Employment Equity: This is a designated Employment Equity (EEA) role in line with the company’s Employment Equity Plan.

Purpose of the Role

The Marketing Manager will take full accountability for leading brand strategy, marketing execution, and innovation across the full brand portfolio. The role requires a commercially astute and strategically driven marketing leader who can translate consumer insights into winning brand strategies, drive growth, and strengthen market position.

This role forms part of the senior leadership structure and plays a critical role in shaping brand equity, communication strategy, innovation pipelines, and overall business performance.

The Marketing Manager will report directly to the Managing Director and form part of the senior leadership team.

Key Responsibilities

• Team Leadership & Capability Development
  • Lead, mentor and develop a team of 2 direct reports within the marketing function.
  • Drive capability building and succession planning within the team.
  • Ensure performance management and accountability across the marketing structure.

• Marketing Strategy & Brand Leadership
  • Lead marketing strategy primarily for the South African market, while providing strategic marketing support to export growth initiatives.
  • Develop and execute comprehensive marketing strategies aligned with business objectives.
  • Analyse market trends, growth drivers, and competitor activity to anticipate market opportunities.
  • Define market segmentation and contribute to overall business planning.
  • Build and strengthen brand portfolio strategies.
  • Drive business planning input from a marketing perspective.
  • Formulate and implement long-term brand blueprints and vision.
  • Align brand plans to the brand blueprint and strategic objectives.

• Consumer Insights & Market Intelligence
  • Lead planning and interpretation of market research initiatives.
  • Synthesise consumer learning into actionable insights.
  • Anticipate consumer trends and identify growth opportunities.
  • Champion consumer centricity across the organisation.
  • Capture, analyse, and communicate marketing learnings and best practice.

• Brand Communication & Channel Management
  • Above-the-Line (ATL) & Below-the-Line (BTL)
    • Develop inspiring creative briefs and manage agency relationships effectively.
    • Evaluate creative proposals and ensure strategic alignment.
    • Develop and implement impactful marketing campaigns.
    • Monitor and evaluate campaign effectiveness and ROI.

• • Communication Channel Management
    • Investigate and evaluate channel opportunities.
    • Develop creative communication plans within allocated budgets.
    • Manage target audience segmentation and budget allocation.
    • Implement and evaluate integrated campaigns across multiple channels.

• Brand Equity, Health & Performance Management
  • Define and manage brand equity frameworks.
  • Monitor brand visibility, pricing strategy, and market presence.
  • Manage margins, budgets, and brand financial performance.
  • Measure and report on brand health metrics and performance indicators.
  • Ensure continuous assessment and optimisation of brand mix.
  • Full accountability for brand P&L performance, including revenue growth, margin optimisation, and cost management.

• Brand Innovation & Product Development
  • Drive a culture of innovation within the marketing function.
  • Identify consumer and technological innovation opportunities.
  • Develop and manage innovation pipelines and product concepts.
  • Oversee launch planning, implementation, and post-launch evaluation.
  • Manage innovation project portfolios to successful delivery.
  • Contribute to brand claims development, ensuring regulatory and risk compliance.

• Channel & Customer Marketing Development
  • Contribute to trade partner marketing strategies and category development plans.
  • Develop channel strategies based on consumer and market dynamics.
  • Identify channel opportunities and competitor gaps.
  • Create customer plans aligned to channel strategies.
  • Support demand forecasting and fact-based forecast communication.
  • Ensure product availability, visibility, and promotional effectiveness.

• Business Planning & Commercial Management
  • Contribute to business planning, target setting, and strategic execution.
  • Evaluate business decisions and measure performance outcomes.
  • Manage marketing budgets and financial performance.
  • Support strategic appraisal, environmental scanning, and internal analysis.
  • Drive strategic implementation initiatives.

• Cross-Functional & Technical Collaboration
  • Partner with R&D on technical specifications, packaging, formulations, and product performance.
  • Support supply chain and operations in launch execution.
  • Ensure risk management regarding regulatory, legal, safety, and PR considerations.
  • Provide ongoing launch and quality support.

• Leadership & General Management Skills
  • Lead and manage cross-functional project teams.
  • Apply structured project management principles.
  • Manage change initiatives effectively.
  • Maintain high standards of information integrity and knowledge integration.
  • Deliver compelling presentations and executive-level communication.
  • Inspire and influence internal and external stakeholders.

Key Performance Areas (KPAs)

• Delivery of brand growth and market share targets.
• Strengthening of brand equity and health indicators.
• Successful execution of innovation launches.
• Effective marketing budget management.
• ROI and campaign performance effectiveness.
• Contribution to overall business performance and strategic goals.

Key Competencies & Attributes

• Strategic and commercially astute marketing leader.
• Strong analytical and data-driven decision-making capability.
• Ability to anticipate market and consumer shifts.
• Proven capability in managing agency relationships.
• Strong innovation mindset.
• Excellent financial and budget management skills.
• Strong presentation and executive communication skills.
• High levels of accountability and ownership.

Experience & Qualifications

• Matric (Grade 12) (essential).
• Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, Business, or related field (essential).
• 8–10 years’ experience in FMCG marketing.
• Proven experience in brand management and innovation.
• Strong experience in integrated marketing communications.
• Demonstrated leadership of marketing strategy in a competitive FMCG environment.
• Experience working cross-functionally with R&D, Supply Chain, and Commercial teams.
• Strong financial acumen and budget management experience.

Other Requirements

• Willingness to travel locally as required to support trade marketing, customer engagement, and business initiatives.

Package

• Budgeted at approximately R1.2 million per annum, with flexibility for the right candidate.
• Competitive Total Cost to Company package aligned with senior marketing leadership level.
• Opportunity to shape strategy within a high-performance FMCG business.