Customer Marketing Manager

Coca-Cola Beverages Africa; Mbombela (Nelspruit); On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Coca Cola Beverages South Africa is seeking a seasoned Customer Marketing Manager to lead strategy, shopper insights, and channel plans that drive growth.

You will partner with Sales, Trade Marketing, and finance to deliver ABPs, promotions, and investments while coaching a specialist team to improve execution and customer profitability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Management, Commerce, or related field.
• 6–10 years FMCG Customer Marketing/Category Management or related experience.
• Experience in customer planning, shopper marketing, and category management.
• Leadership experience managing customer or category-focused teams.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement customer marketing strategies aligned to channel priorities and ABP to drive volume and market share.
• Lead shopper and category management to optimise assortment and in-store execution.
• Partner with Sales, Trade Marketing, Revenue Growth Management (RGM), and Key Account teams to develop customer business plans, promotional calendars, activation plans, and commercial initiatives.
• Drive commercial performance through customer-specific initiatives, promotional effectiveness, pricing support, pack mix optimisation, and activation strategies.
• Analyse customer, category, shopper, and market performance data to identify opportunities and support growth.
• Lead governance of customer marketing campaigns, trade activations, and ROI-focused initiatives.
• Manage customer marketing budgets, trade investments, promotional spend, and category initiatives.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align strategies and strengthen partnerships.
• Lead, coach, and develop Customer Category Specialists to strengthen analytical capability and execution.
• Drive continuous improvement, innovation, and best-practice initiatives.

Skills

Customer marketing capability

Category management

Commercial & financial acumen

Shopper insights & data analytics

Strategic planning & engagement

Budget & trade investment management

Cross-functional collaboration

Negotiation & influencing

Leadership & coaching

Communication & presentation

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing/Business/Commerce

Postgraduate qualification advantageous

Job description

Coca Cola Beverages South Africa has an exciting opportunity in the Sales & Marketing Department. We are looking for seasoned individual with necessary skills & experience for a Customer Marketing Manager role.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

Key Outcome

• Customer Marketing Strategy & Execution

  • Develop and implement customer marketing strategies aligned to channel priorities, shopper insights, Route-to-Market (RTM) objectives, and Annual Business Plans (ABP) to drive sustainable volume, revenue, and market share growth.

• Shopper & Category Management

  • Lead category and shopper marketing initiatives by analysing customer, shopper, and market insights to identify growth opportunities, optimise assortment, improve category performance, and strengthen in-store execution effectiveness.

• Channel & Customer Business Planning

  • Partner with Sales, Trade Marketing, Revenue Growth Management (RGM), and Key Account teams to develop customer business plans, promotional calendars, activation plans, and commercial initiatives aligned to customer and channel priorities.

• Commercial Performance & Revenue Growth

  • Drive commercial performance through customer-specific initiatives, promotional effectiveness, pricing support, pack mix optimisation, and activation strategies that improve customer profitability, category growth, and market share.

• Customer Insights & Analytics

  • Analyse customer, category, shopper, and market performance data to identify business opportunities, customer trends, execution gaps, and strategic interventions that support business growth and improved customer engagement.

• Promotional & Activation Governance

  • Lead governance of customer marketing campaigns, trade activations, category initiatives, and customer promotional programmes to ensure alignment to brand standards, commercial objectives, and ROI expectations.

• Budget & Trade Investment Management

  • Manage customer marketing budgets, trade investments, promotional spend, and category initiatives to ensure financial governance, budget compliance, and effective return on investment.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

  • Collaborate with Sales, Trade Marketing, Supply Chain, Marketing, Finance, RGM, and external customers to align customer strategies, improve execution quality, and strengthen commercial partnerships.

• Team Leadership & Capability Development

  • Lead, coach, and develop Customer Category Specialists to strengthen analytical capability, customer engagement, category management execution, and overall team performance.

• Continuous Improvement & Innovation

  • Drive continuous improvement, innovation, and best-practice customer marketing initiatives to improve customer experience, category leadership, shopper engagement, and commercial effectiveness.

Functional Capabilities

• Customer Marketing Strategy
• Shopper & Category Management
• Channel & Customer Planning
• Commercial Growth & Revenue Optimisation
• Customer Insights & Analytics
• Promotional & Activation Strategy
• Cross-Functional Commercial Collaboration
• Budget & Trade Investment Management
• Customer Relationship Management
• Team Leadership & Capability Development

KBI

• Customer Volume & Revenue Growth
• Category Growth & Market Share
• Customer Profitability
• Promotional ROI
• Trade Investment Effectiveness
• Customer Satisfaction & Engagement
• Numeric Distribution & Availability
• Shopper Conversion & Activation Effectiveness
• Budget Compliance
• Team Capability & Performance

Skills, Experience & Education

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Marketing, Business Management, Commerce, or related field.
• Postgraduate qualification will be advantageous.

Experience

• 6-10 years of experience in FMCG Customer Marketing, Category Management, Trade Marketing, or Commercial Experience.
• Proven experience in customer planning, shopper marketing, and category management.
• Experience managing trade investments, customer activations, and commercial performance analytics.
• Leadership experience managing customer or category-focused teams.

Skills

• Customer marketing and category management capability
• Commercial and financial acumen
• Shopper insights and data analytics capability
• Strategic planning and customer engagement skills
• Budget and trade investment management capability
• Cross-functional stakeholder management
• Negotiation and influencing capability
• Leadership and coaching capability
• Communication and presentation skills
• Ability to drive commercial growth and execution excellence

General

The advert has minimum requirements listed. Management reserves the right to use additional or relevant information as criteria for short-listing.