Location(s):

South Africa

City/Cities:

Johannesburg

Travel Required:

00% - 25%

Relocation Provided:

No

Job Posting End Date:

March 19, 2026

Shift:

Job Description Summary:

Job Description: Regional Marketing Lead, Africa — Flavours

Function: Marketing Reports to: Franchise Marketing Lead Location: South Africa Team Size:~15–30 total;Travel: Regional travel as required

Role Purpose

The Africa Marketing Lead for **Flavours (Sparkling (Schweppes & Local Jewels)**is accountable for end-to-end marketing performance—strengthening brand equity, leading portfolio & PPA strategy, accelerating innovation and renovation(formats, Flavors, zero sugar mixes), orchestrating precision IMX, and building capabilities that deliver balanced, sustainable growth across diverse African markets. The bundling of the Brands will be decided by the Marketing Lead (Schweppes + LJ is for reference)

Operating within an integrated Operating Unit (OU) ↔ Market model, you will translate OU strategies and platforms into locally resonant, scalable executions—combining local intimacy with system scale and flywheel execution with clear accountability for impact and ROI.

Scope & Impact

• Serve as the Marketing Lead for Flavours in the country/region—accountable for brand growth,innovation pipeline delivery,capability building, and system alignment with bottlers, customers, and external partners.

• Lead **Annual Business Plan (ABP)**portfolio choices and calendar for Flavours; influence OU Long-range Plans (LRPs) to reflect Africa specific opportunities (affordability tiers, RGB & PET mix, returnable, teen & youth recruitment, refreshment/entertainment occasions, digital commerce).

• Own E2E local brand and innovation plans for Flavours (e.g., lemonime, orange, ginger, tonic/mixers; zero sugar variants; limited time offers; festive/seasonal; new pack sizes) including flywheel execution and performance tracking.

• Drive local IMX in line with OU standards—media, content, Studio X, digital, social, influencers, assets, labels—with data led precision and creative effectiveness.

• Ensure in market/OU market orchestration, prioritization, and backlog management to deliver focus, speed, and learning loops.

• Deploy and scale marketing capabilities and ways of working across insights, performance marketing, and commercialization.

Key Responsibilities

1) Brand & Portfolio Leadership (Flavours)

• Translate OU strategies into locally resonant brand plans for Sprite, Fanta, Schweppes and other local Flavours (as applicable), with sharp recruitment and occasion design (e.g., everyday refreshment, socializing, entertainment, food pairing, mixology).

• Lead **Portfolio & Price Pack Architecture (PPA)**to win by channel and mission (traditional trade, modern trade, away from home, night economy, digital commerce) with affordability,RGB/PET/can mix, and promo guardrails.

• Steward distinctive brand assets(colour, flavour, tonality, visual worlds) with consistent yet culturally relevant executions (music, street culture, festivals, gaming, creators).

2) ABP, Innovation & Renovation

• Lead ABP for Flavours: portfolio choices,investment allocation,innovation/renovation pipeline, and commercial calendar.

• Deliver E2E innovation(concept → formulation → packaging → commercialization → OTIF), including zero/no sugar variants, flavour rotations, seasonal LTOs, and returnable packaging opportunities.

• Partner with OU to shape LRP: scale winning platforms across markets, codify playbooks, and derisk high potential bets via test and learn.

3) Consumer & Shopper Insights / Analytics

• Build a Flavours focused consumer/shopper learning agenda: brand tracking, panel/syndicated data, social listening, creator trend signals, retail execution analytics, and first party data growth.

• Turn insights into growth hypotheses, A/B tests, media and creative optimizations, and performance marketing flywheels.

4) IMX & Precision Marketing

• Orchestrate IMX across paid/owned/earned with strong Mobile First creative,retailer media activations, sampling/live experiences, and creator ecosystems via Studio X.

• Optimize reach quality,creative effectiveness, and incremental ROI; uphold brand safety, responsible marketing, and compliant claims/labels per market.

5) System & Customer Leadership

• Align with bottling partners on portfolio strategy, capability building, execution routines, and joint scorecards.

• Co own joint value creation

with key customers: category leadership, shopper marketing, seasonal/event activation, andselling of the commercial calendar.

• Partner with Commercial/RGM to improve NSR,mix, and promotion efficiency, minimizing cannibalization and maximizing incremental growth for Flavours.

6) Performance, Governance & Capability Building

• Run disciplined flywheel cadences(weekly/Monthly/Quarterly), dashboards, and post campaign reviews; institutionalize learnings.

• Build team capability across insights, IMX, performance marketing, innovation commercialization, and digital experimentation.

• Ensure compliance with company and local market requirements (e.g.,sugar sweetened beverage (SSB) levies, marketing to children guidelines, labelling, data privacy, competition law, ethics).

What Success Looks Like

• A confident, capable local marketing organization with clarity of roles, repeatable routines, and strong bench strength.

• OU platforms translated into real market impact with measurable brand & commercial outcomes.

• Locally relevant growth solutions for Africa’s diverse consumers, channels, and price tiers—especially recruitment and repeat for Flavours.

• Consistent brand growth and innovation impact(including zero sugar mix and LTO performance); superior IMX ROI and creative effectiveness.

• Successful deployment of OU wide strategies, programs, and capabilities at scale with speed and governance.

Key Metrics (Flavours)

• Brand & Consumer: Brand Power/Equity,Recruitment (new/lapsed buyers), Penetration, Awareness/Consideration, Distinctive Asset Health.

• Commercial:NSR growth, Value/Volume Share,Mix (zero sugar %, RGB/PET/can mix), Rate of Sales, Numeric & Weighted Distribution, PPA performance.

• IMX & Digital: ROI, CPA/CPC/CPM,High-quality Reach, Creative quality scores, 1P data growth, Social/creator effectiveness.

• Innovation:% NSR from innovation/renovation, OTIF launch, Trial & Repeat,Cannibalization vs incrementality, Postlaunch ROI.

• Execution & Governance: Calendar adherence, Backlog velocity, Capability deployment,Compliance (e.g., SSB levy/labelling/marketing to children).

Experience & Critical Requirements

• 12+ years in marketing leadership spanning insights & analytics, brand/portfolio strategy, innovation, complex program management, and P&L ownership.

• Handson across innovation, creative strategy, connections, design, category/brand positioning & growth strategy.

• Strong commercial acumen and deep understanding of the KO system; proven influence with bottlers and customers.

• Led scaled, complex, cross functional and cross geographical teams and initiatives.

• Demonstrated use of Digital/Data as competitive edges (performance marketing, experimentation, MMM/MTA or equivalent decision tools).

• Frontline experience (e.g., Frontline Marketing) and proven people leadership of large teams.

Behaviours

• Growth Mindset: Curious, bold, ambitious; embraces hard problems and thinks enterprise wide.

• Excellence & Stewardship: Uncompromising standards, brand governance, and compliance.

• Servant Leadership: Coaches, elevates, and empowers teams; inclusive, high trust culture.

• Speed & Rigor: Bias to action with discipline in measurement, learning, and iteration.

Communication Focus

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; persuasive with senior executives.

• Builds and leverages internal and external partnerships (bottlers, customers, agencies, creators, tech).

• Effective in networked, ambiguous contexts—simplifies complexity into clear, actionable plans.

• Inspires through the power of marketing and brands; adept at translating strategy into compelling storytelling.

Other Considerations

• Local language proficiency and deep knowledge of local marketing culture are highly desirable.

• Familiarity with Africa market dynamics (regulatory environments including SSB levies, labelling; media landscapes; cultural calendars; channel maturity; affordability tiers; returnable).

Skills:

Brand Architecture, Brand Positioning, Channel Management, Competitor Analysis, Creative Briefs, Digital Media Strategy, Group Problem Solving, Local Advertising, Marketing Activation, Marketing Strategies, Media Planning, People Management, Shopper Marketing, Social Media Strategies, Sponsorships, SWOT Analysis, Team Management

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.