Head of Marketing (SSHM)

The Role

Responsible for leading the development, delivery and implementation of the integrated marketing plan Africa for our portfolio of 14 schools located in South Africa, and Kenya and Mauritius.

Supported by the global marketing team, the Head of Marketing Africa will work with and lead all school marketing activity, with the priority focus on driving student admissions and retention.

For this role, we are looking for a passionate and dynamic person with strong motivation and management skills. The ideal candidate will have at least 5+ years of proven experience in Marketing/Communications, digital marketing savvy, as well as someone who is action-orientation and hands-on.  This role requires someone who is resourceful, creative and able to create and deliver excellent marketing strategy and plans.

You are expected to lead and develop the Marketing Coordinator as well as working with the global teams. You will need strong marketing and brand knowledge, but above all be a people person with excellent communication and leadership skills.

Working at local leadership level you will interact and work with all areas of the group, including particularly other senior and mid-level Managers, as well as senior executives in the organisation.  Therefore, we are looking for an excellent communicator, who is happy to multi-task and someone who can relate to and understand the complexities that the various schools have, to support and overcome the daily marketing challenges that are presented in the local market for our different schools.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop and implement the annual Africa marketing & communications plan, in line with a proposed budget for forthcoming actions & activities with the core focus to drive student admissions and retention across our portfolio of Africa schools.
• Develop and execute clear messaging strategies for all schools to include positioning statement, USPs and annual key messages for each school to drive differentiation in the market.
• Work in partnership with the Head of Customer Experience to define and support with the marketing executions of the local Africa schools’ outreach plans.
• Work with schools to deliver school level communications, including newsletters, social media and other communications as agreed in the plans.
• Regularly review the admissions data Dashboards to ensure that we are on top of trends and anticipating any areas where we may need to intervene and support with marketing activities / campaigns to drive ROI for individual schools.
• Regularly monitor and assess performance statistics & data (traffic, lead & conversions), so that marketing plans and initiatives can be adapted and ensure we are constantly innovating and applying the best use of the marketing budget.
• 3^rd party agency management.
• Maintain and build our image and reputation across paid, owned and earned channels. Ensure that customer insights are at the core of planning and marketing execution.
• Planning & executing local campaigns events/open days.
• Management of School events e.g. open days, Alumni.
• Local level PR.
• Localisation of global campaigns – transcreation of copy, local images.
• Effectively manage the 1 direct report within the Africa Marketing team, to ensure that projects are delivered on time and on budget. This includes undertaking regular 1-2-1 reviews to ensure that the team receive the necessary support where required (from you, as well as others), as well as develop self and others in order to live the Vision, Mission & Values
• Undertake regular site visits to each school to ensure that we are accessible to their marketing requirements and communicating regularly with Heads of Customer Experience, Headteachers and Deputies.
• Protect the Group Corporate Identity and make sure all marketing materials adhere to the individual schools Corporate Identity & Brand Guidelines.
• Keep abreast of best marketing practice within the international education sector.
• Any ad hoc marketing and communications activities as requested by the Africa or Global leadership team.

Personal Qualifications

Essential

• Minimum 5 years’ experience working in Marketing
• University Degree (or equivalent) in Marketing / Communications or similar
• Excellent interpersonal, collaboration, communication, negotiation & team working skills
• Technical requirements:
  • Strategy and planning
  • Digital performance and traditional ATL campaign experience
  • PR & advertising experience
• Ability to work on own initiative and manage a heavy workload with maximum attention to detail and without losing sight of overall objective
• Performance driven & accountable. Confident to make difficult decisions while taking responsibility and initiative for delivering projects on time and on budget
• Creative and self-motivated attitude to problem solving
• Strong willingness to undertake regular travel within Africa (occasionally also overseas)
• Good organisation skills and ability to prioritise
• Fast & agile. Removes barriers and is solution responsive.
• Highly motivated to achieve goals and ability to motivate others to do the same
• Obsessive attention to detail and accuracy
• Project Management Experience
• Ability to learn how to navigate a range of IT systems (Inc. CRM, MIS & data analytics tools)
• High level of Microsoft Office & at least a basic knowledge of Adobe design packages

Desirable

• Marketing qualification (e.g. CIM)
• Knowledge of Africa school market / Education Sector
• Consultative Sales Experience

A Consultant will be in touch if you are shortlisted for the position. Please consider your application unsuccessful should you not have been contacted within 2 weeks. We will keep your CV on our database and contact you should you match the criteria of any other vacancies.