Sales & Marketing Lead - student accommodation (6 month contract)

Ability Executive Recruitment; Stellenbosch; On-site; ZAR 650,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Ability Executive Recruitment in Stellenbosch is seeking a dedicated Sales & Marketing Leader to drive occupancy targets for the student accommodation portfolio, with primary focus on the Pretoria portfolio while supporting Stellenbosch and onboarding.

You will own lead generation and conversion, coordinate campaigns, manage admissions processes and deliver accurate performance reporting to stakeholders across campuses. Travel between residences and campuses is required.

Qualifications

• Minimum five years' sales and marketing experience with targets and reporting.
• Experience leading cross-functional workstreams or projects.
• Proven ability to manage lead pipelines and admissions journeys.
• Strong numerical and written communication skills.
• Valid driver’s licence and travel between residences and campuses.

Responsibilities

• Own day-to-day sales delivery against occupancy and booking targets.
• Maintain visibility of leads, applications, offers, bookings and beds.
• Drive follow-up to improve conversion across teams.
• Coordinate intake readiness and admissions processes.
• Prepare weekly and monthly performance reports.

Skills

Sales leadership

Marketing leadership

Lead generation

Campaign management

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor’s degree or Diploma in Sales/Marketing/Business

Tools

CRM systems

Marketing analytics tools

Job description

Ability Executive Recruitment | Full time

Stellenbosch, South Africa | Posted on 14/10/2026

Provide dedicated, hands‑on sales and marketing leadership for the student accommodation portfolio, with primary responsibility for the Pretoria portfolio, while supporting Stellenbosch and onboarding. The role is accountable for occupancy delivery, lead generation and conversion, intake readiness, applications and admissions support, campaign execution, agency coordination, stakeholder communication and accurate performance reporting. It enables the Sales & Marketing Manager to retain primary focus on the portfolio while ensuring that priorities are executed on time, risks are escalated early and the student and parent journey is effectively managed.

• Own day-to-day sales delivery against approved occupancy, application and booking targets.
  
• Maintain visibility of leads, waiting lists, applications, offers, bookings, check‑ins, cancellations and beds available.
  
• Drive follow‑up activity across call centre, residence and admissions teams to improve conversion.
  
• Identify underperforming residences, channels or stages of the funnel and implement corrective action.
  
• Support school, tertiary institution, bursar, parent and student engagement where required.
  

Marketing Strategy, Campaigns & Lead Generation

• Translate portfolio priorities into practical marketing and promotional plans.
  
• Plan and coordinate digital, direct, school, campus, event and residence‑level campaigns.
  
• Develop briefs, campaign messages and collateral requirements and coordinate delivery with the digital marketer, designers, agencies and suppliers.
  
• Monitor market trends, competitor activity and campaign performance and recommend improvements.
  
• Ensure communications and collateral comply with approved brand standards.
  

Marketing Workstream & Transition Delivery

• Lead and coordinate the Pretoria sales and marketing workstream and support Stellenbosch onboarding.
  
• Manage handover and implementation of digital assets, social media accounts, listings, application links, databases, templates, collateral, photography and brand material.
  
• Coordinate application, admissions, waiting‑list and enquiry processes and related student and parent communications.
  
• Maintain the workstream action plan, dependencies, decisions and risks and elevate blockers promptly.
  
• Coordinate internal stakeholders and representatives to ensure an orderly transition.
  

Intake Readiness & Sales Operations

• Develop and implement intake readiness plans, including timelines, staffing, training, activations, showrooms, collateral, processes and escalation routes.
  
• Coordinate sales agents, call‑centre support and residence teams and confirm product, pricing and process readiness.
  
• Ensure enquiry channels, scripts, FAQs, application pathways and reporting mechanisms are ready for peak intake.
  
• Monitor service levels and resolve or elevate operational constraints.
  
• Support planning and coordination required to ready portfolio for occupation.
  
• Coordinate agreed sales, communications, stakeholder and onboarding activities with internal teams.
  
• Maintain actions, deadlines, dependencies and required information.
  
• Support other approved onboarding activities where aligned to the role’s purpose and capacity.
  

Reporting, Governance & Stakeholder Management

• Prepare accurate weekly and monthly sales and marketing reports covering target versus actual performance, funnel movement, campaigns, risks and corrective actions.
  
• Manage day-to-day relationships with agencies, suppliers, residence teams, finance, systems, operations and other stakeholders.
  
• Track budgets and commitments within delegated authority and elevate anticipated variances.
  
• Maintain organised records, approvals, briefs, data and action trackers.
  
• Provide clear status updates and decision requests to the Managing Director.
  

Requirements

• Relevant diploma or bachelor’s degree in Sales, Marketing, Business Management, Communications or a related field.
  
• At least five years’ relevant sales and marketing experience, including responsibility for targets, campaigns, stakeholders and reporting.
  
• Demonstrated experience leading workstreams, projects or cross‑functional delivery.
  
• Proven ability to manage lead pipelines, application or admissions journeys and conversion activity.
  
• Experience coordinating agencies, suppliers and internal teams against briefs, budgets and deadlines.
  
• Strong numerical, reporting, presentation and written communication capability.
  
• Valid driver’s licence and willingness to travel between residences, campuses, schools, events and stakeholder sites as required.
  

Advantageous

• Experience in student accommodation, higher education, education sales, hospitality or property.
  
• Experience with portfolio onboarding, acquisition integration or operational transition.
  
• Understanding of the South African student funding, bursar and tertiary education environment.
  
• Experience with CRM, application, call‑centre, digital marketing and marketing analytics platforms.