Head of Marketing & Communications - Volvo Car South Africa

Volvo Cars; Irene; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Volvo Cars is seeking a Head of Marketing & Communications to elevate the brand's presence in South Africa. This senior role focuses on enhancing brand awareness through strategic marketing initiatives, leading digital transformations, and ensuring alignment with global strategies while driving local market relevance. Candidates should possess significant leadership experience in the marketing field and a proven track record in brand strategy.

Benefits

Market-related salary

Pension fund contributions

Mobile and vehicle with related benefits

Qualifications

• 10+ years of marketing leadership experience.
• Proven ability to lead and develop high-performing teams.
• Expertise in digital transformation and MarTech.

Responsibilities

• Drive brand awareness and marketing strategy for South Africa.
• Collaborate with leadership to align marketing with business goals.
• Manage marketing budgets and analyze ROI.

Skills

Leadership

Digital Marketing

Brand Awareness

Data-driven Campaigning

Communication

Job description

Take the lead in driving innovation
Are you ready to elevate Volvo’s position as a premium brand in South Africa?Are you fearless and know how to weave a global brand’s promise of safer, more sustainable motoring into locally relevant stories?

What you'll do

As the Head of Marketing & Communications, you will drive our brand awareness, increase willingness to pay, and enhance the quality and number of qualified leads to support sales conversion. You will ensure excellence in delivering 360-degree brand, product, and tactical campaigns with a strong focus on digital activation tailored for the South African market.

Further, you will own and lead South Africa’s marketing strategy across planning, media, experiential, Martech, CRM, and retailer marketing, ensuring alignment with global frameworks while addressing local needs. You will collaborate with the Volvo SA Leadership team to drive effective commercial steering and enhance brand consideration, aligning marketing strategies with business goals.

Additionally, you will work closely with finance to develop and oversee marketing budgets, monitor spending, analyse ROI, and optimise budget allocation.

Furthermore, you will work closely with the global communications team and Executive Leadership Team to align South Africa’s strategy with global priorities and strategic goals.

What you'll bring

What skills and experience will best help us deliver on our mandate?

• 10+ years of marketing leadership experience in a tech-forward organisation, ideally involving omnichannel strategies and physical products
• Proven ability to lead and develop high-performing marketing teams of agencies and individuals, including mentoring, team development, and restructuring to achieve strategic goals
• Skilled in inspiring and motivating teams around a bold marketing vision and mission
• A strong track record in developing strategies that build long-term brand awareness while delivering measurable business impact
• Experience navigating matrixed organisations, balancing local strategy ownership with alignment to global frameworks
• Deep expertise across all marketing channels, with a particular focus on digital marketing, e-commerce, national and retailer marketing, data-driven campaigning, and a strong MROI mindset
• A strategic marketer with strong commercial and brand awareness, committed to delivering tangible KPIs through a lead-to-sale approach
• Proven experience in global brands and sales-driven, consumer-centric environments where marketing directly contributes to revenue growth
• Demonstrated success in driving strategic marketing initiatives from vision to execution
• Extensive experience managing Owned, Earned, and Paid channels across global and regional markets
• Expert in digital transformation and MarTech, with a strong background in partnering with tech and product teams on roadmaps, capabilities, and analytics
• Significant experience in performance marketing and data-driven marketing strategies. Confident and credible in challenging existing strategies and processes, using insights and data to drive innovation and fresh thinking
• Deep knowledge of the South African media landscape and cultural nuances, essential for effective local execution. Strong experience in agency management, with an excellent understanding of South African media trends, seasonality, and consumer behaviour
• A skilled communicator with the ability to influence and negotiate across all levels of the organisation, including the retailer network. Experience in a public company is a plus.Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Where is the role based?
The role is based in Centurion, South Africa and you will be employed by Volvo Cars South Africa (VCSA) and we operate an office first policy.

What does Volvo Cars offer me?
We offer an attractive, market-related salary, pension fund contributions, plus a host of benefits that come from working with a global automotive brand, including a mobile and vehicle with related benefits.

Volvo Cars. For Life.
For nearly a century, Volvo Cars has empowered people to move freely in a personal, sustainable and safe way. Today, we are driving bold advancements in electrification, sustainability and automotive safety. To realise our ambitious vision, we are seeking innovative minds who are ready to tackle the challenges of tomorrow – today.

At Volvo Cars, we believe extraordinary things are achieved by ordinary people with a passion for making a difference. If you’re inspired by the opportunity to help redefine the future of mobility, we invite you to be part of our journey.

Ready to take the next step?
Submit your CV in English and tell us why you’re the ideal candidate for a role at Volvo Cars. Applications must be received no later than the 27th of July 2025. You will receive a confirmation email after your submission.

For questions regarding the position, please reach out to Marishka Govender at [e-mail].

Welcome with your application!

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