safe and enabling work environment.
- Design experiential activities that enable participatory and fun team building exercises designed to address retreat objectives and assessment findings.
- Facilitate the retreat.
- Administer participatory workshop assessments such as mood meters for example and a final evaluation.
- Collate and analyze the workshop evaluation results.
- Write and present a final retreat report that includes the findings arising from the initial assessment of working dynamics, pulse survey results, a brief outline of the workshop itself and recommendations on how to improve the overall UNICEF ECA work culture and environment with focus and consideration around the nature of the MCO with personnel dispersed across eight countries.
EXPECTED DELIVERABLES:
The team building retreat is a strategic opportunity to reinforce team bonds and foster a shared sense of belonging among staff. The retreat activities should balance structured sessions with team-building activities, while also allowing time for relaxation and informal interactions. Therefore, it is expected to achieve a smoothly executed and fun team-building retreat which aligns with staff expectations while addressing the preliminary assessment findings on team dynamics and expectations and the pulse survey results. A written report will be provided, outlining the team’s work dynamics along with concrete recommendations on how to enhance communications, improve better work relations and sustain and expand upon the retreat’s positive outcomes. The deliverables will be as per the below table.
Table 1: Deliverables
Deliverables | Estimated # Days | Estimated Deadline |
Analysis of all feedback mechanisms; Pulse Survey; interviews, etc., design of retreat and development of draft agenda in consultation with stakeholders | 10 | 12-Feb-2024 |
Finalization and presentation of final retreat concept and agenda reflecting feedback from ECA stakeholders | 2 | 26-Feb-2024 |
Facilitation of retreat, including pre and post refinement on site | 5 | 08-Mar-2024 |
Preparation and presentation of draft retreat report recommendations | 3 | 22-Mar-2024 |
Submission of final retreat report, including final recommendations | 2 | 29-Mar-2024 |
TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS:
This assignment will require travel to the Barbados Duty Station for the full week of the intended retreat (04-08 March 2024).
The consultant is responsible for arranging his/her own travel, including bearing the costs visas and travel insurance. Accommodation, meals and incidentals costs must not exceed the UN daily subsistence allowance rates. The costs for approved travels will be reimbursed by the UNICEF ECA upon submission of receipts and based on applicable UN DSA rates. All approved travels to be conducted in accordance with UNICEF travel rules and regulations.
PAYMENT SCHEDULE:
Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed deliverables which receive satisfactory quality review. In general, individual contracts shall not allow for fee advances. However, a maximum of 30 per cent of the total contract value may be authorized by the Approving Authority in cases where advance purchases, for example for supplies or travel, may be necessary.
MINIMUM EXPERIENCE/QUALIFICATIONS:
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- At least a Master’s degree in organizational psychology, business administration, communications, marketing, international relations, education, economics, or any other related technical field with special expertise in facilitation.
- At least 10 years’ experience in delivering of trainings or facilitation of retreat and team building workshops, previous work with UNICEF or UN Agencies is an added advantage.
- Experience delivering trainings or facilitating retreats within a diverse and multicultural organization.
- Experience delivering team building sessions.
- Excellent communication, analytical and facilitation skills.
- Proven competence in public speaking, team building, group dynamics, conflict resolution, leadership development, and communication and collaboration skills.
For every Child, you demonstrate UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).
ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS:
This assignment is a hybrid assignment based in consultant’s home location with travel required to Barbados for one week. The Consultant is expected to work with his/her laptop and mobile phone and email address. The Consultant will report to the Operations Manager but is expected to work closely with the Retreat Working Group, Country Management Team, and the Local Staff Association. Periodic discussions will also be carried out during the consultancy period to monitor progress and constraints, support required and proposed solutions.
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE:
Before commencing work, the consultant shall submit a statement of good health and take full responsibility for the accuracy of that statement, including confirmation that he or she has been informed of the inoculations required for the country or countries to which travel is authorized. Consultants shall assume all costs that may occur in relation to the statement of good health. Consultants are required to certify that they are covered by medical/health insurance.
The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.
RECOURSE:
UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant. Performance indicators against which the satisfactory conclusion of this contract will be assessed include: timeliness/quality of submission and responsiveness to UNICEF and counterpart feedback.
TITLE RIGHTS:
All materials created by the Contractor which bears a direct relation to, or is made in order to perform, this contract and any intellectual property rights thereof, including but not limited to patents, copyright and trademarks, shall be jointly owned by UNICEF and the Contractor. At the request of UNICEF, the Contractor shall assist in securing such property rights and transferring them to UNICEF in compliance with the requirements of the law governing such rights. Any third-party usage shall require written permission from both parties.
TRAININGS:
Consultants and Individual contractors, even those working from home, must complete the following online courses prior to signature of contract. All certificates should be presented as part of the contract:
Consultants and Individual Contractors must complete the following course before commencement of any travel on behalf of UNICEF.
Any consultant or individual contractor who is issued a UNICEF email address must complete the following courses no later than 30 days after signature of contract.
HOW TO APPLY:
Prospective consultants should apply through UNICEF jobs website no later than Friday, 5 January 2024 (11:55pm Atlantic Standard Time). The application package should include the following:
- A cover letter;
- Detailed Curriculum Vitae
- A proposal stipulating all-inclusive fees, including lump sum travel and subsistence costs, as applicable.
UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.
UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.
UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.
Advertised: 18 Dec 2023 Atlantic Standard Time
Deadline: 05 Jan 2024 Atlantic Standard Time
If the pandemic, recent inflation or other financial trouble upended your budgetary plans, it’s possible you missed some property tax payments in favor of putting your money toward food and shelter. If so, your city or county government could place a property tax lien, or legal claim, against your home.
Additionally, if you’ve fallen behind on your federal income taxes for 3 years, the federal government can file its own lien against your home.
Either way, it’s important to understand the ramifications of selling your home with an existing lien. Let’s take a look at what it means to have a tax lien on your home and strategies available to home sellers.
Can You Sell Your House With A Lien On It?
You can sell your home even if a government body has filed a tax lien on it. Selling your house might even be a way to pay off the taxes you owe. If you sell your property for enough money, you might be able to pay off both your mortgage lender and the government filing the tax lien.
Note that the IRS and each state have their own laws and regulations on how tax liens are handled, and you can’t simply sell your home if they’ve placed the lien on your property. We’ll discuss this in more detail below.
Homeowners with enough equity in their home – the difference between what they owe on their mortgages and what their home is worth – might choose to sell their homes and then pay off their back taxes from the proceeds of the sale. It’s one way to pay off unpaid taxes, though this method does require that homeowners sell their residence even if they’d prefer to stay in their home.
See What You Qualify For
Home Purchase
Home Refinance
Tap Into Equity
What Is A Tax Lien On Your Home?
A tax lien is a claim made on your property from either the IRS or state, local or federal government because you have not paid your property or income taxes. This includes real estate, which means you cannot sell or profit from your home equity until you’ve paid back your debt. You also cannot refinance your mortgage loan until you’ve paid those taxes. You may have property, state or federal tax liens on your home depending on the type of back taxes you owe.
Governments file tax liens against your home when you haven’t paid any taxes you owe them. If you didn’t pay property taxes, your city or county government can file a lien against your property.
It’s important to note that a tax lien doesn’t mean that a government body has taken over your home. Instead, liens are a way for governments to make sure they will get paid if you do sell your home. However, if you ignore a property tax lien long enough, your city or county government can take your home through the foreclosure process.
The same is true if you owe the government other kinds of taxes. If you have a tax lien filed against your home by the IRS, this agency can seize your home if you ignore your debt for too long. There are ways to avoid this, though. One of the more common methods to remedy this is selling your home and using the proceeds to pay off these liens.
Types of Tax Liens
There are three main tax liens that government bodies can file against your home. Let ’s take a look at the reasons for these types of liens:
- Property tax lien: If you fail to pay your property taxes, the city or county government in which your home sits can file a property tax lien against your home.
- State tax lien: If you owe state income taxes to your state’s Department of Revenue, your state can file its own tax lien against your home. You can remove this lien by paying your state what you owe.
- Federal tax lien: The IRS can file a tax lien against your home, too, if you fail to pay your federal income taxes.
How Property Tax Liens Affect Home Sales
A tax lien doesn’t prevent you from selling your home.
While you can sell a home with a tax lien filed against it, it’s not an easy process. If you can pay off your tax debt before you list your home or convince a government body to discharge it, that might be a better solution.
Liens Won’t Prevent You Putting Your House On The Market
There’s nothing stopping you from listing your home on the market even if a government body has filed a property tax lien against your property. In fact, putting your home on the market and selling it is one way to pay back the taxes you owe.
A Lien Could Impact Closing On Your Home Sale
Depending on how much you sell your home for, a tax lien might not prevent the final sale of your home. If you can sell your home for enough money to pay off what you owe on your mortgage and what you owe in unpaid taxes, you can pay off your mortgage lender and the government to which you owe taxes. This would remove the lien from your home and clear your final home sale.
If you don’t have enough equity in your home, you might not be able to sell your property for a high enough figure to pay off both your remaining mortgage and your unpaid taxes. If this happens to you, you’ll either have to pay off your taxes before you sell your home or ask the government body you owe to discharge your tax debt.
How To Pay A Property Tax Lien
There are different strategies you can take to pay off a property tax lien.
Sell Your Home To Cover The Tax Debt
If you have enough equity in your home to cover your property taxes, you can satisfy your tax debt when you close the sale of the property. You’ll also be able to pay off your mortgage balance and closing costs.
Let’s say your home is worth $200,000 and you owe $100,000 on your loan. Also, let’s say you have a tax lien of $30,000 on your home filed by your county government because you haven’t paid your property taxes. If you sell your home for $200,000, you can use the extra money to pay the $100,000 balance on your mortgage loan and the $30,000 you owe on taxes.
That would leave $70,000 left over. Remember, though, some of that money will be eaten up by the fees your real estate agent charges and any closing costs you must pay.
The challenge comes when you don’t have enough equity to pay off both what you owe on your mortgage and your tax lien. If you sell your home for $200,000 but you owe $180,000 on your mortgage and you have a tax lien of $30,000, then that $200,000 sales price won’t cover both of these debts.
If you don’t have enough equity, then you’ll have to rely on a different method to get rid of that tax lien.
Resolve Your Tax Debt Directly
The best option if you don’t have enough equity is to pay off your tax debt before you list your home for sale. If that’s the route you plan to take, you’ll have a few options to explore.
A Payment Plan
The IRS and other government bodies might be willing to set up a payment plan to allow you to pay off your tax debt in monthly installments. Paying off your tax debt can take time, depending on how much you owe.
Offer In Compromise
If your tax lien is filed by the IRS or your state for unpaid income taxes, an offer in compromise could help you eliminate your lien for less money. If the IRS or your state government approve your request for an offer in compromise, you can pay off your tax lien for less than what you owe. Say you owe $20,000 in unpaid federal income taxes. The IRS might forgive your tax debt after you pay just $10,000. Qualifying for an offer in compromise isn’t guaranteed, though. The IRS will look at your ability to pay, income, expenses and assets when considering your request.
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you’ll work with a bankruptcy judge to create a repayment plan to pay off your debts, often for less than what you owe. Entering into a repayment plan can keep the IRS or your state or local governments from seizing your property while you are repaying your debts. Once you fulfill your repayment plan, your debts will be discharged.
Using A Personal Loan
You might be able to take out a personal loan and use the proceeds from that loan to pay off your tax debts. You might have to shop around, though, as some lenders might not be willing to give you a loan if you have unpaid taxes.
How To Sell Your House With An Income Tax Lien
If you decide to use the proceeds from your home sale to pay your tax debt, there are a few different ways to go about it. Your approach can depend on the type of tax lien and which approach will help you resolve the issue quickly.
Let’s take a look at the options.
Subordinate Federal Tax Liens
Federal tax liens usually occupy the priority position in your debts. If there is a tax lien on your home, when you sell, the holder of your tax lien is paid first. Being in the first position on a lien means the lien holder would have the right to be paid before your mortgage lender. No lender will agree to refinance your home or provide funding to a prospective buyer, if they are not the first in line to collect their loan proceeds should you default on your mortgage loan.
To resolve this problem, you can ask the IRS to subordinate your federal tax lien. This doesn’t remove your lien but instead places it behind other creditors on your mortgage loan. To request subordination, file IRS Form 14134. IRS Publication 784 provides instructions for completing Form 14134.
Subordinating your tax lien, and placing it behind your mortgage lender, will allow you to list your home and close the sale.
Talk To A Tax Attorney About State Tax Liens
If you live in a state that levies income tax, your state can place a lien on your home until you pay any income taxes you owe. The laws regarding state tax liens will, of course, differ from state to state. If you can, consult an attorney familiar with your state’s tax laws. Of course, you can read them for yourself online, but your attorney will be much more familiar with your state’s actual practices for collecting back income taxes.
Get A Certificate Of Discharge From The IRS
You can also apply for an IRS Certificate of Discharge to remove a federal tax lien from your home. This removes your lien completely. The IRS won’t always accept your request for a discharge. It might, if you have other property subject to an IRS tax lien and this property is worth twice much as your tax liability.
Say your total tax lien is for $30,000. You’ll need to have at least $60,000 – or twice your tax liability – worth of assets subject to the federal tax lien after the IRS grants a lien discharge for your home.
Dispute The Lien
You can dispute a tax levy if you think you don’t owe the taxes the IRS claims you do. To do this, you’ll need to request a Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing with the IRS Independent Office of Appeals. During this hearing, you can dispute the amount you owe.
Wait For The Debt To Expire
The IRS generally has 10 years to collect on your tax liens. However, that doesn’t mean that a federal tax lien will automatically disappear after that time. The IRS can extend this 10-year period, meaning that your tax debts might hang around longer than 10 years. This means waiting for your tax liens to disappear is not the smartest strategy. Not only might they get extended, but a government body could move to seize your home while you’re waiting for your liens to expire.
Additionally, selling your home with a tax lien could be a challenge as you wait. Buyers won’t be responsible for paying off the liens on your home after buying your property. But if you don’t pay off the lien, there’s nothing stopping government bodies from seizing the property even after it’s sold. This could dissuade buyers from making offers on your home.
Will Tax Liens Affect Your Next Home Purchase?
Tax liens don’t show up on your credit reports and won’t hurt your three-digit FICO® Score. However, homeowners who have unpaid taxes are often struggling financially. Those struggles could include missed credit card and loan payments, which hurt their credit score.
Fortunately, it is possible to qualify for a mortgage loan even if your credit is less than perfect. Homeowners should consider their mortgage options after selling their current homes, especially if they have filed for bankruptcy or now have poor credit. There are plenty of loan types out there that can help people with damaged credit qualify for a mortgage and get into another home.
The Bottom Line
Although it may not be what you intended when you purchased your home, selling your house may be a viable solution to get hold of your finances and move into a new home that’s more affordable in your current financial situation.
Considering taking action and selling your home soon? There will be a lot to consider and prepare. To get started, learn how to get your house ready to sell in our Learning Center.
Myrtle Beach, SC, is a picturesque beachside city with stunning beaches and a vibrant entertainment scene. With its warm climate and oceanfront views, Myrtle Beach draws residents who are seeking a relaxed beach lifestyle mixed with a city-like atmosphere. If you’re looking at the housing market, the average rent in Myrtle Beach is $1,651, while the median sale price is $289,000.
If you’re moving to Myrtle Beach this year, you may wonder what neighborhood to live in. Here’s a guide to 4 popular Myrtle Beach neighborhoods to help you decide where in the city to live. Whether you’re looking to buy a home or rent an apartment in Myrtle Beach, the city offers a range of neighborhoods that provide the perfect backdrop for your coastal living experience.
1. The Dunes
The Dunes is located northeast of the downtown Myrtle Beach area and offers a beautiful coastal setting. This neighborhood is known for its stunning beaches, golf courses, and upscale resorts. You can also explore the nearby Myrtle Beach State Park and enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking and fishing.
The housing types in The Dunes range from luxurious beachfront homes to elegant condos. The Dunes’ architectural styles include modern coastal designs and Mediterranean-inspired villas.
Median Sale Price: $1,835,250
Homes for Sale in The Dunes | Apartments for Rent in The Dunes
2. Grande Dunes
Grande Dunes is located north of The Dunes and offers a prime location along the Intracoastal Waterway. The area boasts breathtaking views of the surrounding areas. Major attractions in this neighborhood include the Grande Dunes Golf Club, Marina Park, and the beautiful Grande Dunes Beach.
Grande Dunes features a variety of housing options, including luxurious waterfront estates and upscale townhomes – architectural styles in this neighborhood range from Mediterranean-inspired designs to contemporary coastal homes.
Median Sale Price: $820,000
Average Rent for 2-Bedroom Apartment: $1,699
Homes for Sale in Grande Dunes | Apartments for Rent in Grande Dunes
3. Myrtlewood
Myrtlewood is a charming neighborhood with a convenient location near popular attractions such as Broadway at the Beach, Ripley’s Aquarium, and Myrtlewood Golf Club. Residents and visitors can also enjoy the serene surroundings of Myrtlewood Park.
Housing options in Myrtlewood include single-family homes, townhouses, and condos in styles ranging from traditional Southern designs to modern coastal aesthetics.
Median Sale Price: $262,500
Homes for Sale in Myrtlewood | Apartments for Rent in Myrtlewood
4. South Myrtle Beach
South Myrtle Beach is just west of the main downtown area. The area is home to many public beaches, tourist attractions, and resorts. You’ll find lots of mini golf courses and the popular Whispering Pines Golf Club. South Myrtle Beach is also home to the Myrtle Beach International Airport, making traveling in and out of the area easy.
Homes in the area are primarily apartments and condos located in mid-rise and high-rise buildings. Many of these properties have beachfront locations or views.
Median Sale Price: $150,000
Homes for Sale in South Myrtle Beach | Apartments for Rent in South Myrtle Beach
Methodology: All neighborhoods must be listed as a “neighborhood” on Redfin.com. Median home sale price data from the Redfin Data Center during November 2023. Average rental data from Rent.com during November 2023.