Specialist, Media Operations - Standard Bank

We drive distinctive customer/ client experiences and enhance Standard Bank's reputation to generate sustainable commercial value.

Job Purpose

To establish, execute, monitor and control the media budgeting, billing and payment process across all media vendors in order to enable Standard Bank to build an in-house media buying capability as part of the journey to optimise the South Africa digital media accounts, processes and technologies.

Provide specialist input to the Group Media Centre of Excellence (COE) in the procurement and management of strategic relations and programmes with large media vendors, including Google and Facebook.

Key Responsibilities/Accountabilities

Financial Management

• Update job knowledge by participating in educational opportunities, reading professional publications, maintaining personal networks and participating in professional forums in order to stay abreast of the latest developments in the specialist field of digital media and buying platforms and introduce best practices into Standard Bank.

• Conduct audits and resolve billing discrepancies across Group Media Platforms and Standard Bank Media Accounts for South Africa to ensure sound financial control.
• Provide guidance to Segment teams on billing and invoicing to maintain consistent process and assist in keeping abreast of all invoice, billing and delivery accuracy and issues.
• Carefully monitor and evaluate campaigns bought through Group Media Platforms or owned media accounts in South Africa to help maximise the value of investment.
• Collaborate closely with Agencies and partners to set up, maintain, monitor and improve digital paid advertising campaigns across all popular channels within South Africa.
• Develop media operations financial strategies by estimating, forecasting, and anticipating requirements and researching recommendations for software and equipment purchases.
• Develop processes, playbooks and templates to assist Digital Marketing teams in managing their annual digital media budgets across multiple vendors in compliance with procurement and finance processes and ensuring accurate and timeous payment to vendors.
• Provide specialist advice and guidance across the South Africa business Segments to align digital media KPIs and spend levels in order to achieve effectiveness of total investment.

Technology & Architecture

• Build effective budgeting and payments processes that can be applied on Social and Digital Media buying platforms for South Africa Segment teams as part of the journey to establish an in-house media buying capability.
• Provide specialist advice to the Group Media Centre of Excellence in the procurement and onboarding of new Media vendor partners in order to align Standard Bank Digital Marketing to world class practices.
• Actively contribute to build the business case that will include options and opportunities for the in-housing of media buying for South Africa to enable effective decision-making regarding the Digital Media strategy.
• Define, measure and evaluate relevant paid media KPIs for South Africa across all segments in order to determine return on investment and identify opportunities for cost optimisation.
• Conduct research to develop a deep level of understanding regarding best practises and case studies of big brands moving to in-house media buying in order to provide advice to the Standard Bank Media COE.
• Develop training programmes, train staff and progress adoption of media buying tools across the Group.
• Establish, execute, monitor and control the media budgeting, billing and payment process across all media vendors in order to enable Standard Bank to build an in-house media buying capability as part of the journey to optimise the South Africa digital media accounts, processes and technologies.
• Provide specialist input to the Group Media Centre of Excellence (COE) in the procurement and management of strategic relations and programmes with large media vendors in order to transition the Standard Bank Group to establish an in-house media buying capability.

People

• Establish and maintain effective relationships with the senior account representatives from Media vendors, including but not limited to Google, Facebook, TLM and AdDynamo.
• Establish and maintain solid and productive relationships and consult across all business units in order to ensure that all business units and countries who want to use/currently use social and digital media platforms, align to the overall group strategic approach, policies and standards.

Data

• Provide advice and guidance to media agencies and partners to ensure effective billing and data ownership within South Africa.
• Perform in-depth competitive analysis for the South Africa business as it relates to media buying in order to align to best practices and global trends.
• Maintain great knowledge of the latest global trends and best practices in digital marketing and media and demonstrate continuous improvement and innovation in the media space.

Client

• Provide project management services for special projects to enable Digital Media Buying Capabilities and to ensure delivery aligned to customer expectations and within the agreed timelines.
• Provide Google Marketing Platform upskilling and integrations for all Segments within South Africa to ensure standardisation and consistency across the Group.
• Drive the digital understanding and adoption of various platforms throughout the SA marketing teams to ensure a successful transition to an in-house media buying capability.

Risk, Regulatory, Prudential & Compliance

• Report all risk issues and incidents timeously to the relevant Heads and Forums in order to take immediate action and mitigate risks for the Bank.
• Partner with Finance, Compliance, and Procurement to ensure that all social and digital media buying activities are compliant with regulatory frameworks.

Minimum Qualification and Experience

Qualifications:

• A tertiary degree in Marketing, Digital Marketing or Media would be a minimum requirement for this job.
• Google Ads certification would be required.

Experience:

Strategic Sourcing, 3 – 4 years

• Experience in developing processes, playbooks and templates to enable Marketing teams to manage their annual digital media budgets across multiple vendors while adhering to all procurement and finance standards and guidelines. Specialist level of experience in digital media buying platforms in order to provide expert advice and guidance to Marketing teams within the Standard Bank Group.

Digital Marketing, 5 – 7 years

• The role requires experienced digital marketing and media specialist with a thorough understanding and practical experience as a media planner and/or buyer in an advertising agency setting. Specialist experience on working on social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Practical experience of digital marketing technology stack available in the market and what they are used for and how they need to integrate to place media, build and manage segments.