Sports Social Media and Marketing Planner

Job Posting Title:

Sports Social Media and Marketing Planner

Req ID:

10150692

Job Description:

Summary  

The Sports Social & Marketing Planner will manage and oversee all social and marketing elements relevant to the ESPN sports activities in Africa. The candidate will work with ESPN offices across EMEA and Bristol, key stakeholders including the assigned service provides, sporting authorities, the TWDCA legal and finance departments, TWDCA marketing and all assigned sponsors of ESPN Africa. The Sports Social & Marketing Planner will manage the social platforms of ESPN Africa and ensure promotion and visibility of key content on the ESPN channels, delivering contractual obligations from rightsholders and their promotion across ESPN owned assets in Africa. In addition, the Planner will work closely with the global ESPN marketing and promotion teams ensuring growth on owned ESPN Africa platforms.  The position also requires logistical assistance during ESPN activations throughout the year. The Sports Social & Marketing Planner will report directly to the Director of Sports. 

 

Main tasks: 

• Manage African social channels for ESPN (including Facebook, Instagram and X).  

• Plan & implement the local social media strategy for ESPN. Manage content calendars, scheduling and publishing of content. 

• Use social listening to monitor posts/ tweets from key sports rightsholders, influencers and celebrities around ESPN and its properties, responding in real-time with timely and engaging conversation. 

• Be the social media point person for ESPN across lines of business and drive synergies across other Disney social platforms. 

• Manage social media campaign implementation of broader paid media campaigns as required by marketing team.  

• Work closely with key rightsholders and ESPN global social media teams to elevate presence of African owed assets.  

 

 

Event Activations 

• Assist with the delivery of the events including post-event review to assess opportunities for continuous improvement.  

• Contribute towards planning and implementation of communication and business development strategies relating to ESPN Africa  

• Maintain effective working relationships with all TWDCA staff relating to the planning and delivery of ESPN Africa events. 

• Maintain and where required develop relationships with local/ state government agency representatives to ensure effective execution of partnership agreements.  

 

Selection Criteria  

 

• Minimum 3 years’ of experience in social media, either client side or agency  

• Experience working within Sport, TV or SVOD industry 

• Experience of managing a variety of social media accounts and audiences – with proven results of growing engagement and followers 

• Experience working with managing multiple stakeholders, and projects simultaneously 

• Outstanding organisation skills with the ability to manage last minute changes and plan content calendars whilst maintain a cool head 

• Exceptional grammatical and written skills with experience of talking to multiple audiences  

• Analytical thinker who is confident working with data and numbers with a keen eye to detail 

 

Builds Relationships 

• Establishes critical relationships and manages the needs of diverse group of stakeholders 

• Interacts well with people who have different backgrounds and work styles 

• Collaborative 

 

Communicates Effectively 

• Listens and asks questions to ensure understanding  

• Conveys relevant information appropriately and in a timely manner to the audience 

 

Drives Results 

• Translates strategy into specific priorities, objectives, and action plans in an effective manner 

• Holds self and others accountable to high performance standards 

• Utilises data and information to drive decisions and takes action to resolve  

 

Inspires Creativity and Innovation 

 

• Proactively looks for new opportunities and approaches 

• Conceives creative ideas to solve problems or meet objectives 

 

Exhibits Professional Excellence 

• Pursues excellence with integrity, passion and courage 

• Sets a good example for others 

• Shows consistency in words and actions 

• Learns from personal and organizational experiences and strives for self-improvement 

• Maintains composure under pressure 

Job Posting Segment:

EMEA Operations

Job Posting Primary Business:

EMEA Media Networks

Primary Job Posting Category:

Digital Media / Social Media

Employment Type:

Full time

Primary City, State, Region, Postal Code:

Johannesburg, South Africa

Alternate City, State, Region, Postal Code:

Date Posted:

2026-08-19