Brand Lead / Senior Account Manager (Premium Spirits) - Sandton Central, Johannesburg (Hybrid) -

Brand Lead / Senior Account Manager (Premium Spirits) - Sandton Central, Johannesburg (Hybrid) - R550 000 - R950 000 per annum depending on experience

An entrepreneurial, high-energy Brand Lead / Senior Account Manager to act as the primary Brand Guardian for a premium tequila portfolio across Africa.

About Our Client The company operates within the Marketing, Advertising & Brand Activations sector. They value an entrepreneurial spirit, maturity, and a direct, unpretentious approach that cuts through fluff and standard consultant-speak.

The Role: Brand Lead / Senior Account Manager (Premium Spirits) This role serves as the strategic and operational engine of the account, managing a focus portfolio of two premium tequila brands. The purpose of this role is to autonomously run campaigns and act as a lead consultant to shape the brand's vision. The successful candidate will ensure that physical execution across the local Sandton office and regional African markets is authentic, disruptive, and flawless.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the primary, trusted advisor to the client with 8 to 12+ years of progressive brand management or agency account leadership experience, leading and aligning directly in high-level sessions with CMOs, Tequila Directors, and Marketing Managers.

• Oversee the transition of creative concepts into physical reality with a heavy focus on Below-The-Line campaigns, including On-Trade and Off-Trade activation spaces, experiential events, PR, social media, and digital rollouts.

• Monitor the commercial health of the account by managing Cost Estimates, Purchase Orders, and contracting.

• Maintain meticulous control over resource tracking and billable hours to protect project margins from scope creep.

• Log all team member hours accurately and relay metrics to the client efficiently.

• Lead and mentor a dedicated support network across Africa, including centralized strategy, creative, social media, and digital teams.

• Travel regularly across Africa to oversee major events, pop-up activations, and campaign launches on the ground.

About You

• Possess 8 to 12+ years of progressive brand management or agency account leadership experience.

• Demonstrate deep experience in the Premium Spirits sector, having worked with premium alcohol brands before.

• Maintain complete readiness to work after hours and be out on the ground for activations when the brands are consumed by the market.

• Show absolute willingness to travel regularly across Africa, including phases in Morocco, Nigeria, and Zambia.

• Treat assigned brands like your own business with an entrepreneurial spirit, real ownership, and a high degree of maturity.

• Communicate in a professional, grounded, direct, and unpretentious style while rejecting standard consultant-speak.

• Understand how to thoroughly run structured timesheet processes.

• Exhibit a highly autonomous, resourceful, and solution-driven mindset in fast-paced environments where things do not always go to plan.

• Hold past success steering regional African campaigns, which is highly advantageous.