Mzansi's kitchen is hiring. We're looking for a senior, self-driven social and brand lead to help us build kitchen confidence across South Africa.
About Foodies of SA
Foodies of SA exists to build kitchen confidence. We believe you're more capable in the kitchen than you think, and your ingredients can do more than you think they can, so we make easy, local recipes that South Africans cook tonight and celebrate the flops as loudly as the wins. What started as a YouTube channel has grown into one of South Africa's biggest food communities: over 1.4 million followers, 1,100+ Foodies Community Creators, and recipe videos people watch, with an 11-second average watch time and 80% positive sentiment. And because we're part of Engage Video Group (EVG), a video tech company, we never have to guess what works: our own Optivid technology shows us exactly which videos people watch, for how long, and how many of those seconds are spent with our partners' brands. We call it Branded Seconds Watched, and we optimise every video to deliver more of them.
The role at a glance
You'll own Foodies of SA's social presence and brand standards end to end, working closely with our content leads, production team and the Managing Director. As Lead, you're accountable for the results.
What you'll own
1. Brand management. You own the Foodies of SA brand guidelines and CI. Our content teams use them to plan every shoot. You also write the voiceover briefs. Every video must build kitchen confidence and pass the smash test: you know it's Foodies, even without the logo.
2. Team leadership. You manage our food stylist and recipe developer. You set their priorities, give clear feedback and help them grow.
3. Content planning and scheduling. You plan the content calendar weeks ahead and schedule all posts, including our paid recipe campaigns.
4. Quality control. Every post goes up on time. Every recipe, cooking time and serving size is correct. No spelling mistakes.
5. Website management. You keep foodiesofsa.com fresh, up to date and correct.
6. Campaigns and competitions. You plan and run our big campaigns, like the Festive Advent Calendar, and our competitions during the year.
7. Organic content creation. When there is less paid content, you come up with your own post ideas and make them happen, often with just your phone.
8. Community management. You run our community management yourself: replying to comments and DMs, starting conversations, and running #foodiesfavs, challenges and spotlights.
9. Audience insights. You know what our audience loves. You share this with our sales team so they know what to sell.
10. Brand health reporting. You track how the Foodies of SA brand is doing month on month, from followers and engagement to sentiment, and share what we should do next.
11. Platform trends and innovation. You stay on top of platform changes, from new ad and content tools on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest and Threads to new platforms as they appear, and tell us what Foodies should try next. You also find better ways of working and make them happen.
You'll thrive here if you
• Have 5+ years in social media or community management for a brand, publisher or agency, ideally in food, lifestyle or FMCG, with a track record of growing an audience.
• Are proactive and self-managed: you see what needs doing and do it, without waiting for a brief.
• Never run out of ideas, and can turn a quiet week into great organic content with just your phone.
• Are a natural planner and meticulous: you work weeks ahead, nothing gets missed, and nothing goes out with a typo.
• Have a sharp visual eye and know instantly when a frame, edit or font doesn't feel on brand.
• Have experience managing people, and can work with production teams to find the best solution under pressure, while holding firm on the things that matter.
• Think commercially, and can see how an audience insight becomes an idea a brand would pay for.
• Are comfortable updating a website in Wix or a similar builder.
• Love to cook, and understand how South Africans eat across regions, cultures and budgets.
Bonus points for experience with branded or sponsored content, editing in CapCut or similar, or speaking more than one South African language.
How we work: we want to be the best at what we do, take extreme ownership, keep improving, and be great to work with. If that sounds like you, you'll fit right in.
How to apply
Apply via BambooHR with your CV and a link to your portfolio, and answer these four questions in a few sentences each:
1. Share one post or campaign you're proudest of. What result did it get, and why did it work?
2. Look at our Instagram. What's one thing you would change, and why?
3. Our feed has a quiet week with no paid content scheduled. Give us two organic post ideas you'd make happen.
4. What's the last thing you cooked, and would it make a good Foodies of SA video?
Shortlisted candidates will complete a short practical brand task of no more than two hours, followed by interviews with the team.