Description
<p><a href="Takealot%20Group">Takealot Group </a>is seeking an exceptional<strong> Head of Advertising Operation</strong>s to lead and scale our established<strong> retail media operations</strong>. Reporting directly to the Group Executive: Retail Media, you'll oversee a team of advertising professionals and drive operational excellence across our growing retail media network.<br>This is a pivotal leadership role where you'll combine strategic thinking with hands-on execution to optimize our advertising platform, implement cutting-edge AI capabilities, and build a high-performing team that delivers measurable results for our brand partners.</p>
<p><strong>Role reports to: Group Executive: Advertising</strong></p>
<p><strong>Your responsibilities will include:</strong></p>
<p><strong>Operational Excellence & Optimization</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Drive operational efficiency across all advertising campaigns, workflows, and processes to maximize output and minimize bottlenecks<br><br></li>
<li>Optimize our existing retail media platform to improve campaign performance, reporting accuracy, and advertiser satisfaction<br><br></li>
<li> Establish and monitor KPIs that measure operational health, team productivity, and campaign effectiveness<br><br></li>
<li>Build and refine SOPs, playbooks, and frameworks that enable the team to scale without sacrificing quality<br><br></li>
<li>Identify opportunities for automation and process improvement across the advertising operations lifecycle AI Implementation & Innovation</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Lead the strategy and implementation of AI-driven solutions to enhance campaign optimization, audience targeting, and performance prediction<br><br></li>
<li>Partner with product and engineering teams to integrate AI/ML capabilities into our advertising workflows<br><br></li>
<li>Champion a culture of experimentation and innovation, testing new AI tools and methodologies<br><br></li>
<li> Stay ahead of industry trends in AdTech AI applications and translate insights into actionable initiatives</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>People Leadership & Team Development</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Inspire, coach, and develop a team of professionals across two levels: Campaign Specialists (junior) and Performance Campaign Managers (senior)</li>
<li>Create clear career progression pathways and invest in continuous learning and skill development</li>
<li>Foster a collaborative, high-performance culture where team members feel valued, challenged, and empowered</li>
<li>Conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and provide constructive feedback that drives growth</li>
<li>Recruit, onboard, and retain top talent as the team scales</li>
<li>Data-Driven Decision Making</li>
<li>Embed a data-first mindset across all advertising operations and campaign management activities</li>
<li>Leverage analytics platforms (including Osmos and other tools) to derive insights that inform strategy and optimization</li>
<li>Build dashboards and reporting frameworks that provide visibility into campaign performance, operational metrics, and business outcomes</li>
<li>Train and upskill the team on data analysis, interpretation, and storytelling</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Cross-Functional Collaboration</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Partner with Sales, Product, Analytics, and Technology teams to align advertising operations with broader business objectives</li>
<li>Act as the voice of operations in product roadmap discussions and platform enhancement initiatives</li>
<li>Collaborate with the Group Executive: Retail Media to shape the strategic direction of the retail media network</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Minimum Required Qualification</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Bachelor’s Degree in Analytics, Business Administration or similar</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Minimum Required Competencies:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Minimum 8 - 10 years of progressive experience in advertising operations,campaign management, or related roles</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Proven leadership experience managing large teams of people, with demonstrated ability to develop talent and build high-performing cultures</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Deep expertise in Advertising Technology (AdTech) or Marketing Technology (MarTech) ecosystems </p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Strong track record of driving operational efficiency and process optimization in fast-paced, data-intensive environments</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Experience implementing or working with AI/ML tool, ideally in advertising, marketing, or analytics contexts (highly desirable)</p>
</li>
<li>Exceptional analytical skills with the ability to make data-driven decisions and translate complex data into actionable insights</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Attributes:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Outstanding people management skills with a genuine passion for coaching and developing others</li>
<li>Strategic thinker who can also roll up their sleeves and execute tactically when needed</li>
<li>Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities</li>
<li>Problem-solving mindset with a bias for action</li>
<li>Ability to thrive in ambiguity and navigate complexity</li>
<li>Collaborative team player who builds trust across functions</li>
</ul>
<p><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, its all in the execution after all. </li>
<li>We love what we do and what we are creating.</li>
<li>We seek to employ an <strong>Extra Ordinary Mind </strong>who is Smart, has Integrity, and is Hardworking.</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></p>