← Back to Blog
marketing coordinatorhiringnz businessjob description

Marketing Coordinator Job Description (NZ) — Free Template + The Honest Truth About the Role

Louis Wilks·

Before you copy this JD and chuck it up on Seek — read the last section.

We've watched heaps of NZ SMEs hire a marketing coordinator, burn them out in nine months, and walk away convinced marketing is a waste of money. It's not. The problem is they hired a manager for a machine that doesn't exist yet.

Right. Template first.

Free marketing coordinator job description template

Copy, paste, edit. Or steal the bits that fit.


Job title: Marketing Coordinator

Reports to: [General Manager / Owner / Marketing Manager]

Location: [City], New Zealand — in-office / hybrid / remote

Employment type: Full-time permanent

Salary band: NZ $55,000 – $75,000 + KiwiSaver (adjust for experience and region)

About the role

We're looking for a marketing coordinator to run the day-to-day of our marketing. You'll keep campaigns on track, keep content flowing, keep our agencies and suppliers accountable, and keep leadership informed with clear reporting.

This is a coordination role — not a strategy role. You'll execute the marketing plan we've set, manage the systems we've built, and flag issues when they come up.

Key responsibilities

  • Run the marketing calendar across email, social, web, and paid channels
  • Brief and manage external suppliers (designers, agencies, photographers, videographers)
  • Schedule and publish social media posts across LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook
  • Write and send email newsletters using our existing templates
  • Update website content (blog posts, product pages, landing pages) using our CMS
  • Run basic on-page SEO (meta descriptions, alt tags, internal links)
  • Monitor and report on campaign performance using GA4 and platform dashboards
  • Own the brand asset library — keep logos, fonts, images, templates organised
  • Coordinate events, trade shows, and sponsorships
  • Manage reviews, respond to comments, handle inbound social messages
  • Produce monthly marketing reports for leadership

Marketing coordinator working at desk with laptop

Skills and experience

Required:

  • 2+ years in a marketing coordinator, assistant, or similar role
  • Strong written English — our tone is [describe voice]
  • Comfortable in Canva, Mailchimp (or similar), WordPress/Hugo (or our CMS), Meta Business Suite, LinkedIn
  • Basic understanding of Google Analytics (GA4)
  • Organised. Deadline-driven. Comfortable juggling 10+ small tasks
  • Confident communicating with suppliers and holding them accountable

Nice to have:

  • Experience with paid advertising platforms (even if just reporting)
  • Basic graphic design skills
  • Photography or video basics
  • HubSpot, Klaviyo, or similar marketing automation experience
  • Industry experience in [your industry]

What we offer

  • [Salary band]
  • [Benefits, KiwiSaver, holidays]
  • A clear marketing plan to execute — you won't be inventing the wheel
  • Supportive leadership that understands marketing takes time to work
  • [Any flexibility, training budget, tools provided]

How to apply

Send your CV and a short cover note explaining a marketing campaign you're proud of — what the goal was, what you did, and what the result was.

Email: [[email protected]]

Applications close: [Date]


Right. Now the honest bit.

If you've just copied that JD and you're about to post it, pause.

Answer one question first: does a marketing machine already exist at your company?

A machine means:

  • A clear marketing strategy written down somewhere
  • Defined channels you actually commit to (not "we try everything")
  • Working assets — website that converts, email list that's active, ads that have been tested
  • Reporting that already ties marketing to revenue
  • Budget allocated and approved
  • A clear answer to "what are we selling and to whom"

If yes, great. A coordinator is exactly who you need.

If no — if you're hiring a coordinator because marketing is a mess and you need someone to sort it out — you're about to waste sixty grand and burn a good person out.

Why one coordinator can't do it all

Modern marketing has at least eight distinct disciplines:

  • Strategy (what do we say and to whom)
  • Brand (how do we look and sound)
  • Website and CRO (does our site convert)
  • SEO (can people find us on Google)
  • Paid ads (Google, Meta, LinkedIn)
  • Content and copywriting
  • Email and automation
  • Analytics and reporting

Each discipline is a full-time job at scale. Each requires real skill to do well.

When a boss hires one coordinator and expects them to cover all eight, what happens?

The coordinator does the easiest three (social, emails, basic site updates), the medium three badly (SEO, paid ads, reporting), and the hardest two not at all (strategy and CRO). Six months in, the business has more activity but no more leads. The boss decides marketing doesn't work. The coordinator burns out. Everyone loses.

This is the most common pattern we see in NZ SMEs. We've watched it play out across tradies, hospo, SaaS, professional services, retail. Different industries, same mistake.

Two different jobs: build the machine vs run it

Hiring a marketing coordinator is like hiring a factory manager. They run the production line. They don't build the factory.

Building the machine includes:

  • Deciding the strategy
  • Designing the brand
  • Building the website and getting it converting
  • Setting up ad accounts, tracking, pixels, audiences
  • Creating the content system
  • Writing the first 20 ad creatives
  • Designing the email automations
  • Wiring up the reporting

Running the machine includes:

  • Publishing the weekly content
  • Sending the newsletter
  • Updating ad creative
  • Monitoring the dashboards
  • Keeping suppliers on track
  • Flagging issues to leadership

A coordinator is great at the second list. They're not equipped to do the first list alone. That's not a criticism of coordinators — it's just the reality of how much scope sits under the word "marketing."

How to know if you're ready to hire a coordinator

Run through this checklist. Answer honestly.

  • [ ] We have a written marketing strategy for the next 12 months
  • [ ] We know our target customer and have proof they respond to us
  • [ ] Our website converts at a known rate (we measure it)
  • [ ] We have at least one marketing channel that's proven to generate leads
  • [ ] We have tracking set up — we can see cost per lead, per sale
  • [ ] Our brand has consistent assets (logo, fonts, colours, tone guide)
  • [ ] We have a content plan for at least the next quarter
  • [ ] Our CRM or email tool is set up and clean

Six or more checked: yes, hire a coordinator. They'll thrive.

Three to five checked: you've got a partial machine. Hire a coordinator AND bring in help to finish the build, or delay the hire.

Two or fewer checked: don't hire a coordinator yet. You'll set them up to fail. Build the machine first.

What to do if you're not ready

Three options.

Option 1: Fractional marketing leadership. Bring in someone part-time who can build the machine over 6–12 months. Cost: typically $4k–$8k per month. They set up everything, then hand over.

Option 2: Agency that builds and exits. Hire an agency that takes over the full marketing function, builds the machine, trains your team, then hands over. This is our model. (We call it the Full Service Accelerator. Here are 23 questions to ask any agency before signing.)

Option 3: DIY and accept the timeline. If cash is tight, you can build it yourself with the owner doing 10 hours a week for a year. It works. It's just slow and lonely.

The option to avoid: hiring a single coordinator and expecting them to sort it all out on their own. That's the sixty-grand mistake.

The coordinator hiring sequence we recommend

If you're working with us (or any agency that builds and hands over), the sequence looks like this:

Months 1–3: Agency builds the machine. No coordinator yet.

Months 3–6: Agency runs the machine while documenting everything. Hire the coordinator now, onboard them into a functional system.

Months 6–12: Coordinator takes over day-to-day. Agency drops to advisory / specialist-only work. Coordinator is winning because they inherited a system that already works.

Month 12+: Coordinator runs marketing in-house with specialist help only as needed. Agency steps back or ends.

This sequence works because the coordinator inherits a machine that already generates leads. They look good from month one. They stay. They grow.

Team collaborating around a meeting table

Salary reality check for NZ

  • Junior coordinator (0–2 years): $50k–$60k
  • Mid coordinator (2–5 years): $60k–$75k
  • Senior coordinator / marketing manager (5+ years): $75k–$95k
  • Marketing manager with strategic scope: $90k–$130k

Auckland and Wellington skew 10–15% higher. Regional NZ skews lower.

Be honest about which level you need. A $55k junior cannot do $95k manager work, no matter how many hours they put in.

Summary

The JD at the top of this page works — if your business is ready. Most aren't.

Before you post that job ad, check the readiness list. If you're not ready, fix the machine first. Then hire.

We help NZ SMEs build the machine. Our Full Service Accelerator runs $5k–$8k per month, covers the full marketing function, and is designed to hand over to your coordinator inside 12–18 months.

If you're about to hire a coordinator and you're not sure you're ready, book a 15-minute fit call. We'll tell you straight up whether you should hire, hold off, or work with us first. No pitch.

Ready to turn marketing into your greatest asset?

Book a free call with the King Tide team.

Get in Touch →