Advertising Account Manager, Mandarin & English (Cross-Border)

<p><a href="takealot.com">takealot.com</a>, South Africa's leading e-commerce platform and a proud member of the Prosus ecosystem, is seeking a driven and commercially minded <strong class="_textBold_msqeb_148">Advertising Account Manager, Mandarin &amp; English (Cross-Border)</strong><strong>&nbsp;</strong>to join our Takealot Group Advertising team in Cape Town. In this role you will be the primary partner for our fast-growing community of international Marketplace sellers, equipping them with the knowledge, strategy, and hands-on support needed to unlock the full potential of Takealot's self-service Sponsored Advertising platform. <strong>Sitting at the exciting intersection of retail media, e-commerce, and cross-cultural commerce, you will bridge the gap between our Cape Town-based advertising team and Mandarin-speaking sellers — driving advertising revenue, accelerating seller growth, and shaping the future of retail media on Africa's largest online shopping destination.</strong> <strong>Proficiency in both Mandarin and English is essential to succeed in this role.</strong></p> <p><strong>&nbsp;<strong class="_textBold_msqeb_148">Advertising Account Manager, Mandarin &amp; English (Cross-Border)</strong></strong>– International Sellers is a specialist commercial role within the Takealot Group Advertising team. <strong>You will manage a portfolio of Mandarin-speaking Marketplace sellers, driving adoption and performance on Takealot's Sponsored Advertising platform while consistently achieving retail media revenue targets</strong>. You will combine strong consultative sales skills with deep platform expertise and a data-first mindset to deliver measurable results for sellers and for Takealot.</p> <p>This position reports to the <strong>Portfolio Account Lead.</strong></p> <p><strong>Your responsibilities will include:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Retail Media Sales &amp; Revenue Growth: Consistently meet and exceed advertising sales targets; proactively identify and convert upsell opportunities across international seller accounts.</li> <li>Seller Onboarding &amp; Platform Enablement: Drive adoption of Takealot's self-service Sponsored Advertising platform by Mandarin-speaking Marketplace sellers; deliver platform training and skills transfer in Mandarin, ensuring sellers can independently operate and optimise campaigns.</li> <li>Strategic Account Management: Serve as the primary point of contact for a portfolio of international sellers; build trusted, long-term partnerships that deepen seller engagement and increase advertising investment over time.</li> <li>Media Planning &amp; Consultative Selling: Develop tailored media plans and advertising strategies for top-tier sellers, aligned to their business objectives, seasonal peaks, and product launch calendars; present compelling, data-backed recommendations.</li> <li>Campaign Performance Management: Monitor live campaign performance against agreed KPIs (e.g. ROAS, CTR, conversion rate, spend pacing); generate regular performance reports (weekly/monthly/quarterly) and deliver actionable optimisation insights to sellers.</li> <li>Campaign Execution &amp; Coordination: Coordinate the collection of creative assets; manage the integration of booked campaigns into the marketing calendar; liaise with retail marketing managers to ensure on-time, on-brief delivery.</li> <li>Billing &amp; Financial Operations: Ensure managed services campaigns are invoiced accurately and on time each month; oversee reconciliation and invoice adjustment processes.</li> <li>Seller Acquisition: Develop and implement acquisition strategies to grow the base of international sellers investing in advertising on the platform.</li> <li>Cross-functional Collaboration: Work closely with creative, analytics, campaign management, and CRM teams to ensure seamless execution and alignment with client objectives; support Marketplace Account Managers to drive advertising uptake across their key accounts.</li> <li>Seller Education &amp; Content Development: Contribute to the development and hosting of educational webinars and training sessions in Mandarin; collaborate with the CRM team to produce seller-facing case studies and adoption/retention enablement materials.</li> <li>Platform Issue Resolution: Act as the first point of escalation for seller platform queries; escalate operational and technical issues to the relevant engineering and product teams and manage resolution timelines.</li> <li>Market &amp; Platform Intelligence: Stay current with global retail media trends, platform updates, and competitive marketplace advertising developments; share insights internally to inform product and commercial strategy.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Attributes required</strong>:</p> <ul> <li>Excellent written and verbal communication skills, strong attention to detail and follow-through</li> <li>Ability to persuade sellers to adopt new technology</li> <li>Excellent content design; and presentation skills</li> <li>Strong analytical and critical thinking, using data to inform decisions</li> <li>Ability to work independently to achieve sales targets</li> <li>Solutions-oriented, can-do attitude, self-motivated</li> <li>Entrepreneurial mindset</li> <li>Understanding of the digital advertising and e-commerce environments</li> </ul> <p><strong>Qualification &amp; Experience:</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: bold;"><strong>Mandarin proficiency (spoken and written) — essential for seller communication, platform training, and skills transfer with international sellers.</strong><br><br></li> <li style="font-weight: bold;"><strong>English proficiency (spoken and written) — essential for internal communication with line management and all South African-based stakeholders.</strong><br><br></li> <li>Bachelor's Degree or Advanced Diploma in Marketing, Business, Commerce, or a related field. In the absence of a formal qualification, a minimum of 5 years of demonstrated account management experience will be considered.<br><br></li> <li style="font-weight: bold;"><strong>Minimum 3 years' experience in advertising sales and/or account management, with a proven track record of achieving or exceeding revenue targets.</strong><br><br></li> <li><strong>Solid experience in digital marketing and advertising (search, display, sponsored ads, or programmatic)</strong>.<br><br></li> <li>Demonstrated ability to use data and campaign metrics to drive commercial recommendations and client decision-making.<br><br></li> <li>Strong consultative sales skills with a track record of managing and growing a portfolio of accounts.<br><br></li> <li>Excellent relationship management skills — ability to build trust and rapport across cultural and language boundaries.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Advantageous</strong></p> <ul> <li>Experience working in or with e-commerce marketplaces (e.g. Takealot, Amazon or similar).</li> <li>Familiarity with retail media platforms and self-service advertising tools</li> <li>Experience with campaign analytics platforms.</li> <li>Understanding of cross-border e-commerce dynamics, particularly between China and emerging markets.\</li> <li>CRM platform experience and comfort working with performance dashboards and reporting tools.</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;<strong>The Environment:</strong></p> <ul> <li>takealot.com employees are entrepreneurial and dynamic, smart, customer-centric, fun and have the shared ambition of takealot.com being the leading e-commerce company in Africa.</li> <li>We have fun, work hard, take ownership, work in teams to create solutions, and are always open to direct feedback/new ideas on where we can improve</li> <li>We are short on ego and high on output</li> <li>We are doers and not only thinkers, it’s all in the execution after all</li> <li>We love what we do and what we are creating</li> </ul> <p>If you meet the above you are an <strong>Extraordinary Mind </strong>so come and join us! <br><strong><em>Takealot Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We encourage applicants from the previously disadvantaged groups and people with disabilities, to apply</em></strong><strong>.</strong>&nbsp;</p>