Decorative shape Decorative shape Decorative shape

Growth Marketing Manager

About Us

Orion Labs is a small, fast-growing software development and DevOps consultancy based in Cape Town, South Africa. We work on modern cloud, analytics, platform engineering, and AI-related projects for local and international clients. We’re collaborative and hands-on with dynamic technologies. You’ll join a supportive team with real ownership, lots of room to learn, and clear opportunities to grow your career while doing meaningful work for great clients.

Job Description

We are seeking an experienced Growth Marketing Manager to lead the launch and growth marketing for one of our clients: a global online marketplace that connects professionals and subject-matter experts with businesses looking to hire them for project-based, remote work. The MVP launches later this year, and you will own the go-to-market from day one. You will develop the global marketing strategy, then execute it across paid, organic, content, community, and partnership channels over a 12+ month campaign.

This is a true startup marketing role, not a single-channel position. Two-sided marketplaces are among the hardest businesses to grow: supply and demand must be built in the right order, across multiple regions, on a bootstrapped budget where every rand and dollar has to justify itself. We’re looking for someone who has done early-stage growth before, thinks in terms of acquisition cost and marketplace health rather than vanity metrics, and is equally comfortable writing a strategy document, briefing creative, setting up a campaign, and presenting weekly results to stakeholders.

Responsibilities:

  • Develop and own a global digital marketing strategy for the platform’s launch and first year, broken down into phased, weekly, and monthly activities and budgets.
  • Plan and run the go-to-market for a two-sided marketplace: seeding the professional (supply) side first, then activating business (demand) acquisition, then scaling the channels that prove they pay back.
  • Plan, launch, and optimise paid campaigns across Google, Meta, and LinkedIn, managing budget allocation across channels, regions, and both sides of the marketplace.
  • Build and run the organic engine: SEO-driven content, landing pages, social media, email/lifecycle campaigns, and referral mechanics.
  • Drive community-led and partnership growth through professional bodies, industry associations, and online communities across target markets.
  • Localise messaging and campaigns across priority English-speaking markets in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe.
  • Define and implement marketing measurement: tracking and attribution, KPI dashboards, and written weekly performance reports covering acquisition cost, activation, and marketplace liquidity.
  • Design and run recurring user feedback surveys and synthesise the results into actionable input for both marketing and product.
  • Support fundraising and brand collateral, including pitch deck content and messaging.
  • Brief and coordinate creative, design, and content production (in-house and freelance).
  • Work directly with the founder and the Orion Labs delivery team, presenting results, trade-offs, and recommendations clearly and honestly.

Qualifications:

  • 4+ years of hands-on marketing experience, with a significant portion in startups or early-stage products (pre-launch to growth stage).
  • Proven experience taking a new product to market, ideally a marketplace, platform, SaaS, or other two-sided/network-effect business.
  • Broad, generalist skill set spanning paid acquisition, SEO and content, social, email/lifecycle, and community or partnership marketing.
  • Strong command of performance marketing fundamentals: CPA, CAC, LTV, funnel conversion, activation and retention metrics.
  • Hands-on proficiency with ad platforms (Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn) and analytics/measurement tooling (GA4, Search Console, tag management, attribution).
  • Experience building marketing reporting from scratch and communicating performance to non-marketing stakeholders.
  • Strong copywriting and messaging skills, with the ability to develop positioning and turn product strengths into campaigns that convert.
  • Comfortable operating independently with a limited budget, navigating ambiguity, and prioritising ruthlessly.
  • Excellent communication skills, with the confidence to give honest, data-backed recommendations and push back on unrealistic targets.

Nice to Have:

  • Experience growing a two-sided marketplace or gig/talent platform specifically.
  • Experience marketing across emerging markets (Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America).
  • Familiarity with web3, blockchain, or crypto ecosystems and their communities.
  • Experience with survey design and user research tools (Typeform, etc.).
  • Experience producing investor-facing materials (pitch decks, one-pagers).
  • Basic design or video skills (Canva, Figma, short-form video) for scrappy in-house creative.
  • Experience working with or inside marketing agencies and managing freelancers.

Marketing Stack:

  • Paid: Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads
  • Analytics & Measurement: GA4, Google Search Console, Google Tag Manager, Looker Studio or similar dashboards
  • Content & SEO: Keyword research and SEO tooling (Ahrefs/Semrush or similar), CMS-based landing pages
  • Email & Lifecycle: Mailchimp, Brevo, Customer.io, or similar
  • Social & Community: LinkedIn, X, professional and industry communities
  • Research & Testing: Survey tooling (Typeform or similar), Userback for user testing and feedback
  • Tools: Slack, ClickUp/Trello, Canva/Figma

Benefits

We offer competitive compensation, fully remote work, flexible hours, a learning and certification budget, and a supportive, low-ego team that values work–life balance and growth. This role is fully remote, and we welcome candidates from across Southern Africa. Our team already spans the region, including South Africa and Zimbabwe, so you’ll be in good company wherever you’re based. Full-time is preferred, with contract arrangements also considered for the right candidate.

Inclusive Hiring

We hire for skill, potential, and values. In South Africa’s diverse context, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and aim to provide a fair, inclusive process. If you have the skills and drive, we’d love to hear from you.

Application

Think this role is for you? We'd love to hear from you. Send us your CV and let's chat about whether you're a good fit.

Apply Now