Brand Manager - ROSSA

YUM! Brands, Inc.; Johannesburg; Hybrid; ZAR 700,000 - 950,000; Full time

Job summary

KFC in South Africa seeks a Brand Manager for RoSSA markets. You will translate regional strategy into local growth plans, partner with franchisees and cross-functional teams to drive transactions, sales and brand strength.

You will lead locally relevant brand activation, pricing and communications, while scaling successful approaches across RoSSA markets and enabling expansion into new territories.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Management, Commerce or related field.
• 5+ years experience across brand, trade marketing, sales, category or commercial marketing roles in high-frequency consumer business.
• Experience across African markets – essential.

Responsibilities

• Build and own annual market growth plans translating RoSSA strategy into priorities and targets.
• Lead franchisee marketing partnerships, aligning on priorities and investment.
• Translate KFC brand strategy into locally relevant propositions, activation and communication.
• Lead market assessment and launch planning for new-market opportunities.
• Drive pricing, promotions, budgets, forecasts and P&L-linked performance.
• Collaborate across Operations, Finance, Development and Supply Chain to enable growth.

Skills

Brand management

Trade marketing

Multi-market experience

Franchise partnership

Pricing & promotions

Digital & data fluency

Stakeholder influence

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing or related field

Job description

It all started with one cook who created a finger lickin' good recipe more than 75 years ago, a list of secret herbs and spices scratched out on the back of the door to his kitchen.

Brand Manager - ROSSA

KFC

Hybrid

At KFC, we pride ourselves on being original. We even named our recipe after it. But for us, the answer to the question is simple. Be You. Everyone at KFC is different. Unique. It’s what makes us special - Our people, The Originals. And we welcome you to join us. Bring your individuality to the table. Bring your grit and energy. Bring your spirit. Your story. Your drive and your passion. Bring it. Every piece of you. Even the parts you don’t like. Because we value our people no matter what. We’ll feed your potential and we’ll support you; to be your best self, to make a difference, and have fun. Together, we can be part of something truly extraordinary. All you have to do, is Bring it.

This role requires you to lead sustainable brand and commercial growth across a portfolio of RoSSA markets by translating regional strategy, local consumer insight and commercial opportunities into focused market growth plans. The role partners with franchisees and cross-functional teams to grow transactions, sales and brand strength through proposition, pricing, innovation, communication, local activation and channel execution, while identifying and scaling winning approaches and supporting expansion into new markets.

Responsibilities

Own Market Growth Strategy & Commercial Results

• Build and own annual market growth plans, translating RoSSA strategy into clear priorities, growth levers and measurable targets.
• Diagnose performance across transactions, sales, frequency, ticket, margin, channel/daypart and brand health; lead corrective actions.
• Manage marketing investment and recommend choices that balance short-term trading delivery with long term brand growth.

Lead Franchisee & Market Partnership

• Act as the lead marketing business partner to assigned franchisees, aligning on priorities, investment and execution.
• Influence senior stakeholders without direct authority and strengthen local marketing capability through clear operating rhythms and performance reviews.
• Mobilise Operations, Finance, Development, Supply Chain and other functions to remove barriers to growth.

Build Locally Relevant Brand, Innovation & Activation

• Translate KFC brand strategy into locally relevant propositions, innovation, communication and activation that protect brand distinctiveness.
• Lead integrated activity across media, digital, CRM, delivery, partnerships and restaurant touchpoints, adapting to market maturity and opportunity.
• Use consumer, cultural and competitive insight to strengthen relevance and grow priority occasions.
• Apply strong sales and trade marketing fundamentals to pricing, promotion, menu, channel and restaurant level demand generation.
• Partner with Operations to convert national plans into strong restaurant execution, including LSM/street-to store where required.
• Build commercially relevant partnerships and activation opportunities that unlock reach, trial, frequency or value.
• Set clear hypotheses and success criteria; use market, consumer and commercial data to evaluate impact.
• Rapidly scale what works, adapt or stop what does not, and transfer learning across RoSSA markets.
• Respond quickly to competitor activity, culture and trading performance with disciplined, brand-right actions.

Shape New-Market Entry & RoSSA Expansion

• Lead marketing inputs into market assessment, proposition, pricing and launch planning for assigned new-market opportunities.
• Build demand-generation plans appropriate to early-stage store footprints and local market conditions.
• Codify launch learning to strengthen the RoSSA market playbook.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Management, Commerce or a related field. Postgraduate qualification or MBA preferred.

Experience

• Minimum 5+ years progressive experience across brand, trade marketing, sales, category or commercial marketing roles within QSR, FMCG, retail, telecoms or another high-frequency consumer business.
• Demonstrated experience working across African markets - essential.
• A foundation in Sales and/or Trade Marketing - essential.
• Proven multi-market experience and ability to operate effectively in franchise, distributor or decentralised business models.
• Strong commercial acumen, including pricing, promotions, budgets, forecasts and P&L-linked performance.
• Proven ownership: has independently owned market or brand growth plans and turned consumer and commercial insight into measurable growth through integrated campaigns and local activation.
• Strong stakeholder influence and agency leadership across complex cross-functional environments.
• New-market, category or channel launch experience advantageous.

Capabilities

• Commercial operator with strong consumer and brand judgement
• Strategic thinking with execution rigour
• Africa market agility and cultural sensitivity
• Market prioritisation and disciplined investment choices
• Influencing without authority and strong franchise partnership
• Analytical decision making: connects consumer and commercial data, identifies root causes and translates insight into clear market actions and test-and-learn priorities
• Digital and data fluency; able to operate at pace in complexity

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