Performance Marketing Lead

Kuda; Cape Town; Hybrid; ZAR 700,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading digital bank in Cape Town is seeking a Performance Marketing Lead. This role will oversee user acquisition strategies, lead a dynamic team, and deliver efficient growth across multiple channels. The ideal candidate will have over 7 years of performance marketing experience and a track record of managing substantial acquisition budgets. Join us for an exciting opportunity to shape the future of banking in Africa.

Benefits

Pension via Allan Gray

Career development & growth

Competitive annual leave

Travel Insurance

Medical insurance via Discovery

Well-welfare package

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in performance marketing or growth.
• Proven experience with large acquisition budgets.
• Deep understanding of paid channels and attribution.

Responsibilities

• Define acquisition strategy across paid channels.
• Set targets for installs and user acquisition.
• Lead and mentor a performance marketing team.

Skills

Performance marketing experience

Data analysis

Leadership

Communication skills

Attribution modelling

Job description

Overview

Kuda is a Nigerian digital bank making financial services more affordable, accessible and rewarding for 7 million Nigerians. It was the first mobile-first bank to launch in Nigeria in 2019 and through its apps it offers free transfers, budgeting tools, savings and overdrafts, as well as business banking services. We are a diverse team building an inclusive money app that Africans would love. Kuda means love in Shona. We deliver money transfers, smart budgeting and instant access to credit through digital devices. We have raised over $90 million and operate from offices in Nigeria, South Africa, and the UK.

We are now looking for a Performance Marketing Lead to lead our acquisition strategy, reporting into our VP Marketing. You’ll be responsible for scaling paid marketing, building and mentoring a team, and working closely with product, data, and brand to drive efficient growth.

Responsibilities

• Own and define Kuda\'s acquisition strategy across all paid channels (social, search, programmatic, affiliates) ensuring efficient and scalable growth
• Set ambitious targets (installs, CAC, ROAS, MAUs) and deliver against them with a data-driven, test-and-learn approach
• Lead and mentor a high-performing performance marketing team of four people, creating clear growth processes and development opportunities
• Oversee budget allocation and forecasting, ensuring spend efficiency and strong ROI
• Identify, test and scale new channels to maximise efficiency and performance
• Collaborate with Product and Analytics to ensure accurate tracking, attribution and funnel visibility
• Partner with Brand, Creative and Content to deliver high-velocity, high-quality campaigns tailored to different business units
• Partner with Product Marketing and CRM Ops to optimise lifecycle continuity (from acquisition to retention) and maximise ROAS and LTV
• Use insights from acquisition performance to inform broader marketing and product strategy
• Own, manage and evolve the performance marketing tech stack (MMP, ad managers, etc.)
• Stay up to date with new platforms, tools, regulations, and trends to continuously evolve our growth engine
• Champion the exploration and adoption of AI tools and workflows to enhance campaign execution, targeting, creative testing and performance analysis
• Represent Performance Marketing at leadership level, reporting regularly on progress, challenges and opportunities

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in performance marketing / growth, ideally in consumer tech, fintech or other app-first businesses
• Proven track record of managing million-dollar+ acquisition budgets and delivering efficient user growth
• Deep expertise in paid social, search, programmatic and attribution modelling
• Highly analytical with experience working with data, cohort analysis and experimentation
• Strong leadership experience: able to build, manage and coach teams, and set clear OKRs
• Collaborative, with excellent communication skills and proven ability to influence across product, finance and leadership teams
• Experience in high-growth African or global markets is a plus

Benefits

Why join Kuda?

At Kuda, our people are the heart of our business, so we prioritize your welfare. We offer a wide range of competitive benefits in areas including but not limited to:

• A great and upbeat work environment populated by a multinational team
• Pension via Allan Gray
• Career development & growth
• Competitive annual leave plus bank holidays
• Competitive paid time off (Parental, Moving day, Birthday, Study leave etc)
• Travel Insurance
• YuLife - rewards for reaching health and fitness goals
• Employee wellness program via Lyra Wellbeing
• Goalr - employee wellness app
• Medical insurance via Discovery
• Award winning L&D training
• Well-fare package (Wedding, Compassionate and etc)
• We are advocates of work-life balance, working in a hybrid in office schedule

Kuda is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Kuda is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don\'t regard colour, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.