Director, Marketing, South Africa Franchise

Job Description Summary:

Director, Marketing — South Africa

The Director, Marketing – South Africa is accountable for end-to-end marketing leadership within the market—driving sustainable brand growth, portfolio leadership, innovation, precision execution, and capability-building across Coca‑Cola’s priority brands.

Operating within the integrated OU ↔ Market model, this role blends strategic influence with pragmatic frontline execution—translating global and regional priorities into high-impact local programs that resonate with South African consumers, retail customers, and key partners.

This role demands expertise in consumer insights, commercial acumen, and digital-first approaches to execution, ensuring that marketing is a competitive accelerator for portfolio shaping, pricing strategy, and omnichannel engagement.

Scope & Impact

• Serve as the South Africa market marketing lead—accountable for portfolio strength, brand equity health, consumer engagement, pipeline delivery, and IMX orchestration.
• Lead Annual Business Plan (ABP) and influence Operating Unit Long-Range Plans (LRPs), anchoring strategies in affordability, cultural passion points, sustainability, and digital commerce realities.
• Own local execution for brand and innovation plans, including precision marketing flywheel routines and full-funnel IMX delivery.
• Drive system-wide alignment with bottling partners on capability deployment, joint scorecards, and operational readiness.

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Key Responsibilities

1. Brand & Portfolio Leadership

• Translate OU category strategies into South Africa-specific brand plans with clear need-state, occasion, and consumer-job foundations.
• Lead Portfolio & Price Pack Architecture (PPA) to win across channels (Modern Trade, Traditional Trade, Away-From-Home, and Digital Commerce).
• Build cultural relevancy through activations tied to music, gaming, sport, and creator ecosystems aligned to local passion points and seasonal demand cycles.

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1. ABP, Innovation & Renovation

• Lead ABP for priority brands to define portfolio choices, allocate investments, and lock innovation launches.
• Deliver End-to-End (E2E) innovation and renovation—from concept and commercialization to On-Time-In-Full (OTIF) market execution.
• Partner with technical and packaging teams to address returnable, affordability, and sustainability requirements critical to the South African context.

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1. Consumer & Shopper Insights / Analytics

• Define consumer learning agendas incorporating first-party data, social listening, retail analytics, and brand tracking.
• Convert insights to action via growth hypotheses, agile test-and-learn pilots, and precision targeting strategies.

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1. IMX & Precision Marketing

• Orchestrate full IMX across paid, owned, and earned touchpoints to ensure high-quality reach and creative effectiveness.
• Activate Studio X workflows, influencers, and creator networks for agile, mobile-first campaigns.
• Steward brand safety, creative compliance, and labeling governance across all platforms.

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1. System & Customer Leadership

• Align with bottler leadership on joint business planning, calendar harmonization, and in-market routines.
• Partner with customers to drive joint value creation (shopper marketing, category leadership, retail media innovation).
• Collaborate with Commercial and RGM teams to drive NSR, margin mix, and optimized promo efficiency.

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1. Performance, Governance & Capability Building

• Lead performance tracking dashboards for ABP execution, ROI, and creative quality metrics.
• Institutionalize flywheel operational cadences to accelerate decision-making and continuous improvement.
• Build marketing capability across insights, IMX, performance marketing, experimentation, and commercialization disciplines.​

Experience & Critical Requirements

• 12+ years in marketing leadership roles spanning brand strategy, innovation, IMX orchestration, PPA, and commercial partnership.
• Frontline activation experience within complex systems (preferably FMCG in Africa).
• Deep understanding of South African consumer culture, retail landscapes, regulatory frameworks, and affordability-based portfolio design.
• Proven ability to embed digital and data at the core of marketing—from performance marketing to ROI-based investment decisions.
• Track record of leading multifunctional, matrixed teams with strong governance rigor and capability transformation.
• Strong financial literacy and commercial partnership experience with customers and bottlers.

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Skills:

Account Management, Business Development, Business Insights, Communication, Consultative Sales Management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Customer Service Management, Decision Making, Leadership, Marketing, National Account Sales, Negotiation, Pitch Presentations, Results-Oriented, Sales Forecasting, Sales Management, Sales Process

Location(s):

South Africa

City/Cities:

Johannesburg

Travel Required:

00% - 25%

Relocation Provided:

No

Job Posting End Date:

September 22, 2026

Our Purpose and Growth Culture:

We are taking deliberate action to nurture an inclusive culture that is grounded in our company purpose, to refresh the world and make a difference. We act with a growth mindset, take an expansive approach to what’s possible and believe in continuous learning to improve our business and ourselves. We focus on four key behaviors – curious, empowered, inclusive and agile – and value how we work as much as what we achieve. We believe that our culture is one of the reasons our company continues to thrive after 130+ years. Visit Our Purpose and Vision to learn more about these behaviors and how you can bring them to life in your next role at Coca-Cola.