Marketing Lead

KFC; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 1,000,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Job summary

KFC South Africa is looking for a senior marketing leader to drive the growth of our occasions portfolio. You will set strategic priorities, translate customer insights into compelling propositions, and deliver integrated plans that lift penetration, frequency and profitable sales across restaurant, drive-thru, delivery and digital channels.

The role requires 7–10 years in marketing/portfolio leadership within fast-paced consumer brands, with a track record of integrated campaigns and strong

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing or related field required.
• Postgraduate qualification preferred; MBA advantageous.
• MBA valued for strategic growth capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic and commercial growth of KFC South Africa occasions.
• Define where KFC should play and win, translate insights into propositions.
• Deliver integrated plans that grow penetration, frequency, transactions and sales.
• Own customer proposition and portfolio choices across meals and bundles.
• Lead innovation and integrated activation across channels.
• Drive performance, investment effectiveness and cross-functional alignment.
• Build and lead cross-functional squads; coach teams to raise strategic thinking.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Commercial acumen

Leadership

Pricing & value

Consumer insights

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Commerce or related field

Postgraduate qualification preferred

MBA advantageous

Job description

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 the strategic and commercial growth of KFC South Africa’s occasions. Define where KFC should play and win, translate customer and occasion insight into compelling propositions, and deliver integrated plans that grow penetration, frequency, transactions and profitable sales.

Responsibilities

Set the Solo & Lunch Growth Strategy

• Define the strategic ambition, priority customer segments and growth spaces for occassions.
• Build a clear occasion architecture across weekday lunch, workday meals, on-the-go consumption, individual value and treat occasions.
• Identify where KFC should grow, protect, optimise or exit propositions based on customer need and commercial potential.
• Translate strategy into clear portfolio choices and annual priorities for brand and specialist teams.

Own Customer Proposition & Portfolio Choices

• Develop differentiated propositions across individual meals, snacking, bundles, beverages, value tiers and daypart needs.
• Use consumer, shopper and competitive insight to address barriers such as affordability, convenience, speed, portability and relevance.
• Ensure propositions work across restaurant, drive-thru, delivery and digital channels without creating unnecessary complexity.
• Set pricing and value principles with Commercial and Finance, balancing customer appeal, ticket and margin.

Lead Innovation & Integrated Activation

• Build a forward-looking pipeline covering product, packaging, service, partnership and channel innovation.
• Create clear learning agendas and success criteria for pilots; recommend whether to scale, optimise or stop.
• Set the brief and ambition for integrated campaigns across creative, media, social, CRM, app, delivery and restaurant activation.
• Partner with Operations and Supply Chain to ensure solutions are executable at restaurant level.

Drive Performance & Investment Effectiveness

• Set measurable objectives across sales, transactions, frequency, penetration, ticket, margin and brand consideration.
• Lead regular performance reviews and diagnose the customer, operational and competitive drivers behind results.
• Recommend investment trade-offs based on strategic importance, expected return and evidence.
• Convert learnings into actions for proposition, communication, pricing, channel and future planning.

Build Cross-Functional Alignment

• Align senior stakeholders and franchise partners around the occasion strategy and commercial priorities.
• Surface risks, dependencies and execution barriers early and drive timely resolution.
• Represent the Solo and Lunch customer in portfolio, trading and investment decisions.

People Leadership

• Direct leadership accountability to be confirmed.
• Lead cross-functional squads across brand, insights, food innovation, operations, digital, CRM, finance and supply chain.
• Coach project teams to raise the standard of strategic thinking, commercial rigour and execution.

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

• Marketing Director and Marketing Leadership Team
• Brand, Innovation, Media, Digital, CRM, Loyalty, PR and Social teams
• Operations and Restaurant teams
• Commercial and Finance
• Supply Chain, Food Innovation and Quality Assurance
• Consumer Insights and Analytics
• Technology and Digital Ordering
• Franchise partners
• Creative, media, research and specialist agency partners

Education

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

Experience

• Approximately 7 to 10 years of progressive marketing, category, portfolio or occasion leadership experience in QSR, FMCG, beverages, retail or another fast-paced consumer business.
• Direct lunch-only experience is not essential; relevant experience may include breakfast, dinner, snacking, on-the-go or other occasion-based portfolios.
• Strong record of translating consumer insight and commercial performance into proposition, innovation and growth choices.
• Experience leading integrated campaigns and cross-functional initiatives from strategy through in-market performance.
• Strong understanding of pricing, value, channel economics and P&L drivers.
• Experience in a matrixed or franchise environment is advantageous.

Capabilities

• Commercial judgement: Connect customer demand, pricing, product mix and investment choices to sales, transactions, margin and long-term value.
• Consumer and cultural intelligence: Translate changing needs, occasions and cultural signals into commercially relevant propositions.
• Portfolio strategy: Establish clear roles, priorities and guardrails across propositions and channels.
• Innovation leadership: Define problems to solve, build a test-and-learn pipeline and make disciplined scale, optimise or stop decisions.
• Integrated marketing leadership: Set clear briefs and align creative, media, digital, CRM, PR and restaurant activation.
• Execution leadership: Mobilise cross-functional teams with clarity, accountability, pace and early risk escalation.
• Data and AI fluency: Apply modern insight, measurement and marketing tools to improve decisions and effectiveness.
• Enterprise influence: Build alignment with senior leaders, franchise partners and specialist teams.