Digital Lead

The Digital Lead is responsible for leading the end-to-end digital delivery of the client portfolio, ensuring digital strategy, planning, activation, optimisation and measurement are connected and delivered to a consistently high standard. The role acts as the central digital owner across the client team, translating client briefs and business objectives into clear digital strategies and ensuring these are successfully executed across all relevant digital channels. The Digital Lead connects Client Leadership, Strategy, Planning, Activation, Ad Operations, Data & Analytics and external partners. This is both a strategic and operational leadership role. Company: WPP Media South Africa. Reports To: Client Partner. Type: Full-Time.

Responsibilities

Act as the senior digital point of contact for the client and internal client leadership team; Build strong relationships with key client stakeholders and become a trusted advisor on digital media and marketing, including commerce; Translate business and marketing objectives into clear digital media strategies and actionable plans; Lead digital conversations across client meetings, planning sessions, performance reviews and business reviews; Own the digital response to client briefs from initial briefing through to campaign activation; Provide leadership and quality control across digital planning, including Paid Social, Search, Programmatic, Online Video / YouTube, Display, Premium Publishers, Connected TV, Retail and Commerce Media, Influencer / Creator Media and emerging digital platforms; Maintain end-to-end oversight of digital campaigns from approval through to launch; Ensure all campaign dependencies are managed, including media approvals, budgets, POs, creative assets, tracking requirements, platform builds and launch dates; Provide leadership and oversight to channel specialists without replacing specialist expertise; Maintain oversight of live campaign performance across the portfolio; Lead regular performance and optimisation reviews with activation teams; Partner with Data & Analytics teams to establish appropriate campaign measurement frameworks; Review reporting before it reaches the client and ensure it provides clear interpretation rather than data alone; Establish and maintain high standards of digital campaign governance; Maintain oversight of digital budgets and campaign pacing; Identify opportunities across AI, automation, creator marketing, commerce, retail media and emerging platforms; Coach planners, executives and activation specialists to strengthen digital capability

Requirements

7+ years' experience in digital media, digital marketing or integrated media; Strong understanding of the digital media ecosystem across Search, Social, Programmatic, Video and emerging digital channels; Experience managing complex, multi-channel digital campaigns; Strong understanding of digital planning, activation, optimisation and measurement; Experience managing significant digital media budgets; Strong client leadership and presentation skills; Ability to translate complex digital information into clear business recommendations; Strong project management and operational discipline; Experience working with specialist activation and analytics teams; Strong understanding of digital KPIs, measurement and performance optimisation

Nice to have

Experience working on large regional or global clients; Experience across multiple brands or markets; Knowledge of retail and commerce media; Creator / influencer marketing experience; Experience with Google Marketing Platform, Meta, TikTok and major programmatic platforms; Understanding of marketing effectiveness, attribution and incrementality; Experience implementing automation or AI-enabled media workflows