Executive Head: Group Marketing and Communication - VKB Corporate Services, Bloemfontein

Executive Head: Group Marketing & Communication

VKB Group Corporate Services, Bloemfontein

Introduction to VKB Group

VKB Group is a proudly South African agricultural group that supports farmers and produces food from farm to consumer.

Our roots are firmly planted in agriculture, with farming at the heart of everything we do. What began as a business focused on providing farmers with the products and services needed to produce food has grown into a diversified Group operating across the agricultural value chain.

Today, VKB Group’s activities extend across agriculture, food production, manufacturing, retail, logistics, storage and handling, financial services, and national and international market channels.

Through our regional brands, VKB, GWK and NTK, as well as our broader portfolio of businesses and consumer brands, we are building the agribusiness of the future.

More About VKB Group Corporate Services

VKB Group Corporate Services provides strategic leadership, governance, shared services and specialist support across the broader VKB Group.

As VKB Group continues to grow and evolve, the Group Marketing & Communication function plays a critical role in:

• protecting and strengthening the Group’s reputation;
• aligning its diverse businesses and brands;
• building trusted stakeholder relationships;
• enhancing customer engagement and experience;
• supporting sustainable commercial growth;
• strengthening employee communication and employer branding; and
• positioning VKB Group as a credible and influential voice within agriculture and the broader South African economy.

We are seeking an accomplished executive to lead this function and shape how VKB Group presents itself, engages its stakeholders and builds enduring value across its national footprint.

The Opportunity

The Executive Head: Group Marketing & Communication will provide strategic leadership and direction to VKB Group’s integrated Marketing & Communication function.

Working closely with the Managing Director: Corporate Services and senior leaders across VKB Group, the incumbent will translate business strategy into integrated marketing, brand, communication, stakeholder-engagement and customer-experience priorities.

The role has Group-wide responsibility across a diversified, national and multi-brand operating environment.

The Executive Head will lead through the senior functional leaders responsible for:

• Corporate Marketing;
• Corporate Communication;
• Commercial Marketing Services; and
• Client Services.

Commercial Marketing Services includes Corporate Social Investment and Agri H2O as well as the companies involvement with Edutrace. Client Services includes the Group’s centralised customer-service capability and responsibility for the CRM environment.

This is not a traditional marketing position. It requires an executive who can lead through other senior leaders, influence strategic organisational decisions and create alignment across specialist disciplines, businesses, regions and brands.

Why This Role Matters

This is an opportunity to shape the reputation and strategic market positioning of one of South Africa’s leading diversified agribusiness groups.

The successful candidate will influence how VKB Group is experienced by:

• farmers and shareholders;
• customers and consumers;
• employees and prospective talent;
• communities;
• government and regulatory stakeholders;
• industry bodies;
• business partners;
• the media; and
• the broader South African public.

The role requires a leader who can look beyond individual campaigns and communication activities to understand how reputation, brand, customer experience, stakeholder confidence and organisational alignment contribute to long-term business success.

The Executive Head will help ensure that VKB Group speaks with clarity and credibility while respecting the individual positioning of its businesses, regional brands and consumer brands.

Why Join VKB Group?

Joining VKB Group means becoming part of a proudly South African success story built by farmers, for farmers and powered by people who are committed to making a meaningful contribution to food security, agriculture and economic growth.

This role offers the opportunity to:

• shape the reputation and strategic positioning of a leading agribusiness group;
• work closely with senior leaders and key business stakeholders;
• influence Group-wide business, brand and stakeholder priorities;
• lead an integrated portfolio through experienced functional leaders;
• provide strategic direction across multiple businesses and brands;
• strengthen customer, shareholder, employee and community relationships;
• guide the Group through high-impact communication and reputational matters;
• advance digital communication, customer engagement and marketing capabilities;
• support organisational transformation, integration and growth; and
• contribute to a values-driven organisation committed to being Humble, Hungry, Smart, Bold and Playing as One Team.

What Success Will Look Like

Success in this position will mean that:

• the Group Marketing & Communication portfolio operates against a clear and integrated strategy;
• Corporate Marketing, Corporate Communication, Commercial Marketing Services and Client Services are strategically aligned while retaining their specialist focus;
• VKB Group and its brands are recognised as trusted and respected leaders in their respective markets;
• marketing and communication strategies support measurable business, customer and stakeholder outcomes;
• the Group maintains a coherent and compelling corporate narrative across its businesses and regions;
• brand-governance standards are consistently understood and applied;
• stakeholder confidence is strengthened through credible, timely and proactive engagement;
• senior leaders receive sound advice during sensitive communication, stakeholder and reputational matters;
• internal communication supports employee alignment, organisational culture and change;
• employer-branding initiatives strengthen VKB Group’s ability to attract and retain critical talent;
• the Group’s CSI and community-facing initiatives build lasting trust and meaningful impact;
• customer-service and CRM capabilities support measurable improvements in customer experience;
• marketing investment and performance are supported by meaningful analytics and executive reporting;
• the senior functional leadership team has clear mandates, strong accountability and appropriate succession depth; and
• Group Marketing & Communication is recognised as a valued strategic partner to the business.

Who Are We Looking For?

We are looking for a commercially minded and strategically influential executive who understands how marketing, communication, reputation, stakeholder engagement and customer experience contribute to organisational performance.

We recognise that exceptional candidates may bring deeper expertise in some areas than others. We are looking for an executive leader who can strategically align and lead specialist portfolios, rather than being the technical expert in every discipline.

The ideal candidate:

• has successfully led marketing, communication, brand, corporate affairs or a related portfolio at senior level;
• can translate complex business strategies into clear functional and stakeholder priorities;
• has operated across multiple businesses, divisions, regions or brands;
• understands how to govern a portfolio without unnecessarily centralising every activity;
• can lead and align experienced senior functional leaders;
• is comfortable advising senior leaders on complex and high-impact matters;
• can balance long-term strategic positioning with disciplined operational execution;
• demonstrates sound judgement in uncertain, sensitive or high-pressure situations;
• uses data and insight to guide investment and decision-making;
• understands the importance of customer experience and digital enablement;
• can build trust across diverse internal and external stakeholder groups;
• communicates with authority, clarity and credibility; and
• remains grounded, collaborative and accountable while operating at executive level.

Qualifications

• A completed Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communication, Public Relations, Journalism, Corporate Communication, Business Management or a directly related field.
• A relevant postgraduate qualification, Master’s degree or MBA will be advantageous.
• Professional accreditation in marketing, communication, public relations or a related discipline will be advantageous.

Experience

• A minimum of 12 years’ progressively senior experience in marketing, communication, brand management, corporate affairs, corporate social investment, stakeholder engagement or closely related fields.
• At least seven years’ experience in senior leadership or equivalent strategic leadership responsibility.
• Demonstrated experience developing and executing enterprise-wide marketing, communication, brand or stakeholder-engagement strategies.
• Proven leadership experience within a large, diversified, multi-brand or comparably complex organisation.
• Experience aligning marketing and communication priorities with business strategy.
• Demonstrated experience in corporate communication, media relations, public relations and reputation management.
• Practical experience leading or governing crisis communication and high-impact stakeholder matters.
• Experience leading digital transformation, marketing technology, CRM, customer-engagement or related modernisation initiatives.
• Demonstrated budget, resource-allocation and performance-reporting responsibility.
• A successful track record of leading senior functional leaders and multidisciplinary professional teams.

Experience in agriculture, agribusiness, food production, FMCG, manufacturing, retail, logistics, financial services or a related complex industry will be advantageous.

For this role, senior leadership experience refers to accountability for a material function, portfolio, division or enterprise-wide strategy, including meaningful responsibility for people, budgets, senior stakeholder relationships and strategic decision-making.

Language Requirements

• Professional proficiency in English and the ability to communicate effectively with Afrikaans-speaking stakeholders are required.
• Regular engagement with Afrikaans-speaking shareholders
• Public speaking to farmer audiences where Afrikaans is routinely used
• Media interviews in Afrikaans
• Internal communications where Afrikaans remains a dominant business language
• The ability to communicate credibly in both languages during executive discussions, formal presentations, stakeholder engagements and complex written communication.

Location and Travel Requirements

• This is a fully office-based position located in Bloemfontein.
• The successful candidate must be based in, or be willing to relocate to, Bloemfontein by an agreed date.
• Regular in-office collaboration with senior leadership and specialist teams is a fundamental requirement of the role.
• Frequent national travel is required. Candidates must be able to undertake regular business travel.

Key Responsibilities

Group Strategy and Organisational Alignment

• Develop and execute an integrated Group Marketing & Communication strategy aligned with VKB Group’s business priorities.
• Translate Group strategy into clear brand, communication, stakeholder, commercial marketing, customer-experience and digital priorities.
• Ensure strategic alignment across VKB Group’s businesses, regional brands and specialist portfolios.
• Advise the Managing Director: Corporate Services and senior leaders on marketing, brand, reputation, communication, stakeholder and customer-engagement matters.
• Support major strategic projects, organisational transformation, business integration and growth initiatives through effective communication and stakeholder planning.

Functional Leadership

• Provide strategic leadership and direction to the Group Marketing & Communication function.
• Lead through the senior leaders responsible for Corporate Marketing, Corporate Communication, Commercial Marketing Services and Client Services.
• Set clear mandates, performance expectations and governance principles for each specialist portfolio.
• Create alignment and collaboration across the senior functional leadership team.
• Build leadership capability, succession depth and a high-performance culture across the function.
• Ensure that specialist departments retain appropriate professional ownership while contributing to an integrated Group strategy.

Brand Strategy and Governance

• Lead the continuous refinement and execution of VKB Group’s brand strategy.
• Strengthen and protect the Group’s reputation, brand equity and market presence.
• Establish and maintain appropriate brand-governance standards across Group businesses and entities.
• Guide the positioning of the corporate, regional, commercial and consumer-brand portfolios.
• Ensure that brand decisions reflect customer insight, commercial priorities and the Group’s long-term strategic direction.

Corporate Communication and Reputation

• Provide strategic oversight of corporate communication, public relations, media engagement and executive messaging.
• Develop and maintain crisis-communication and reputation-management frameworks.
• Advise senior leaders during sensitive, high-risk or high-profile matters.
• Ensure credible and coordinated communication across internal and external stakeholder groups.
• Protect the Group’s reputation through proactive risk identification, stakeholder planning and disciplined communication governance.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Develop and oversee strategic engagement plans for shareholders, farmers, customers, employees, communities, industry organisations, business partners, government and regulatory stakeholders.
• Strengthen trusted relationships across the Group’s diverse stakeholder environment.
• Ensure that stakeholder insights inform business, brand and communication priorities.
• Support senior leaders in high-impact stakeholder engagements and matters requiring executive-level communication.

Commercial Marketing Services and CSI

• Provide strategic oversight of Commercial Marketing Services, including CSI and related community-facing portfolios.
• Ensure that CSI and Agri H2O initiatives as well as our involvement in Edutrace are appropriately governed and aligned with Group priorities.
• Strengthen the connection between commercial marketing services, stakeholder value and the Group’s broader reputation.
• Promote credible impact measurement and reporting across community and partnership initiatives.

Customer Experience and CRM

• Provide executive oversight and strategic direction to the Group’s centralised Client Services and CRM capability.
• Work through the specialist leader responsible for the operational delivery of centralised customer service and the CRM environment.
• Align customer-service and CRM priorities with the Group’s brand, customer-engagement and business strategies.
• Promote the effective use of customer insight, service measures and CRM information in strategic decision-making.
• Drive continuous improvement in customer engagement and experience across relevant Group touchpoints.

Employer Branding and Internal Communication

• Lead a Group-wide employer-branding strategy that supports the attraction, engagement and retention of critical talent.
• Oversee internal communication that promotes employee engagement, organisational alignment and culture.
• Support change, integration and transformation programmes through structured communication and stakeholder engagement.
• Work collaboratively with Human Capital and business leadership to strengthen the employee experience and employer reputation.

Digital Enablement, Analytics and Innovation

• Drive innovation across digital communication, customer-engagement platforms, content strategy and marketing technologies.
• Promote the appropriate integration of data, customer insight, CRM and marketing analytics.
• Monitor market trends, customer needs, industry developments and competitor activity to identify opportunities and risks.
• Establish meaningful measures of marketing, communication, brand and customer-engagement performance.
• Evaluate and report on the effectiveness and return on investment of major initiatives.
• Use performance insights to guide priorities, budget allocation and continuous improvement.

Budget and Resource Governance

• Provide strategic oversight of the Group Marketing & Communication budget.
• Ensure resources are appropriately prioritised across portfolios, brands and strategic initiatives.
• Establish sound governance and accountability for marketing and communication investment.
• Present credible performance, risk and investment information to senior leadership.
• Balance strategic ambition with commercial discipline and responsible resource management.

Competencies

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Strategic leadership and influence
• Commercial and business acumen
• Sound judgement and decision-making
• Stakeholder relationship management
• Brand stewardship
• Reputation and risk awareness
• Leadership through others
• Organisational alignment
• Transformation and change leadership
• Innovation and strategic curiosity
• Results orientation
• Negotiation and influencing
• Resilience and adaptability
• Emotional intelligence
• Collaborative leadership
• Problem-solving ability

Skills Required

• Enterprise marketing strategy
• Corporate communication
• Brand strategy and governance
• Media and public relations
• Reputation management
• Crisis and change communication
• Executive communication
• Stakeholder and shareholder engagement
• Commercial marketing services
• Corporate Social Investment
• Employer branding
• Internal communication
• Customer-experience strategy
• CRM and customer-engagement oversight
• Digital marketing strategy
• Marketing technology enablement
• Marketing analytics and insights
• Performance and return-on-investment measurement
• Budget and resource management
• Leadership of senior functional leaders
• Talent and succession development
• Public speaking and executive presentations
• Project and change management

Important Information for Applicants

VKB Group reserves the right to close or withdraw this vacancy at its discretion.

All personal information submitted through the VKB Group Career Portal will be used solely for recruitment purposes and, where applicable, for matters related to employment.

As an equal opportunity employer, VKB Group is committed to Employment Equity, transformation and the inclusion of People with Disabilities. Recruitment decisions are aligned with the VKB Group Employment Equity Plan and Transformation Strategy.

When applying, please ensure that:

• you use Google Chrome to access the Career Portal;
• you upload a clear and professional CV in PDF or Word format only;
• your CV does not contain handwritten notes or markings;
• your ID, driver’s licence, qualifications, certificates and other supporting documents are uploaded in the designated sections and are not combined with your CV; and
• your profile photograph meets the minimum size requirement of 300 × 300 pixels.

A Note on Honesty and Integrity

As part of the application process, candidates will be required to complete a screening questionnaire.

Please answer each question honestly and accurately. The information provided may be verified during the recruitment process, including qualifications, employment history, references and other job-relevant information.

At VKB Group, our culture is rooted in the values of being Humble, Hungry, Smart, Bold and Playing as One Team. We believe in authentic relationships, responsible leadership and decisions built on trust and integrity.

Material misrepresentation of qualifications, experience or other relevant information may result in an application being withdrawn. If discrepancies are identified after appointment, they may be addressed in accordance with applicable VKB Group policies and employment processes.

By providing accurate information, you help us conduct a fair, efficient and evidence-based recruitment process.