Brand and Digital Marketing Manager

Department: Marketing

Location: Cape Town – Work from Home, in line with organisational requirements- Potentially Hybrid

Reporting to: Marketing Director

Salary: Market-related

FTC- 12 month FTC

Role Purpose

The Marketing Manager: Brand and Digital is responsible for owning how the company presents itself in the market through strong brand execution, integrated paid and organic campaigns, digital channels and brand experiences.

The role leads brand-focused marketing activity that builds awareness, relevance, perception and market demand, including campaigns supporting the overall brand, customised offerings and key accounts.

The role provides senior ownership of the website and organic social media presence, setting priorities and direction while supporting team members manage day-to-day execution.

The role also leads brand events and activations and manages the external marketing partners required to deliver high-quality brand experiences.

The position works closely with the Marketing Manager: Programmes, who leads programme and enrolment-focused marketing, lead generation and revenue-focused campaigns, as well as the Communications and Stakeholder Relations Specialist, who leads communications, thought leadership, PR, reputation and strategic stakeholder engagement.

Requirements

Non-Negotiable Requirements

• Must be Cape Town-based.

• The role is technically Work from Home, but the successful candidate must anticipate regular ad hoc and planned travel to Bellville and Stellenbosch

• Must have own reliable transport.

• Must be willing and able to undertake planned travel within South Africa and to African countries.

Qualifications

• Relevant degree in Marketing, Business, Communications or a related field.

• An Honours degree or relevant postgraduate qualification will be advantageous.

Experience

- Minimum

10 years’ relevant marketing experience, with strong practical experience in:

• Brand management and translating brand positioning into strong market-facing activity.
• Developing and managing integrated paid, owned and organic campaigns.
• Website management, UX and digital customer experience.
• Digital marketing, organic social media, SEO, GEO, analytics and performance measurement.
• Planning and delivering brand events, conferences and activations.
• Briefing and managing agencies, designers, digital specialists and other external partners.
• Managing marketing budgets and making commercially sound investment decisions.
• Making difficult marketing and investment trade-offs when required.
• Using audience, campaign and market insights to improve marketing activity and effectiveness.
• Working across different products, audiences, business units and/or markets.

-Experience in B2B or corporate audience marketing will be advantageous.

- Experience in higher education, executive education or professional services will be advantageous but is not essential

- Experience across

African markets will be valuable.

- Agency-side experience will be advantageous.

Functional Competencies

• Strong understanding of brand positioning and the ability to translate strategy into distinctive, consistent and high-quality market-facing work.

• Ability to plan, brief, execute, monitor and optimise paid and organic brand campaigns across relevant channels.

• Strong working knowledge of websites, UX, organic social media, SEO and GEO.

• Ability to interpret audience, platform, campaign and market information and use insights to improve brand and digital activity.

• Ability to identify and apply appropriate AI, automation and emerging technologies to improve marketing effectiveness and processes, while considering accuracy, data privacy, intellectual property, brand integrity and human oversight.

• Strong campaign, event and activation management capabilities.

• Ability to brief, manage and challenge external agencies and suppliers to deliver quality work within agreed timelines and budgets.

• Ability to work cross-functionally alongside Programme Marketing and Communications with clear ownership and minimal duplication.

Technical Skills

• Strong working knowledge of website content management systems and digital analytics.

• Working knowledge of SEO and GEO principles and their application to website and content performance.

• Strong familiarity with organic social media platforms, scheduling and analytics tools.

• Familiarity with marketing CRM and automation platforms and the relationship between digital activity, leads and customer journeys.

• Proficiency in MS Office, MS Teams and project management tools such as Asana.

• Comfortable using basic design and content tools such as Canva.

• Understanding of POPIA and good practice in handling personal and marketing data.

Language

• Excellent written and verbal Business English.

• Additional languages will be advantageous.

Key Responsibilities

Brand Management, Campaigns and Market Development

• Translate strategic brand direction into integrated paid and organic campaigns and market-facing activity.

• Strengthen brand awareness, perception and market demand.

• Lead brand campaigns across the company's various offerings, including customised and key-account activity.

Website and Digital Experience

• Own the marketing direction, priorities and performance of the company's website and digital experience.

• Set priorities and direction for website development and digital performance.

• Work with internal team members and external agencies on day-to-day website updates and implementation.

Organic Social Media and Digital Brand

• Own the organic social media strategy.

• Lead content planning, channel performance and audience growth.

• Strengthen the company's digital brand presence.

• Work with Communications and Stakeholder Relations on messaging, thought leadership and specialist content.

Brand Events and Activations

• Lead brand-focused events, activations and market-presence initiatives.

• Plan events and activations and coordinate relevant suppliers.

• Ensure consistent brand quality across events and experiences.

Brand-Led Channel Marketing

• Lead marketing support where awareness, reputation and market presence are key to growth.

• Take particular responsibility for customised and key-account marketing.

• Work alongside Programme Marketing where programme promotion and enrolment-focused lead generation is required.

Marketing Partner Management

• Brief and manage relevant web, UX, design, video, paid media, digital and event partners.

• Monitor brand and campaign performance.

• Identify opportunities to improve marketing effectiveness, processes and market impact.

• Promote the responsible use of AI, automation and emerging technologies.

Stakeholder Management

Internal Stakeholders

• Marketing Director

• Marketing Manager: Programmes

• Marketing Assistant

• Marketing Coordinator

• Channel Directors and teams

• Executive Team

• ICT

• Faculty

• Shared Services

External Stakeholders

• Relevant educational and institutional stakeholders

• Web and UX agencies

• Graphic designers

• Videographers

• Digital partners

• Event suppliers

• Industry partners

• Other marketing service providers

Financial and Commercial Responsibilities

• Manage allocated brand, digital and event budgets within approved parameters.

• Assess supplier proposals and manage external resources with a focus on quality, value for money and delivery against scope.

• Understand the commercial priorities of the company and ensure brand activity supports market development and sustainable growth.

• Use relevant performance measures to assess the effectiveness of brand, digital and event activity and recommend improvements.

Behavioural Competencies

• Collaboration and Team Contribution: Works constructively across the Marketing team and wider business, shares information, supports colleagues and contributes to common goals.

• Accountability, Delivery and Deadlines: Takes ownership, follows through on commitments and delivers within agreed deadlines. Raises risks or potential delays early.

• Integrity and Honesty: Acts with honesty, integrity and transparency and takes responsibility for mistakes.

• Quality and Attention to Detail: Takes pride in the quality and accuracy of work and checks outputs carefully.

• Adaptability and Curiosity: Responds constructively to changing priorities and actively explores new platforms, approaches and opportunities.

• Creative Judgement and Brand Stewardship: Demonstrates strong brand instinct and sound creative judgement, ensuring work is relevant, distinctive and consistent.

• Commercial Awareness: Understands the commercial context of the company and ensures brand and digital activity supports market relevance, engagement and sustainable growth.

Reporting Structure

The successful candidate will report directly to the Marketing Director.

The reporting line may change from time to time in response to organisational requirements.

Initially, there are no direct reports. The role may progress to managing a Marketing Assistant and will provide senior direction to the Marketing Assistant and Marketing Coordinator on work within this portfolio.