Marketing Executive Jobs in East London, South Africa at Abantu Staffing Solutions

Overview:

The Marketing Executive for our QSR portfolio is the senior strategic leader for the QSR brand across the Group.
The role is accountable for brand direction, commercial performance, and strategic decision-making across 130 stores in 4–6 African markets. The Marketing Executive sets the strategy, governs commercial priorities, owns the marketing P&L, and leads the senior relationships that determine whether the brand performs — with the QSR Brand, with Operations leadership in each market, and with the Group CEO / COO.
This is not an executional role. Day-to-day campaign coordination, agency task management, calendar tracking, and in-market operational communication are owned by the Regional Marketing Managers in each geographic region.
The Marketing Executive’s time is invested in strategy, stakeholder leadership, high impact decisions, and holding the team accountable for delivery standards.
The role operates within the QSR’s Brands’ franchisor framework. National campaigns, brand standards, and product launch calendars originate from the QSR – the Marketing Executive’s job is to shape how the Group participates in and benefits from that framework, while ensuring the Group’s specific market context is represented and acted upon. Creative production flows through internal and external agencies; the Marketing Executive approves, not produces.

Qualification / Experience:

Completed degree in Marketing, Business, or Communications
MBA or Post-graduate Marketing qualification (advantageous)
7+ years’ experience in brand management or senior marketing
3+ years in a role with genuine strategic accountability — owning a brand plan, a budget, and a team simultaneously.
Experience in QSR, FMCG, or franchisor-governed brand environment (preferred)
Demonstrated ability to set brand direction, write commercial briefs, make high impact decisions, and govern brand compliance
Proven track record managing senior relationships — franchisor contacts, Operations leadership, and C-suite stakeholders
Direct experience owning a marketing budget of material size, including franchise-compliant spend structures.
Experience setting strategy and governing execution across multiple countries simultaneously.
Experience managing and developing direct reports. Able to delegate execution fully while retaining strategic accountability.

Responsibilities:

Brand Strategy & Commercial Direction

Set the annual QSR brand strategy and marketing plan, aligned to the QSR Brand campaign calendar and the Group’s commercial objectives across all markets
Define brand positioning, campaign territories, and promotional mechanics for the Group’s QSR markets — working within the QSR’s guidelines while reflecting local consumer and competitive realities
Identify strategic opportunities the QSR’s national calendar does not address — cultural moments, competitive threats, market-specific occasions — and direct the team to activate against them
Present the annual marketing strategy and budget to the President — QSR for approval, with clear commercial linkage between marketing investment and revenue, footfall, and brand health outcomes
Conduct quarterly brand health reviews, interpret the results, and set strategic direction based on findings

Marketing Calendar — Design & Governance

Design the 12-month QSR marketing calendar — setting priorities, sequencing campaigns, LTO windows, and seasonal activations, and making the major decisions about what the brand does and when
Approve all significant calendar decisions before they are ope rationalised by the Regional Marketing Managers — campaign mechanics, territory approvals, go/no-go on activations, and market-specific adaptations
Chair the monthly cross-functional calendar governance meeting with Supply Chain, Operations leadership, and Finance — making decisions on conflicts, risks, and resource allocation
Set the cross-functional coordination standards and lead times that Regional Marketing Managers operate within — 8 weeks to Supply Chain, 4 weeks to Operations, 6 weeks to in-market teams — and hold each region accountable to these standards

Campaign Leadership

Title: Marketing Executive

Company: Abantu Staffing Solutions

Location: East London, South Africa

Category:

Find African Jobs