Brand Manager: Value & Signature

At KFC, we pride ourselves on being original. We even named our recipe after it. But for us, the answer to the question is simple. Be You. Everyone at KFC is different. Unique. It’s what makes us special - Our people, The Originals. And we welcome you to join us. Bring your individuality to the table. Bring your grit and energy. Bring your spirit. Your story. Your drive and your passion. Bring it. Every piece of you. Even the parts you don’t like. Because we value our people no matter what. We’ll feed your potential and we’ll support you; to be your best self, to make a difference, and have fun. Together, we can be part of something truly extraordinary. All you have to do, is Bring it.

This role requires you to drive the growth and performance of assigned Value & Signature propositions, including Boxes, Wings and Mighty Bucket, by translating KFC South Africa’s portfolio strategy into compelling customer propositions, integrated marketing plans, innovation and strong in-market execution. The role is accountable for developing recommendations and leading delivery across assigned brands and initiatives, using customer insight, commercial performance and cross-functional collaboration to build brand equity and deliver agreed growth objectives.

Responsibilities:

Develop & Deliver Assigned Brand Growth Plans

•Translate the Value & Signature portfolio strategy into clear annual and window plans for Boxes, Wings and Mighty Bucket.
•Develop recommendations on how assigned propositions should grow across relevant customers, occasions, products and channels.
•Use consumer, cultural, competitive and commercial insight to identify opportunities and risks within the assigned portfolio.
•Define clear objectives, target audiences, customer propositions and measures of success for assigned initiatives.
•Recommend actions to improve performance where propositions are underperforming or new opportunities emerge.
•Ensure activity contributes to both short-term commercial objectives and longer-term brand and portfolio health.
•Work within the strategic direction, portfolio architecture and investment priorities established by the Marketing Manager.

Lead Campaign & Proposition Development
•Lead the development and delivery of integrated campaigns for assigned brands and initiatives from brief through to in-market execution and post-campaign learning.
•Develop strong, insight-led briefs that clearly define the customer problem, proposition, commercial objective and role of communications.
•Lead creative development with agency partners and provide clear, constructive direction throughout the process.
•Apply strong judgement to ensure work is distinctive, relevant, on-brand and appropriate for the customer and occasion.
•Partner with Media, Digital, CRM, Social, PR and other specialists to develop channel plans that support the agreed brand and commercial objectives.
•Ensure campaigns connect effectively across restaurant, digital, delivery and communications touchpoints.
•Own day-to-day agency leadership for assigned initiatives and hold partners accountable for quality, timing and delivery.

Drive Innovation & Product Initiatives
•Identify innovation and renovation opportunities within Boxes, Wings and Mighty Bucket based on customer needs, portfolio strategy and commercial performance.
•Develop recommendations and business cases for new products, propositions, promotional mechanics and improvements to existing offers.
•Lead assigned innovation projects from approved concept through development, launch and post-launch review.
•Partner with Food Innovation, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, Insights and other teams to ensure propositions are desirable, commercially viable and operationally executable.
•Support testing and use customer and commercial evidence to recommend whether initiatives should progress, change, scale or stop.
•Monitor potential cannibalization, complexity and impact on the broader Value & Signature portfolio.

Manage Commercial Performance
•Track performance of Boxes, Wings and Mighty Bucket against agreed sales, transaction, ticket, mix, margin and brand objectives.
•Diagnose performance using customer, restaurant, competitor and commercial data.
•Identify the underlying drivers of performance and develop clear recommendations for action.
•Manage approved budgets for assigned brands and initiatives within delegated authority.
•Recommend investment shifts or corrective actions where performance or market conditions require intervention.
•Partner with Finance and Commercial teams to understand the financial implications of marketing, pricing and promotional decisions.
•Lead post-launch and post-campaign reviews and ensure learnings inform future plans

Champion the Customer, Culture & Competition
•Build a deep understanding of the customers, occasions and needs relevant to Boxes, Wings and Mighty Bucket.
•Stay close to South African consumer behavior, food culture, competitive activity and relevant social and cultural trends.
•Partner with Insights to translate research and customer understanding into actionable implications for assigned brands.
•Monitor competitor propositions, pricing, promotions and innovation and assess the implications for KFC.
•Identify opportunities for KFC to respond to culture and marketplace changes in ways that are relevant to the brand and commercially meaningful.
•Bring a clear customer perspective into cross-functional decision making.

Lead Cross-Functional Delivery
•Mobilize the cross-functional teams required to deliver assigned campaigns, launches and commercial initiatives.
•Work closely with Operations, Finance, Supply Chain, Food Innovation, Digital, Technology, Insights and other relevant teams.
•Establish clear deliverables, timelines, dependencies and decision points for major initiatives.
•Identify execution risks early and drive resolution or escalation where required.
•Build strong relationships with restaurant and franchise stakeholders and ensure plans are practical and executable in market.
•Maintain clear accountability for marketing deliverables while respecting the functional ownership of specialist partners.

Drive Learning & Marketing Effectiveness
•Establish clear KPIs and learning objectives for assigned campaigns and initiatives.
•Use campaign, commercial and customer performance to understand what worked, what did not and why.
•Apply a disciplined test-and-learn approach to improve future propositions and activity.
•Partner with Media, Digital, CRM and Insights teams to interpret specialist performance measures and identify implications for the brand.
•Use available technology, data and AI tools responsibly to improve analysis, productivity, learning and decision making.
•Share relevant learnings across the Value & Signature team to strengthen future planning.

Lead Customer, Culture & Creativity
•Turn consumer understanding, cultural signals, social listening and marketplace opportunities into distinctive brand action.
•Lead creative development from brief through approval and challenge agencies to raise the quality of work.
•Protect distinctive KFC brand expression while ensuring relevance across local markets and communities.

Education:
Bachelors Degree in in Marketing, Business Management or related fields
Post Graduate Qualification or MBA Preferred

Experience:
•Approximately 4 to 6 years of progressive marketing or brand management experience, preferably within FMCG, QSR, retail or another fast-paced consumer environment.
•Experience independently leading significant campaigns or brand initiatives from brief through to execution and performance review.
•Experience translating consumer insight and commercial performance into clear marketing recommendations.
•Experience supporting or leading product innovation, promotional activity or customer proposition development.
•Strong commercial understanding, including experience managing marketing budgets and interpreting sales, transaction, mix, margin and brand performance.
•Experience managing creative and other agency partners.
•Experience leading cross-functional projects involving multiple stakeholders and dependencies.
•Good understanding of digital, social, media and CRM and how these disciplines contribute to integrated marketing.
•Experience within a franchise or operationally complex consumer business advantageous.

Capabilities:
•Brand management: Ability to translate portfolio strategy into compelling propositions, campaigns and growth plans.
•Customer understanding: Strong ability to use consumer insight and customer behaviour to inform decisions.
•Commercial acumen: Understands the relationship between marketing choices, pricing, product mix, sales, transactions, ticket and margin.
•Creative judgement: Able to write strong briefs, evaluate creative work and guide agencies toward distinctive, effective solutions.
•Innovation: Able to identify opportunities and lead approved propositions through development, testing and launch.
•Analytical thinking: Able to diagnose performance, distinguish symptoms from underlying issues and recommend practical actions.
•Integrated marketing: Strong understanding of how brand, media, digital, CRM, social, restaurant and delivery touchpoints work together.
•Agency leadership: Able to provide clear direction, challenge constructively and hold partners accountable.
•Cross-functional influence: Able to align and mobilise stakeholders without relying on formal authority.
•Project leadership: Strong ability to manage complexity, dependencies, timelines and multiple workstreams.
•Cultural intelligence: Strong understanding of South African customers, culture, food and emerging trends.
•Digital, data & AI fluency: Comfortable using modern marketing tools and partnering effectively with specialist teams.
•Learning agility & ownership: Curious, accountable and comfortable operating at pace while knowing when to make a decision and when to escalate.