Marketing Cloud Specialist

ABOUT THE ROLE

• The Marketing Cloud Specialist is a hybrid role that combines deep Salesforce Marketing Cloud platform expertise, digital marketing experience and marketing knowledge. The role owns the design, build, and optimisation of customer journeys within Marketing Cloud based on business objectives provided, translating the business-level customer journey strategy into platform execution. The specialist does not own the overall business customer journey strategy, but works closely with the business journey owner, taking strategic direction from them and feeding back platform-level performance insights to continuously improve the experience.
• The individual in this role must be able to think like a marketer first and leverage the platform as the primary execution tool. They are responsible for ensuring that every journey, campaign, and piece of content is purposefully matched to the right audience at the right lifecycle stage, and for translating business journey intent into precise, data-driven execution on the Marketing Cloud platform. Business requirements will be provided by the business teams.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Configure and maintain Marketing Cloud settings and business unit configurations.
• Monitor platform health, sending limits, and configuration across Unified Messaging (Email, SMS, WhatsApp), Marketing Core (sf_mktg), and Salesforce Flow-based journey orchestration. User access, roles, and permission sets are managed by the Salesforce support team.
• Oversee Data Cloud unified contact profiles, data objects, and data retention policies across the on-Core stack.
• Content strategy and creation is owned by the marketing team based on business objectives; the specialist provides input into this process.
• Design and build Marketing Cloud journeys in Salesforce Flow and Marketing Core (sf_mktg) that accurately reflect the business customer journey strategy, covering all lifecycle stages: acquisition, onboarding, nurture, retention, and win-back.
• Own the journey logic within Marketing Cloud, defining entry triggers, decision splits, content assignments, wait steps, and exit conditions that correctly reflect the intended customer experience.
• Determine the channel mix within each journey (email via UnifiedMsgEmail, SMS via UMsgSms, WhatsApp via UWhatsAppProd) based on audience behaviour, message urgency, and consent status, and recommend strategic channel mix changes to the business journey owner where data supports it.
• Build, test, and maintain the full suite of journeys in Salesforce Flow and Marketing Core (sf_mktg): nurture sequences, onboarding flows, re-engagement campaigns, event-triggered sends, and transactional communications.
• Apply audience segmentation and personalisation within journeys, ensuring the right content variant reaches the right person at the right stage, using Data Cloud profiles and sf_persnl to drive individualised experiences.
• Continuously feed structured performance insights and improvement hypotheses back to the business journey owner, documenting what is working, what is underperforming at the platform level, and proposing specific journey enhancements for their consideration and approval.
• Monitor and report on deliverability, engagement (opens, clicks, conversions), unsubscribe rates, and revenue attribution.
• Identify underperforming journeys and diagnose root causes, whether content, timing, audience fit, subject line quality, or channel mismatch.
• Benchmark performance against industry standards and historical trends specific to the South African market.
• Design and run structured A/B and multivariate tests on subject lines, content, CTAs, send times, and journey logic within Marketing Cloud; surface findings as data-backed recommendations to the business journey owner for strategic journey decisions.
• Define hypotheses before testing, draw rigorous conclusions from results, and build an internal knowledge base of what works for the specific audience.
• Translate performance data into clear, business-language recommendations for marketing leadership, focused on customer behaviour and commercial impact, not platform metrics alone.
• Present regular journey and campaign performance reports to stakeholders, proactively identifying opportunities for new journeys or enhancements and bringing these to the business journey owner with supporting data.
• Design and manage Data Cloud unified customer profiles, data objects, and data model relationships within the on-Core platform.
• Oversee data ingestion into Data Cloud via API, native CRM sync (cdp_crm_dk1), and connected data sources, ensuring ongoing data quality and integrity.
• Build and maintain audience segments, filters, and personalisation frameworks.
• Manage Data Cloud segment activation to messaging channels via cdpactvstrgptnr, ensuring segments flow correctly into email, SMS, and WhatsApp journeys.
• Use AMPscript for email personalisation and dynamic content, and Data Cloud SQL / SOQL for segment building and profile-based targeting.
• Configure and manage Data Cloud Flow (datacloudflow) to trigger Salesforce Flows from Data Cloud events, enabling real-time, event-driven journey orchestration.
• Enforce POPIA (Protection of Personal Information Act) consent requirements across all communication channels.
• Maintain suppression lists, opt-out mechanisms, and compliant unsubscribe handling.
• Ensure all outbound communications include correct legal footers, preference centre links, and unsubscribe options.
• Document processes and maintain audit trails for data handling and consent management.
• Stay current with POPIA updates and emerging digital marketing compliance obligations in South Africa.
• Train and support marketing team members on Marketing Cloud tools, campaign processes, and best practices.
• Maintain clear, up-to-date documentation of SOPs, campaign briefs, and technical guides.
• Act as the bridge between the business teams, marketing team and IT or Salesforce development team.
• Triage and resolve platform issues, escalating to Salesforce Support where required.
• Present findings and recommendations to leadership in clear business terms.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE

• Minimum 3-5 years of hands-on experience with Salesforce Marketing Cloud in a functional role.
• Demonstrated experience leading and owning marketing campaigns end-to-end, not merely executing briefs.
• Proven experience owning and building customer journeys within a marketing automation platform, and collaborating with business-level journey owners on strategy, performance, and improvements.
• Experience with performance analysis and data-driven campaign improvement.
• Familiarity with the South African marketing landscape, including POPIA compliance requirements.

EDUCATION

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, or a related field (preferred).
• Salesforce Marketing Cloud Administrator certification (required).
• Salesforce Marketing Cloud Email Specialist certification (required).
• Salesforce Marketing Cloud Consultant certification (advantageous).

REQUIRED SKILLS

• Marketing Cloud on Core: Unified Messaging Email (UnifiedMsgEmail), Unified Messaging SMS (UMsgSms), WhatsApp (UWhatsAppProd), Marketing Core (sf_mktg) including Advanced Edition, Marketing Web (sf_mktg_web), Lead Capture, Data Cloud (ssot, cdpactvstrgptnr, datacloudflow), Salesforce Personalisation (sf_persnl), and Marketing Intelligence (on Core, Data Cloud-native).
• AMPscript for email personalisation and dynamic content within the on-Core email channel.
• Data Cloud SQL and SOQL for segment building, profile queries, and data transformation within the on-Core platform.
• HTML/CSS for email template editing and troubleshooting.
• Native CRM-to-marketing data sync via cdp_crm_dk1 (no Marketing Cloud Connect required on the on-Core platform).
• Salesforce REST API and on-Core messaging API familiarity for integration troubleshooting and custom channel configurations.
• Customer journey ownership within a marketing platform, including journey design, lifecycle stage mapping, and structured performance feedback to business-level journey stakeholders.
• Audience segmentation and personalisation strategy.
• A/B testing design, analysis, and iterative improvement.
• Performance reporting and insight generation and recommendation for business stakeholders.
• Commercial awareness, understanding how marketing activity connects to business outcomes.
• Ability to work independently end-to-end, from strategy to execution to analysis.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for stakeholder reporting.
• Analytical mindset with attention to detail.
• Collaborative and able to bridge technical and non-technical teams.
• Self-driven, proactive, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment.

Work Location: In person