East London: Marketing Executive posted by 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 46 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 Executives time is invested in strategy, stakeholder leadership, high impact decisions, and holding the team accountable for delivery standards.
• The role operates within the QSRs Brands franchisor framework. National campaigns, brand standards, and product launch calendars originate from the QSR – the Marketing Executives job is to shape how the Group participates in and benefits from that framework, while ensuring the Groups 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 Groups commercial objectives across all markets
• Define brand positioning, campaign territories, and promotional mechanics for the Groups QSR markets working within the QSRs guidelines while reflecting local consumer and competitive realities
• Identify strategic opportunities the QSRs 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 operationalised 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

• Issue top-level commercial briefs for all major campaigns defining the business objective, target audience, key message, budget envelope, and success metrics
• Approve campaign territories, creative directions, and mechanics before Regional Marketing Managers brief agencies and in-market teams for execution
• Review and approve final campaign assets before deployment, ensuring compliance with the QSRs brand standards, the Groups marketing policy, and local market requirements
• Make high-impact campaign decisions go-live approvals, budget reallocations, campaign pauses, and escalations with the authority to act without delay

Franchisor Relationship QSR Brand

• Own and actively develop the Groups relationship with the QSRs Brands regional and local marketing leadership positioning the Group as a high performing, strategically engaged franchise partner, not a passive recipient of franchisor direction
• Attend all senior franchisor forums, brand summits, and NPL strategy briefings as the Groups primary QSR marketing contact, engaging substantively on strategy, not just compliance
• Invest in the QSR Head Office relationship beyond the transactional share the Groups market intelligence, understand the QSRs strategic priorities, and identify joint opportunities that benefit both parties
• Advocate for the Groups market-specific operating context with the QSR backed by data and commercial rationale where the standard franchisor approach needs adaptation
• Ensure full compliance with all QSR brand standards and franchise agreement marketing obligations; escalate any compliance risk to the COO QSR and Legal immediately

Operations Leadership Relationships

• Build and maintain strong working relationships with the Operations Manager in each market engaging at a strategic level on brand performance, market specific challenges, and commercial opportunities
• Provide strategic guidance to Operations leadership on how marketing can support their commercial goals in each market, and hold them to the execution standards the brand requires
• Lead escalation resolution when in-market execution falls below standard agreeing corrective action with Operations leadership and holding those commitments
• Ensure Operations leadership in each market receives the Marketing Executives personal attention on strategic matters, not only communication filtered through the Regional Marketing Manager for their region

Data & Insight Strategic Interpretation

• Interpret consolidated sales performance reports, campaign data, and regional insight provided by the Data Analyst and Regional Marketing Managers, and translate findings into strategic recommendations for the President
• Identify performance trends that require strategic response underperforming markets, channel mix shifts, campaign ROI anomalies and direct the team to investigate and act
• Present a consolidated QSR brand performance view to the President QSR monthly

Budget Ownership & Franchise Compliance

• Own the QSR marketing P&L: set the annual budget, allocate spend strategically across campaigns and markets, and hold the team accountable for operating within it
• Ensure the QSR marketing budget is structured and managed in full compliance with the QSRs Brands franchise agreement covering franchisor-approved marketing deductions, mandatory fund contributions, and approved expenditure categories
• Make strategic budget decisions allocation across markets, channels, and campaigns with material reallocation requiring President QSR sign-off and remaining within franchisor-approved parameters
• Ensure any risk of non-compliance with franchise agreement marketing obligations is escalated to the President QSR and Legal immediately upon identification

People Leadership & Team Accountability

• Setting clear expectations, conducting regular performance reviews, and developing each role for increasing responsibility
• Hold team accountable to consistent delivery standards across their regions the Marketing Executive does not do the work, but is responsible for ensuring the work is done correctly and on time in every market
• Build team capability through coaching, stretch assignments, and honest developmental feedback
• Provide functional direction to shared resources coordinating with Regional Marketing Managers where appropriate, and engaging directly where strategic input is required