# Senior Marketing Leader for Southern & Eastern Africa

**Company**: Visa
**Location**: Johannesburg, ZA
**Work arrangement**: hybrid
**Experience**: senior
**Job type**: full-time
**Category**: Marketing
**Industry**: Finance

**Apply**: https://visa.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Visa/job/ZA---Johannesburg-South-Africa/Senior-Director--Marketing---Southern---Eastern-Africa_REF087247W?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply
**Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_356d114d-52a

## Description

In alignment with Visa's strategic transformation of Sub-Saharan Africa, this role will lead the Marketing agenda for Southern & Eastern Africa (SEA).

The position is accountable for shaping and executing the SEA marketing strategy, ensuring it is tightly aligned to commercial priorities, client needs, brand ambitions, and market opportunities across the sub-region.

As the senior Marketing leader for SEA, the role will partner closely with the SEA Group Country Manager (GCM), SEA leadership team, Regional CMO, CEMEA Marketing Services leadership, and cross-functional partners to translate regional priorities into market-relevant strategies that deliver measurable business impact.

The role requires strong commercial judgment, strategic marketing leadership, and the ability to operate with influence across a complex matrix.

**Key Responsibilities:**

- Develop and execute the SEA marketing strategy, ensuring clear alignment with commercial priorities, market opportunities, client needs, and Visa's regional and global brand agenda.

- Prioritize marketing initiatives that drive revenue, transactions, payment volume, market share, PCE penetration, and merchant acceptance across SEA.

- Lead integrated marketing and communication plans that support client priorities, product platforms, cross-border growth, sponsorship activation, and market development.

- Establish clear performance measures for all major initiatives, assess marketing and business effectiveness, and ensure continued investment is directed to campaigns with demonstrable impact.

- Use research, market data, cardholder behavior, payment trends, and competitor activity to identify growth opportunities, sharpen marketing plans, and inform future business direction.

- Act as the Visa brand guardian across SEA, ensuring all communications and activations comply with regional and global brand strategies, standards, and guidelines.

- Manage SEA marketing budgets, ensure rigorous prioritization of investment, and oversee budget allocation, reporting, and compliance with Visa policies and procedures.

- Lead and manage agency relationships across SEA, ensuring partners deliver high-quality creative, media, and executional work aligned to agreed plans, timelines, budgets, and brand standards.

- Provide strategic marketing counsel to clients, including issuers and merchants, helping them achieve business objectives through Visa's marketing expertise, capabilities, and value-added services.

- Lead the Marketing Services P&L for SEA, including revenue and margin delivery, and oversee key client engagements in coordination with the CEMEA Marketing Services VP.

- Secure client commitment to participate in Visa-led marketing activities, including marketing-in-kind solutions, sponsorship activations, and value-added services.

- Activate global and local sponsorship platforms across SEA to amplify marketing investments, strengthen brand visibility, and support business priorities.

- Lead, coach, and develop the SEA marketing team, building capability, accountability, and a high-performance culture.

- Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders at country, regional, hub, and global levels to ensure alignment, influence decisions, and accelerate execution.

**Qualifications:**

- Tertiary education required; MBA or equivalent postgraduate qualification preferred.

- 15+ years' senior marketing experience, ideally with broader commercial or general management exposure, gained in blue-chip FMCG, banking, financial services, payments, technology, or related industries.

- Demonstrated experience leading regional or multi-market marketing agendas across complex channels, client segments, and business priorities.

- Proven track record in agency leadership, integrated campaign development, brand management, marketing effectiveness, and commercial growth delivery.

- Strong business acumen, including experience managing budgets, investment prioritization, and P&L-related outcomes.

## Skills

### Required
- strategic marketing leadership
- marketing effectiveness
- brand management
- budget management
- agency leadership
- client engagement
- sponsorship activation
- market research
- data analysis
- communication skills

### Nice to have
- digital marketing
- social media marketing
- integrated campaigns
- creative judgment
- analytical capability
- leadership skills
- relationship management
- negotiation skills

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Source: [Apply at visa.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com](https://visa.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Visa/job/ZA---Johannesburg-South-Africa/Senior-Director--Marketing---Southern---Eastern-Africa_REF087247W?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply)