The Coca-Cola Company Director, Marketing, South Africa Franchise Vacancy 2026

Opportunity Overview

The Coca-Cola Company is seeking a Director of Marketing for its South Africa Franchise. This pivotal role involves leading end-to-end marketing efforts within the South African market, with a focus on driving sustainable brand growth, portfolio leadership, and innovation across Coca-Cola's priority brands.

Operating within an integrated organizational model, the successful candidate will blend strategic influence with practical frontline execution. This includes translating global and regional priorities into high-impact local programs designed to resonate with South African consumers, retail customers, and key partners. The role demands expertise in consumer insights, commercial acumen, and digital-first marketing approaches to ensure competitive acceleration in portfolio shaping, pricing strategy, and omnichannel engagement.

As the South Africa market marketing lead, you will be accountable for portfolio strength, brand equity health, consumer engagement, pipeline delivery, and integrated marketing experience (IMX) orchestration. You will also lead the Annual Business Plan (ABP) and influence Operating Unit Long-Range Plans (LRPs), anchoring strategies in affordability, cultural relevance, sustainability, and digital commerce realities, while also driving system-wide alignment with bottling partners.

Minimum Requirements

Candidates must meet the following criteria:

• A minimum of 12 years of experience in marketing leadership roles.
• Proven experience spanning brand strategy, innovation, IMX orchestration, Price Pack Architecture (PPA), and commercial partnership.
• Demonstrated frontline activation experience within complex systems.

Key Responsibilities

The Director, Marketing will be responsible for:

• Brand & Portfolio Leadership: Translating OU category strategies into South Africa-specific brand plans, leading Portfolio & Price Pack Architecture (PPA), and building cultural relevancy through activations tied to local passion points.
• ABP, Innovation & Renovation: Leading the Annual Business Plan (ABP) for priority brands, delivering end-to-end innovation and renovation, and partnering with technical and packaging teams on affordability and sustainability requirements.
• Consumer & Shopper Insights / Analytics: Defining consumer learning agendas incorporating various data sources and converting insights into actionable growth strategies.
• IMX & Precision Marketing: Orchestrating full IMX across paid, owned, and earned touchpoints, activating creative workflows and networks, and stewarding brand safety and compliance.
• System & Customer Leadership: Aligning with bottler leadership on joint business planning and calendar harmonization, partnering with customers for joint value creation, and collaborating with Commercial and RGM teams to optimize efficiency.
• Performance, Governance & Capability Building: Leading performance tracking dashboards for ABP execution and ROI, institutionalizing operational cadences, and building marketing capability across various disciplines.

What the Work Involves

This leadership role involves spearheading all marketing initiatives for The Coca-Cola Company within South Africa. Day-to-day, you will be strategizing and executing marketing plans, driving brand growth, and managing innovation projects. You will work closely with bottling partners, technical teams, packaging teams, commercial teams, and revenue growth management (RGM) teams to ensure aligned objectives and integrated execution.

The work will involve leveraging consumer insights and analytics to inform strategic decisions, implementing precision marketing campaigns across digital and traditional platforms, and engaging with consumers, retail customers, and key partners. You will be instrumental in translating global marketing visions into locally impactful programs, ensuring that the company's brands resonate deeply within the South African cultural landscape. The environment will require strong leadership, collaborative partnership across various stakeholders, and a focus on driving measurable results.

How to Apply

To apply for this opportunity, please visit the official career portal:

Apply Here