Head Performance Marketing

Head Performance Marketing

About the role

The purpose of the Head Performance Marketing and Digital Media is to direct the Group's digital media strategy, investment, optimisation and innovation agenda across Shoprite, Checkers, Sixty60 and Xtra Savings. The role is accountable for maximising the performance of paid, owned and emerging digital discovery channels to deliver measurable commercial outcomes, including customer acquisition, retention, engagement, revenue growth and customer lifetime value. The role provides strategic leadership for digital media investment, agency partnerships, digital discovery and emerging marketing technologies, ensuring the Group remains at the forefront of evolving customer behaviour, digital platforms and omnichannel growth opportunities.

What you’ll do

Performance Marketing and Digital Media Leadership

Develop and implement the Group's performance marketing and digital media strategy across Shoprite, Checkers, Sixty60, Xtra Savings and related business initiatives.

Lead paid digital media planning, execution and optimisation across major platforms including Google, YouTube, Meta, Instagram, TikTok, programmatic and retail media.

Drive measurable commercial outcomes across customer acquisition, retention, frequency, basket size, revenue growth and customer lifetime value.

Ensure digital media activity is commercially focused, data-led and continuously optimised.

Establish a high-performance culture of testing, learning, innovation and measurable return on investment (ROI).

Media Investment and Budget Governance

Oversee and optimise digital media budgets across Checkers, Shoprite, Sixty60 and Xtra Savings.

Bridge media planning and investment decisions across brand, app, website, rewards and omnichannel growth objectives.

Allocate media investment across channels, campaigns and customer journeys to maximise business impact and return-on-ad spend.

Establish clear performance dashboards, reporting routines and measurement frameworks for senior leadership to enable informed decision-making.

Drive media buying efficiencies, cost optimisation and value creation across digital channels (cost management).

Rainmaker Media and Platform Partner Management

Lead the Group's strategic relationship with Rainmaker Media and other digital media partners.

Hold agency and platform partners accountable for performance, innovation, transparency and commercial outcomes.

Collaborate with Rainmaker Media to improve planning, buying, targeting, measurement and optimisation across digital media channels.

Build strategic relationships with leading global digital platforms, including Google, Meta, TikTok, YouTube and other emerging media ecosystems.

Omnichannel Growth and Customer Performance

Partner with the Group Chief Marketing Officer, and heads of marketing to deliver the Group’s omnichannel growth objectives.

Align digital media activity across physical stores, Sixty60 app and website, rewards and direct paid communication platforms.

Integrate and optimise customer data, audience insights and performance analytics to improve targeting, personalisation and conversion.

Drive growth in acquisition, retention, frequency, engagement and revenue across digital and physical customer journeys.

Ensure digital marketing investment supports both brand building and measurable commercial performance for retail promotions.

SEO, GEO and Digital Discovery

Develop and guide the Group’s approach to SEO and GEO across digital ecosystems.

Improve the visibility and discoverability of the Group’s brands, products, services and content across traditional search engines and consumer AI platforms.

Partner with digital product, content, marketing and technology teams to improve organic search performance across websites, apps and digital platforms.

Guide the business on content, structured data, technical optimisation and digital asset readiness for emerging LLM environments.

Innovation, AI and Future Media

Evaluate global developments in digital media, social media, retail media, advertising technology and AI-powered marketing.

Lead the Group’s exploration on LLM and conversational advertising opportunities across platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini and future AI-enabled discovery environments.

Evaluate how sponsored recommendations, conversational commerce and agentic commerce could reshape grocery customer acquisition and discovery.

Identify and test innovative media formats, new platforms and emerging customer engagement opportunities.

Stakeholder Engagement and Cross-Functional Integration

Collaborate with marketing, digital, technology, customer, commercial and analytics teams to align marketing priorities and outcomes.

Integrate digital media priorities across brands, channels and marketing functions.

Ensure alignment between business objectives, customer growth strategies and media investment decisions.

People Leadership and Capability Building

Lead and develop digital marketing resources and specialist performance marketing capabilities across the Group. Determine clear goals, outputs and performance expectations for the team.

Support capability development across digital media, performance marketing, analytics and optimisation disciplines.

Foster a high-performance culture focused on accountability, innovation, learning and commercial outcomes.

Improve team effectiveness through coaching, knowledge sharing and capability development. Strengthen the Group's capability to compete effectively in an increasingly digital and data-driven environment.

Leadership and Capability Building

Develop scalable digital marketing practices that support future growth across brands, channels and customer segments.

Advance the adoption of new technologies, measurement approaches and marketing capabilities.

Position the Group to respond effectively to evolving digital customer behaviours and emerging media ecosystems.

What you bring

Degree in Marketing, Digital Marketing, Business, Commerce, Data Analytics or a related field – (essential).

Postgraduate qualification in Marketing, Business Management, Digital Marketing, Analytics or a related field – (preferred).

+8 years’ experience in performance marketing, digital media, growth marketing or digital customer acquisition leadership roles - (essential).

Proven experience managing large-scale digital media budgets and teams - (essential).

Deep expertise across paid search, paid social, programmatic, video, e-commerce, retail media and digital performance channels - (essential).

Strong understanding of major digital and social media platforms, including Google, YouTube, Meta, Instagram, TikTok and emerging media ecosystems - (essential).

Experience managing digital media agencies and platform partnerships - (essential).

Proven track record of delivering measurable commercial outcomes through digital marketing - (essential).

Strong analytical capability and experience using performance data and customer insights to guide investment and optimisation decisions - (essential).

Experience operating within a large, complex, customer-focused retail or omnichannel environment - (essential).

Digital media strategy and buying experience - (preferred).

Experience working with marketing attribution, incrementality testing or customer lifetime value models - (preferred).

Key Competencies and Work Ethic

Performance Marketing Leadership: Develops and executes digital media strategies that deliver measurable commercial outcomes.

Commercial Acumen: Aligns media investment decisions to business priorities, customer growth objectives and return on investment.

Data and Analytical Thinking: Interprets complex performance data to identify opportunities and guide decision-making.

Digital Media Expertise: Applies deep understanding of digital platforms, channels, technologies and customer acquisition methods.

Stakeholder Engagement: Builds alignment and collaboration across internal teams, agencies and platform partners.

Innovation and Future Orientation: Identifies emerging trends, technologies and opportunities that strengthen marketing effectiveness.

Our Group and all its operating companies is committed to creating, embracing, and preserving a diverse workplace that values the unique talents, perspectives, backgrounds, and abilities that enrich our organisation. A place where everyone matters and feels included.

We are committed to Employment Equity when recruiting internally and externally.

Please take note that by responding to this application and providing your personal information, you confirm your express and informed consent for Shoprite Checkers (Pty) Ltd and all its subsidiaries and affiliates companies to process your personal information for the Company to consider your application for this position. All Personal Information which you provide to the Company will be used and/or retained only for the purposes for which it is collected, whereafter it will be permanently destroyed. Your information is only retained if it is required by law or where you have given consent to us to retain such information for an extended period.

If you don’t hear from us within 14 days, please consider your application unsuccessful. Any personal information collected as part of your application will be destroyed, securely, in accordance with South African legislation.