Digital Marketing jobs in South Africa

Unique Personnel boasts over 50 years (established in

• ) of personnel and staffing experience, so it's not surprising that even though our main focus has been providing on South African Staffing Solutions, we now recruit internationally for over
• clients

Job Summary : The Digital Marketing Team Leader manages a 10-person South Africa-based digital delivery team (9 Cape Town, 1 Johannesburg) supporting UK & Irish business units.

The role provides day-to-day line management encompassing Jira workflow control, providing real hands‑on guidance across organic / AI search, accelerating delivery of our website content update programme, paid search co‑ordination, as well as ensuring the delivery team complete their monthly digital reports on time to help us remain focused on hitting our digital enquiry sales targets.

The UK-based functional heads have dotted line responsibility for these digital leads and as such, set the priorities and expected standards for each of their businesses / areas.

This new role has come about due to significant growth in the South Africa-based digital team and has been created to ensure on‑the‑ground execution, attendance, and performance, as well as nurturing a strong team culture. Team Composition (Direct Reports) : 9 Digital Marketing Leads (whose primary role focuses on organic / SEO / AI search, web / CMS updates, analytics / ops and some exposure to paid search co‑ordination) 1 Content Writer (whose primary role is the creation of blogs) 9 in Cape Town; 1 in Johannesburg Key Responsibilities : People Leadership and Ways of Working Own daily line management for 10 team members : attendance, punctuality, on‑site office presence (Thursdays), and conduct. Enforce defined start / finish times and lunch breaks; address any non‑compliance fairly and consistently as per HR policy.

Build a cohesive "one team" culture : run daily stand‑ups, weekly 1 : 1s, and monthly team huddles; mentor early‑career talent.

Create and track individual development plans focused on digital skills growth, professionalism, and reliability.

Jira‑Driven Operations and Delivery Management : Own Jira ticket flow : ticket creation, ticket allocation, WIP limits, SLAs, status updates, and definitions of done.

Ensure real‑time ticket status accuracy; run daily board reviews; unblock dependencies; elevate risks early.

Final sign‑off incl final checks (with support from the relevant UK stakeholder) before website updates are published. Maintain a visible capacity plan and release / launch calendar; provide weekly progress updates to UK functional leads.

Drive cycle‑time reduction and more first‑time‑right delivery through SOPs, checklists, and peer QA.

Digital Execution : Guide day‑to‑day execution in organic and AI search : technical and on‑page best practices, structured data, internal linking, topic clustering, AI search readiness (helpful content, authoritative sources, E‑E‑A‑T).

Oversee website content updates / CMS publishing : accessibility, brand voice, metadata, and tagging.

Support content production : share guidance on how to write briefs for blog rewrites, editorial calendar alignment, and SEO optimisation.

Basic paid search co‑ordination : ensure tags / UTMs, landing pages, and tracking are in place; liaise with UK paid leads.

Uphold quality gates : brand guidelines, accessibility, privacy / compliance (GDPR / PECR for data and email).

Communication and Stakeholder Alignment : Act as the single voice for team communications : business updates, policy changes, and process announcements.

Align closely with UK functional leads who set priorities and acceptance criteria; translate into clear tasks, timelines, and QA expectations.

Provide concise weekly reports : throughput, SLA adherence, blockers, risks, wins, and next‑week forecast. Join monthly Business Management meetings to support the digital performance updates. Performance, Reporting, and Improvement : Focus the team on delivering each of our business's digital sales enquiry targets. Ensure timely monthly KPI submissions from each team member; drive earlier starts and on‑time completion.

Track operational KPIs (attendance, SLA adherence, cycle time, first‑time‑right, rework) and digital KPIs (organic visibility, traffic, rankings, content production velocity).

Conduct post‑mortems on missed SLAs or defects; implement corrective actions and training.

Tools, Governance, and Procurement : Champion effective use of Jira, CMS, GA4, tag management, and shared templates / playbooks. Standardise taxonomy, naming conventions, and UTMs; uphold data quality.

Raise / manage POs for approved equipment and necessary business tools per procurement policy.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) : Digital Sales Enquiry Targets : Delivery of digital sales enquiry targets Attendance and Office Discipline : On‑time arrival rate on Thursdays; adherence to contracted hours and breaks; unplanned absence rate. Jira Hygiene and Delivery : % tickets with accurate, up‑to‑date statuses. SLA adherence (response, production, publish / release). Cycle time (median), throughput, WIP predictability. First‑time‑right rate; rework percentage. Content Rewrite Speed and Quality : Pages / posts updated per week vs. plan. SEO hygiene on published items (metadata, schema, internal links). QA defect rate. Organic / AI Search Impact : Priority keyword rankings, visibility share, and organic traffic to target sections. Crawl / index health indicators (where available). Stakeholder Experience : UK functional lead CSAT / NPS; first‑submission acceptance rate. People Development : Completion of development plans; progression milestones; engagement / retention. Key Stakeholders : The key stakeholders you will work closely with include : Regional Head of Digital & Digital Marketing Manager Property Services & RSH Marketing Managers / Heads of Marketing for each of our businesses PR & Communications Manager Digital Leads PPC Agency Business Operations Directors

Qualifications : |Degree / Diploma in Marketing / Communications or equivalent experience.

Certifications a plus : Google Analytics, SEO, Agile / Jira, or similar. Core Experience : 4–6 years in digital marketing with 1–3+ years leading or supervising a digital / SEO / web content team.

Strong grounding in organic search (technical and on‑page) and emerging AI search expectations; working knowledge of paid search co‑ordination. Demonstrated success managing juniors / early‑career talent and building positive, accountable team culture.

Practical experience running Jira or similar ticketing workflows at scale (intake, WIP, SLAs, reporting).

Proficient with CMS publishing, GA4, support systems such as SEMRush & Conductor, tag management, and UTM discipline; comfortable reading dashboards and acting on insights.

Clear communication and stakeholder management skills; disciplined about process, documentation, and follow‑through.

Familiarity with UK advertising and data privacy standards (ASA / CAP, GDPR / PECR).

ESSENTIAL : Digital generalist with depth in organic / AI search; working knowledge of paid search co‑ordination.

Led or supervised a small digital / SEO / web content team (circa 5–12 people), preferably with early‑career talent.

Hands‑on with Jira workflows, CMS publishing, GA4, tag management, UTMs, and basic SEO tooling. Proven on‑the‑ground leadership : attendance enforcement, scheduling, and coaching.

Technical Skills : SEO / AI search : on‑page optimisation, internal linking, schema / structured data, topic clustering, E‑E‑A‑T‑aligned content.

CMS operations : metadata, accessibility basics, publishing QA, and content governance.

Analytics and instrumentation : GA4, UTM discipline, tag QA; can interpret trends and act on them.

Jira administration / use : boards, workflows, SLAs, dashboards, and reporting.

Leadership & Communication : Consistent, clear communicator; effective at "single source" team updates and change management.

Builds trust with juniors; sets expectations, provides feedback, and creates growth plans.

Respected "one of the team" presence—firm on standards, approachable in style.

Behaviours and Characteristics : Reliable, punctual, detail‑oriented; models the culture expected.

Bias to action; closes loops and keeps Jira current.

Calm under pressure; pragmatic with strong prioritisation and escalation judgement.

Team‑first mindset; turns a group of individuals into a cohesive unit.

Nice‑to‑Haves : Experience in large‑scale content migrations or multi‑site content rewrites.

Exposure to AI‑assisted content workflows (prompting, drafting, human‑in‑the‑loop QA).

Basic paid search campaign co‑ordination and landing page QA.

Additional : Reliable, punctual, and detail‑oriented individual who models the desired culture.

They should possess a balance of big‑picture thinking and a strong bias for action, effectively translating ideas into measurable results through operational experience.

They must remain calm under pressure, demonstrating pragmatic judgement in prioritisation and escalation, and foster a team‑first mindset to create a cohesive unit.