Brand and Experience Lead - International Sports Brand Sandton

Our client, an international Sports Brand is seeking to employ a Brand and experience Lead to

Own how the brand is told and how it shows up in South Africa. The role consolidates Brand Comms and Brand PR into one lead: it translates the Brand’s global and sub-regional stories into locally relevant narratives and leads the campaigns, press, influencer, partnership and social work that build awareness, desirability and credibility. It is the local media expert — organic and paid — working with Brand Media and eCommerce teams on integrated channel planning.

It also leads the brand on the ground. The Community & Brand Activation Specialist (JHB), the Brand Activation Specialist (CPT) and the flexed part-time activator layer report in, so the lead carries the national events, community and activation calendar as well as the comms plan, owns the comms and activation budget lines, and manages the PR, creative and paid media agencies. B2B and trade marketing and visual merchandising sit with the B2B & Trade Marketing Specialist.

2. Key Responsibilities

1. Brand narrative and campaign localisation. Owns the South African brand communications plan against Brand’s global and sub-regional direction. Translates global and regional campaign concepts into high-impact local execution across every channel and touchpoint, and crafts culturally resonant local stories — consistent, integrated and premium.

2. PR and earned media. Owns the PR strategy and roadmap and runs press office across brand and product. Directs the PR agency through weekly calls, reviews and approvals, and owns local seeding, product testing, awards submissions and monthly coverage reporting.

3. Influencer, talent and brand partnerships. Builds and holds a culturally relevant influencer, KOL and ambassador pool across running, training and lifestyle. Co-creates activations with creators inside campaigns and secures partnerships that grow awareness and preference, to agreed KPIs.

4. Media planning — organic and paid. The local expert across owned, earned and paid. Plans channels with Brand Media and eCommerce teams, owns the local social calendar and community management standard, and drives paid media partnerships where they sit in the local plan.

5. Brand activation and community. Owns the national activation and community calendar 12 months ahead, delivered through the two specialists: key city and cultural calendars, run crews and clubs, the ambassador programme, race calendar moments and partner-facing activations.

6. Team, budget and agencies. Leads and develops the activation specialists and the part-time layer, setting objectives, KPIs and ways of working for people who largely work alone in their city. Plans, tracks and reports the comms and activation budget lines, and holds the PR, creative and paid media agencies to premium output, timing and cost.

7. Insight, measurement and reporting. Monthly comms, coverage and activation reporting to the Head of Marketing and to Brand. Tracks brand health, sentiment, share of voice and campaign impact, and feeds market and community insight back into the plan.

3. Scope & Working Rhythm

Full-time and national, with regular travel between Gauteng and the Western Cape and weekend and race-day attendance. Two direct reports plus the part-time layer. Budget authority is delegated: the role spends against approved comms and activation lines, it does not set the marketing budget.

• Decides day to day: campaign execution and channel mix inside the agreed plan; press office responses and seeding lists; creator selection inside approved rates; day-to-day agency direction; activation run of day and deployment of the team.
• Prepares for the Head of Marketing: the annual and seasonal comms and activation plan; budget and reforecasts; agency appointments and scopes; ambassador, talent and partnership agreements; anything committing spend above the delegated level or the brand’s name; all crisis and reputational comms.

4. Key Performance Metrics

• Brand health: movement in awareness, consideration and desirability against the agreed tracker, and share of voice against the named competitive set.
• Earned media: coverage volume and quality in target titles, tier-one hit rate, seeding converted to post, against the agreed monthly target.
• Influencer and partnerships: size, relevance and retention of the creator and ambassador pool; content and engagement per partnership; partnerships delivered on brief and on cost.
• Activation and community: calendar delivered on plan, on date and within approved cost; attendance and repeat attendance at On-led moments; debriefs and cost actuals in within five working days.
• Budget and reporting: spend inside approved lines with no unapproved overspend;
• 5. Qualifications & Experience
• Essential. 5 - 8 years in brand communications, PR, influencer or integrated brand marketing, including two carrying a team and a budget. Premium sport, fashion or lifestyle experience.
• Essential. A working South African media, creator and cultural network — editors, journalists, producers, creators and KOLs — strong enough to land coverage and talent without the agency doing all of it.
• Essential. Proven PR and agency management — press office, briefing, review, approval, and holding an agency to output, timing and cost — plus integrated planning across owned, earned and paid and comfort owning a budget.
• Essential. Credible in running, training or active lifestyle culture, and able to lead a small, dispersed team to a premium executional standard.
• Preferred. Sneaker and youth culture fluency; distributor or licensee experience working to a global brand owner’s standards; a relevant tertiary qualification or equivalent.

Email cv to ***email_hidden***