Marketing Manager: Exact (6 Months Contract)

Job Summary

The Marketing Manager is responsible for leading all marketing activity for the Exact brand, from strategy to execution. The role drives brand awareness, customer acquisition & loyalty across all channels, while leading a diverse team of 9 marketing professionals spanning brand, design, visual merchandising & digital. The successful candidate will serve as both strategic leader & hands-on executer, working cross-functionally with buying, merchandise, store ops & e-commerce, & managing a portfolio of external agencies & contractors.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business or related field
• 5–8 yrs marketing, at least 2–3 years managing a multi-disciplinary team
• Retail or fashion environment strongly preferred

Skills

• Link marketing activity to sales performance, footfall, online conversion
• Hands-on experience with paid social, Google Ads, email platforms & analytics tools
• Ability to manage multiple campaigns and workstreams simultaneously across a team in a fast-paced retail environment
• Comfortable with campaign analytics, customer segmentation, performance reporting and translating data & insights into decisions

Behaviours

• Consumer-obsessed — deeply understands the aspirational yet budget-conscious SA family shopper
• Energetic and fast-moving — thrives in the pace of retail, where seasons and promotions don't wait
• People-first leader — invests in their team, leads with empathy and brings out the best in individuals
• Collaborative — works cross-functionally with buying, merchandise, e-commerce and store operations
• Creative with commercial discipline — brings fresh ideas anchored in sales and brand outcomes
• Inclusive mindset — appreciates the diversity of Exact's customer base & team across income levels, cultures and geographies
• Resilient and solution-oriented — adapts quickly and steadies the team under pressure

Team Leadership & People Management

Lead, inspire & develop a diverse internal marketing team of 8 people across brand, design, visual merchandising & digital disciplines

Foster an inclusive, high-performance team culture that reflects Exact's family values & celebrates diversity

Set clear individual & team objectives, conduct regular performance reviews & support career development

Manage workload allocation, priorities & deadlines across disciplines for seamless campaign delivery

Identify skills gaps & champion learning opportunities, including AI tool adoption & upskilling across team

Manage relationships with external creative, media, PR and production agencies and freelance contractors — ensuring briefs are sharp, output is on-brand and value for money is maintained

Brand & Campaign Management

Develop and execute seasonal marketing campaigns aligned to Exact's value-fashion positioning across ATL, BTL and digital channels

Manage the brand calendar in sync with buying & merchandise cycles

Oversee catalogue and lookbook production and in-store visual merchandising alignment

Serve as ultimate brand guardian, ensuring consistency of tone, look and feel across all touchpoints — internal team and external partners alike

Digital & E-commerce Marketing

Drive online traffic and conversion for exact.co.za and the Bash platform presence

Manage paid media, SEO/SEM, email marketing and social media strategy

Leverage customer data and CRM for personalised, targeted campaigns

Work closely with the digital sub-team to test, learn and optimise performance continuously

Visual Merchandising & Design

Oversee design & VM teams to ensure execution is aligned to campaign strategy & brand standards

Brief and sign off all creative output — from digital assets to store graphics and window displays

Balance creative ambition with production budgets and delivery timelines

Retail & Trade Marketing

Partner with store operations on in-store activations, window campaigns and promotional material

Support new store openings & mall-level marketing requirements nationally

Insights & Reporting

Track campaign performance, ROI and brand health metrics

Conduct ongoing consumer and competitor analysis within the value-fashion segment

Translate customer insights into actionable marketing initiatives

Report regularly to senior leadership on team output, marketing performance and budget utilisation

Agency & Budget Management

Own and control the full marketing budget, including internal team costs and external spend

Negotiate contracts & retainers with agencies & contractors, driving efficiency without compromising quality

Ensure all suppliers and partners deliver on time, on brief and on budget