MARKETING MANAGER – BRAND, COMMUNICATIONS & CSI

Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Reports To: Chief Marketing Officer

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Marketing Manager – Brand, Communications & CSI to take ownership of the organisation's brand strategy, integrated marketing activity, corporate communications, events and Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiatives.

This is a senior in-house marketing management role requiring a commercially minded marketing professional who has owned and delivered marketing strategy within an organisation.

The successful candidate will be responsible for translating business objectives into integrated marketing strategies and campaigns, strengthening the organisation's brand positioning, managing internal and external communications, overseeing agencies and suppliers, managing marketing budgets and leading a marketing team.

This role requires someone who can operate at both strategic and executional level — developing the marketing strategy while taking accountability for its implementation, performance and commercial impact.

Important

This is a Marketing Manager role, not a Corporate Affairs, Corporate Communications, PR or Agency role.

Candidates whose experience is primarily focused on corporate communications, public relations, investor relations, government/regulatory stakeholder engagement or agency/client servicing will not be considered aligned unless they also have significant hands-on ownership of broader marketing and brand strategy.

Candidates operating primarily at Marketing Specialist, Marketing Coordinator or Communications Specialist level will also not be aligned to the seniority required.

Key Responsibilities

1. Brand Strategy & Ownership

• Own and implement the organisation's brand strategy in alignment with overall business objectives.
• Take accountability for the organisation's brand positioning, identity and market presence.
• Develop and implement strategies to increase brand awareness, consideration and engagement.
• Translate business strategy and customer insights into clear brand propositions and messaging.
• Develop and maintain brand guidelines and ensure consistent implementation across all touchpoints.
• Lead brand campaigns from strategic planning through to execution and measurement.
• Monitor brand performance, competitor activity and market trends.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen differentiation and market positioning.
• Partner with business units to ensure consistent brand representation across the organisation.

The successful candidate must demonstrate previous ownership of a brand strategy or significant brand portfolio.

2. Integrated Marketing Strategy & Campaigns

• Develop the annual integrated marketing strategy and marketing activity plan.
• Translate business priorities into measurable marketing campaigns and initiatives.
• Lead integrated campaigns across digital, traditional, social, content, events and other relevant channels.
• Manage campaigns from briefing and planning through to execution, optimisation and reporting.
• Develop campaign objectives, audiences, messaging, budgets, timelines and KPIs.
• Work with internal teams and external agencies to deliver campaigns.
• Measure campaign performance and marketing ROI.
• Continuously optimise marketing activity based on performance data and customer insights.

3. Corporate & Internal Communications

• Develop and manage internal and external communications as part of the broader marketing strategy.
• Manage corporate messaging and communication channels.
• Oversee newsletters, internal communications, corporate content and organisational announcements.
• Support executive communications where required.
• Ensure corporate communications align with the brand strategy and broader marketing objectives.
• Develop communication plans for key campaigns, launches and organisational initiatives.

Corporate communications should form part of the broader marketing portfolio rather than being the candidate's sole area of expertise.

4. Digital Marketing & Content

• Own the organisation's digital brand presence.
• Oversee website content, social media and relevant digital channels.
• Develop and manage content strategies and editorial calendars.
• Ensure digital content supports brand, marketing and commercial objectives.
• Work with internal teams and agencies to develop campaigns, content and creative assets.
• Monitor digital performance and identify opportunities for optimisation.
• Ensure consistent brand messaging across digital channels.

5. Events, Activations & Brand Experience

• Develop and execute corporate events, conferences, launches, exhibitions and customer engagement initiatives.
• Manage brand activations and promotional campaigns.
• Develop event marketing strategies and communication plans.
• Manage external event suppliers and agencies.
• Ensure events deliver a consistent and high-quality brand experience.
• Measure event engagement and effectiveness.

6. Corporate Social Investment (CSI)

• Develop and manage the marketing and communications strategy for CSI initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to increase awareness and engagement with CSI programmes.
• Develop campaigns supporting CSI initiatives and community engagement.
• Manage communications with relevant community and strategic partners.
• Coordinate fundraising and awareness initiatives where applicable.
• Measure and report on CSI activity, engagement and impact.

7. Agency & Supplier Management

• Manage the organisation's external marketing agency ecosystem.
• Lead relationships with creative, digital, media, PR and other specialist agencies.
• Develop clear briefs, objectives, deliverables and KPIs.
• Ensure agency output meets required quality, timelines and strategic objectives.
• Manage supplier performance and commercial relationships.
• Ensure agencies operate as an extension of the internal marketing function.

The candidate should have experience managing agencies from the client side, not primarily servicing clients from an agency environment.

8. Budget & Commercial Management

• Develop and manage the annual marketing budget.
• Allocate marketing investment according to strategic priorities.
• Monitor expenditure and ensure cost-effective delivery.
• Track campaign performance and marketing ROI.
• Prepare monthly marketing performance and budget reports.
• Manage forecasting and annual marketing planning.
• Make commercially sound recommendations regarding marketing investment.

9. Team Leadership

• Lead and manage the marketing team.
• Set objectives, KPIs and performance expectations.
• Coach, mentor and develop team members.
• Conduct performance reviews and development planning.
• Build a high-performance and collaborative marketing culture.
• Support recruitment and onboarding of marketing talent.
• Provide strategic direction while maintaining accountability for execution.

The successful candidate should have previous people-management experience and not simply have acted as a senior individual contributor.

10. Stakeholder Management

Build strong relationships with:

• Executive Leadership
• Sales
• Product
• Finance
• Human Resources
• Operations
• Marketing
• External agencies
• Suppliers
• Strategic partners

The successful candidate must be comfortable presenting marketing strategy, performance and recommendations to senior and executive stakeholders.

Qualifications & Experience

Essential

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Management, Communications or a related discipline.
• 8–10+ years of professional marketing experience, with significant experience operating at Marketing Manager / Senior Marketing Manager level.
• Proven experience owning and executing a brand or corporate marketing strategy.
• Demonstrated experience managing integrated marketing campaigns.
• Proven experience managing marketing budgets.
• Proven experience managing external agencies and suppliers from an in-house/client-side environment.
• Previous experience managing and developing marketing team members.
• Strong understanding of brand management and integrated marketing.
• Experience across digital and traditional marketing channels.
• Strong project and campaign management experience.
• Demonstrated ability to translate business objectives into marketing strategy and measurable outcomes.

Strongly Preferred Experience

Candidates with experience across several of the following areas will be strongly preferred:

• Corporate Brand Management
• Integrated Marketing
• Brand Strategy
• Corporate Marketing
• Marketing Communications
• Digital Marketing
• Campaign Management
• Events & Brand Activations
• Public Relations
• CSI / CSR
• Content Marketing
• B2B Marketing
• Multi-site Marketing
• Franchise Marketing
• Agency Management
• Marketing Budget Ownership
• Team Leadership

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is an experienced in-house Marketing Manager who has already owned a broad marketing portfolio within a corporate environment.

They should be able to demonstrate:

Strategy Brand Campaigns Execution Team Leadership Budget Measurement

They should not simply be a communications specialist or campaign executor.

We are looking for someone who has been accountable for what the organisation's marketing strategy should be, how it is executed, who delivers it, how much it costs and what business impact it produces.

The ideal candidate will have experience working across multiple marketing disciplines and will be comfortable managing both strategic planning and hands-on execution.