Marketing Manager (Senior)

Discovery’s core purpose is to make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives. We seek out and invest in exceptional individuals who understand and support our core purpose, and whose own values align with those of Discovery. Our fast-paced and dynamic environment enables smart, self-driven people to be their best. As global thought leaders, Discovery is passionate about innovating in order to not only achieve financial success, but to ignite positive and meaningful change within our society.

The Senior Marketing Manager role is for the Discovery Health brand, with a key focus on its Africa (excluding South Africa) business under the Global Health Solutions division, which offers Health Insurance, Healthcare administration services and Vitality products for the African market, and beyond.

Its health insurance and healthcare administration offering leverages the best of Discovery’s experience in designing and managing shared-value health insurance across the globe to make employees healthier and enhance and protect their lives.

To lead the development and implementation of integrated marketing, brand and communication strategies that support business growth, strengthen brand equity and deliver measurable commercial outcomes:

• Driving and defining the implementation of brand and communication strategy and solutions.
• Interfacing with senior business people to define and co-ordinate brand or communication strategy.
• Understanding the impact of that strategy across business.

• Unpack complex business needs and provide creative solutions that consider all relevant stakeholders.
• Create integrated solutions that are consistent across brands, businesses and customer segments.
• Ensure that solutions are in line with the Discovery marketing model.
• Develop people through coaching (as required)
• Manage a budget
• Build and maintain relationships with key business people, both at a strategic and operational level
• Analyse marketing performance and customer insights to optimise campaigns and improve business outcomes.
• Identify opportunities and bring new ideas and solutions to the business.
• Conduct feasibility assessments and evaluate new approaches.
• Measure impact, identify improvement opportunities and implement corrective action.
• Respond effectively to business needs and changing priorities.

Knowledge

• Strong understanding of healthcare, health insurance, financial services, employee benefits or other regulated commercial environments.
• Understanding of African (excluding South Africa) market dynamics, including varied customer, employer, broker, partner and stakeholder contexts.
• Strong customer and market understanding, including customer needs, behaviours, market context, category dynamics, competitors and collaborators.
• Commercial marketing understanding, including how marketing supports business growth, customer engagement, retention, acquisition, profitability and value creation.
• Understanding of brand positioning, value propositions, brand messaging and brand experience across customer and stakeholder touchpoints.
• Knowledge of campaign development, CRM, lifecycle marketing, channel management and performance measurement across digital, intermediary, employer, partner and direct channels.
• Working knowledge of insight, research and data interpretation to support marketing decisions and improve performance.

Skills

• Translate complex healthcare, insurance and business information into clear, audience-appropriate communication.
• Develop clear and compelling narratives for senior stakeholders, partners, clients, brokers, employers and customer audiences.
• Develop integrated marketing, brand and communication strategies that connect business objectives, customer needs and channel execution.
• Define clear objectives and measures, make intentional trade-offs and link business and brand strategy to marketing actions.
• Lead campaign development from brief to delivery, including creative development, content planning, stakeholder input, approvals, channel adaptation and measurement.
• Use insight, performance data and market feedback to optimise campaigns and improve outcomes.
• Lead cross-functional stakeholder alignment by building trust, navigating complexity, managing trade-offs and pre-aligning decisions.
• Manage agency and partner relationships effectively, including clear briefs, constructive feedback, scope management and accountability for quality output.
• Apply strong execution discipline, including timeline management, ownership, attention to detail, governance and approval management.
• Apply a sense-test-learn approach to improve marketing effectiveness over time.

Attributes

• Purpose and values-led, with commitment to Discovery’s Core Purpose and Values in decisions and interactions.
• People-centred, with a focus on building strong teams, developing people and bringing out the best in others.
• Performance-oriented with humility, setting high standards while treating people with dignity, care and respect.
• Innovative and prudent, with optimism, curiosity and a bias toward better solutions.
• Bold, action-oriented and committed to excellence in execution.
• Owner-minded, with strong business case thinking, responsible budget management and care for Discovery’s reputation.
• Clear and inspiring communicator, able to simplify complex and intangible topics for different audiences.
• Constructive challenger, open to rigorous debate, reasoned decision-making and alignment once decisions are made.
• Ethical and values-led, committed to doing the right thing, especially when decisions are complex.

• Qualifications

• Minimum 3-year undergraduate
• Post graduate qualification in marketing is preferable
• Relevant industry qualification
• Minimum of 7 years’ experience in Marketing or Communication
• Experience in healthcare, health insurance, financial services, employee benefits or related regulated industries. Experience across African markets (excluding South Africa) and B2B healthcare marketing will be advantageous.

EMPLOYMENT EQUITY   
                             
The Company’s approved Employment Equity Plan and Targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process. As an Equal Opportunities employer, we actively encourage and welcome people with various disabilities to apply.