Head of Media Excellence

Dis-Chem; Midrand; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Market related salary

Medical aid

Provident fund

Staff account

Job summary

Dis-Chem Pharmacies seeks a Head of Media Excellence to drive end-to-end media and AdTech strategy from its Head Office. You will oversee centralized media planning, buying, and technology enablement to unlock economies of scale and deliver measurable ROI across paid channels.

You will lead governance, partnerships, and data-driven marketing execution while aligning media objectives with GTM and Brand & Strategy teams. A strong track record in media efficiency is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Analytics, or Communications.
• 8+ years in ATL, digital, retail media, media planning/buying, AdTech, or integrated media leadership roles.
• 3–5 years in a leadership or people management role.
• Proven success in improving media efficiency and delivering ROI.

Responsibilities

• Align media strategy and planning to integrated go-to-market plans defined by GTM and Brand & Strategy teams.
• Define media buying guidelines/guardrails.
• Lead annual media planning across digital, traditional, and in-store channels.
• Identify and implement consolidation opportunities to capture economies of scale in buying and execution.
• Oversee AdTech roadmap and platform integrations.
• Drive automation of media planning, activation, and performance tracking.
• Ensure data accuracy, tagging, and end-to-end attribution across channels.
• Partner with Digital, IT, and Analytics teams to connect AdTech with MarTech and CRM.
• Oversee media buying operations with transparency and cost-efficiency.
• Lead rate negotiations and supplier management.
• Collaborate with Brand & Marketing Strategy to align media with objectives.
• Build strategic agency relationships and cross-team collaboration.
• Provide campaign measurement insights to inform optimization and investment.

Skills

Leadership

Media strategy

ROI optimization

Vendor management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Analytics, Communications or related honours/postgraduate

Tools

AdTech platforms

Job description

Dis-Chem Pharmacies has an opportunity available for a Head of Media Excellence for their Head Office. The Head of Media Excellence role leads Dis-Chem's end-to-end media and AdTech strategy to drive efficiency, scale, and performance across all paid channels. The role oversees centralised media planning, buying, and technology enablement to unlock economies of scale, improve return on investment, and enable data-driven marketing execution. The role also oversees marketing campaign performance measurement to inform the execution approach of the Integrated marketing campaign team. Through strong governance, vendor partnerships, and technology integration, this role ensures every media investment delivers measurable business impact.

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Analytics, Communications, or related Honours degree or postgraduate qualification advantageous.
• 8+ years' experience in ATL, digital, retail media, media planning, media buying, AdTech, or integrated media leadership roles within retail, FMCG, consumer-facing environments, or media agencies.
• 3-5 years' experience in a leadership or people management role
• Demonstrated success in improving media efficiency and delivering measurable ROI

Responsibilities

• Align media strategy and planning to integrated go-to-market plans and campaign priorities defined by the GTM and Brand & Strategy teams
• Definition of media buying guidelines/guardrails
• Lead annual media planning across digital, traditional, and in-store channels
• Identify and implement consolidation opportunities to capture economies of scale in buying and execution

AdTech & performance infrastructure

• Own the AdTech roadmap and manage integration of platforms
• Drive automation of media planning, activation, and performance tracking
• Ensure data accuracy, campaign tagging, and end-to-end attribution models are embedded across channels
• Partner with Digital, IT, and Analytics teams to connect AdTech with MarTech and CRM

Buying & optimisation

• Oversee media buying operations, ensuring transparency, compliance, and cost efficiency
• Lead rate negotiations and supplier management to maximise value and rebate recovery
• Partner with Brand & Marketing Strategy teams to ensure media planning aligns with brand priorities, campaign objectives, and overall marketing strategy
• Build strategic relationships with agencies
• Collaborate with Creative, Campaigns, and Retail Media teams to ensure cohesive execution

Campaign measurement and reporting

• Define media-specific measurement frameworks, KPIs, and performance inputs, contributing to consolidated reporting led by the Insights & Reporting function
• Define key metrics to measure effectiveness (reach, conversion, ROI, brand lift, etc)
• Report on campaign measurement to inform execution approach of the Integrated marketing campaign team
• Report insights to Brand & Marketing Strategy teams to inform optimisation, investment allocation, and future campaign strategy
• Provide channel-level performance reporting and insights to support consolidated marketing reporting led by the GTM and Insights function
• Deep understanding of media strategy, planning, and buying across all channels
• Proven experience in AdTech platforms, programmatic media, and performance optimisation
• Experienced in developing and communicating campaign measurement insights
• Experienced in managing large media budgets and complex vendor ecosystems
• Strong negotiation, financial, and ROI optimisation skills
• Collaborative communicator able to align marketing, technology, and commercial teams

Key Performance Indicators

• Media efficiency: Media ROI (%), optimisation of media mix
• Media cost optimisation: Saving or added value achieved through central buying
• AdTech performance & adoption: Utilisation of AdTech tools, number of AdTech pilots implemented annually
• Agency performance: Agency ratings, benchmarking agency costs vs market standards
• Campaign measurement: Stakeholder satisfaction ratings
• Team leadership & capability: High-performing team culture, capability development, accountability, and cross-functional collaboration.

Special Conditions of Employment

South African citizen

MIE, clear criminal and credit

Driver's license and/or own reliable transport

Remuneration and benefits:

Market related salary

Medical aid

Provident fund

Staff account

Dis-Chem Pharmacies is an equal opportunity employer. Dis-Chem's approved Employment Equity Plan and Targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process aligned to Dis-Chem's Employment Equity & Transformation Strategy. Dis-Chem actively supports the recruitment of People with Disabilities