South Africa · 2026

Shaun Cedric
Thomas.

Director of Partner Marketing at GetSmarter, a 2U brand. Previously led digital marketing at Unilever and in the non-profit sector. Operator, researcher, and part-time lecturer at CPUT. I work at the intersection of data, strategy and people — making complexity feel simple and actionable.

10+
Years in Marketing
50+
Scholar Citations
Portrait of Shaun Cedric Thomas in Cape Town
· 8888 ·
· South Africa ·
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01 / Notes

What I'm thinking
about, lately.

Position
Updated August 2026

Over a decade in, I’ve come to think the craft is mostly about resisting the easy answer. The work I’m proudest of usually started with a number that didn’t make sense and ended with a conversation that did.

What I’m still figuring out is AI. Not the hype version — the day-to-day one. It collapses the distance between question and answer, but it also flattens judgement, taste, and the willingness to disagree with the obvious answer. The people who will do well are the ones who know what to hand to a model and what to protect from it.

And then there’s the quiet that follows the noise. Last month Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment over a hundred times in a Senate hearing on COVID origins. Not long ago, asking questions about the vaccine, the mandates, or the origins of the virus was treated like a social swear word. Now that the official story is under oath and the answers are being refused, many of the loudest voices have gone quiet. Silence is its own kind of data.

The pattern shows up everywhere: in institutions, in marketing, in any system that prefers narrative over evidence. The work is noticing when the easy answer is doing too much of the talking.

02 / About

A few words
about me.

Bio

I'm a marketing leader based in Cape Town, working at the intersection of performance, growth, and higher education. I've helped world-class universities and institutions turn ambitious enrolment goals into measurable outcomes. UCT, MIT, Yale, LSE, Harvard, Cambridge.

At GetSmarter, a 2U brand, I'm a senior leader on the Partner Marketing team. Before that, I spent years deep inside the performance funnel: forecasting, attribution, paid media, and the unglamorous work of making numbers move. Numbers were how I learned the craft. Relationships are how I extend its reach.

Off the clock, I'm a peer-reviewed researcher, a part-time lecturer at Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and Chair of its Marketing Advisory Committee.

I'm also a long-distance runner. Two Oceans Half Marathon finisher & ultramarathon finisher. The road taught me something the office rarely does: the work that compounds is the work nobody sees.

03 / Journey

The shape of
where I've been.

Milestones
Sep 2025 - Present

Director, Partner Marketing, GetSmarter (a 2U brand)

Senior leader on the partner marketing team. Managing the relationships between GetSmarter and our institutional partners, and shaping how those needs translate into our marketing strategy.

Dec 2025

Chair, Marketing Advisory Committee, CPUT

Stepped into the chair role, helping shape the next generation of marketers entering the industry, and giving back to the institution that shaped me.

The CPUT Marketing Advisory Committee in session, the day Shaun Cedric Thomas was nominated as chair
2024

Began lecturing at CPUT

Started teaching part-time in the Marketing Department. Joined the Industry Advisory Board the same year. Teaching forces clarity in a way the day job rarely does.

2024

First peer-reviewed publications

Published research with Professor R.G. Duffett on social media marketing strategy in health-related non-profits. Two papers in 2024, with a handful in the pipeline.

2023

Master of Marketing

Completed at CPUT. The bridge between practitioner and researcher, the lens that now shapes how I work.

Shaun Cedric Thomas at his Master of Marketing graduation, CPUT
2020

Joined GetSmarter (a 2U brand)

Started as a Marketing Analyst. Six years and four roles later, the same instinct still applies: let the data tell you where to look, then trust the judgement to decide what to do about it.

2014

Where it all began

Marketing intern at Berge Farrell Strategic Brand Design, then Communications Assistant and eventually Communications Officer at HPCA. The early roles where I learned that good marketing is, at its core, just clear thinking made visible.

04 / CV

Work, briefly.

Experience
2025 - Now

Director, Partner Marketing

GetSmarter, a 2U brand

Senior member of the partner marketing team, managing the relationships between GetSmarter and a portfolio of world-class university and institutional partners. Collaborate with executive leadership and cross-functional teams on portfolio performance, growth planning, and how partner needs translate into our marketing strategy.

Partner Relationships Stakeholder Management Cross-Functional
2023 - 2025

Manager, Performance Marketing

GetSmarter, a 2U brand

Directed end-to-end performance marketing for university partners. Oversaw an annual advertising portfolio in excess of USD $50 million across paid search, social, programmatic, and partner channels. Built the forecasting and KPI frameworks used by senior leadership.

$50M+ Portfolio Forecasting Tableau Coaching
2022 - 2023

Lead, Performance Marketing

GetSmarter, a 2U brand

Led performance marketing strategy for prestigious institutions including UCT, MIT, Yale, LSE, Harvard, Cambridge, IBM, and Microsoft. Owned the full marketing cycle from lead generation to conversion, with a sharp focus on qualified prospect volume and cost efficiency.

UCT · MIT · Yale LSE · Harvard Cambridge · IBM · Microsoft
2021 - 2022

Senior Analyst, Digital Marketing & Analysis

GetSmarter, a 2U brand

Owned attribution, campaign performance, and revenue prediction models. Surfaced the insights that informed channel investment, regional prioritisation, and campaign optimisation for the strategy team.

Attribution Modelling
2020 - 2021

Marketing Analyst

GetSmarter, a 2U brand

Supported the strategy team with data analysis, reporting, and ROI optimisation across paid media, with an emphasis on data integrity and decision-ready insights.

Analytics ROI
2019 - 2020

Lead, Digital Marketing

Unilever Food Solutions SA

Led B2B digital marketing for Unilever Food Solutions, building tailored programmes for chefs, delis, and canteens, and strengthening digital visibility across the foodservice channel.

B2B Foodservice
2017 - 2019

Manager, Digital Marketing

ehospice

Led global digital marketing for an international hospice-care platform. Returned as consultant from 2020 to 2022 to guide hospices through their Covid-19 digital pivot.

Global Healthcare
2015 - 2020

Marketing Communications Officer

Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa

Built integrated marketing and communications strategies, combining digital campaigns and traditional channels into a cohesive brand narrative for the national umbrella body of South African hospices.

Brand Integrated
Credentials
Education
  • Master of MarketingCape Peninsula University of Technology · 2023
  • Bachelor of Technology, MarketingCPUT · 2017
  • Diploma, MarketingCPUT · 2015
Certifications
  • Digital Marketing AnalyticsMIT Sloan School of Management
  • Digital Transformation StrategyUCT Graduate School of Business
  • Marketing Analytics: Strategy & Decision MakingUniversity of Cape Town
  • AI Foundations for Business LeadersedX
Leadership
  • Chair, Marketing Advisory CommitteeCPUT · Dec 2025 - Present
  • Member, Industry Advisory BoardCPUT Marketing Department · 2024 - Present
  • Part-time Lecturer in MarketingCPUT · 2024 - Present
Languages
  • EnglishNative
  • AfrikaansProfessional
  • isiXhosaElementary
05 / Research

Peer-reviewed publications.

Profile

Four peer-reviewed papers on social media marketing in health-related non-profit organisations, co-authored with Prof. R.G. Duffett. 50+ citations on Google Scholar and counting.

View on Google Scholar
Paper 01 - 2025 ·

Using social media as a marketing communication strategy: perspectives from health-related non-profit organizations

Co-authored with R.G. Duffett. Published in the Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, 37(3), 373–397.

JNPSM · 2025
Paper 02 - 2024 ·

Health nonprofit organizations' use of social media communication and marketing during COVID-19

A qualitative Technology Acceptance Model viewpoint. Co-authored with R.G. Duffett. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 10, 101042.

SSHO · 2024
Paper 03 - 2025 ·

Leveraging social media marketing in healthcare-based non-profit organisations: insights from the technology acceptance model

Co-authored with R.G. Duffett. Published by BP International.

BP International · 2025
Paper 04 - 2023

Social media as a marketing communication strategy among health-related non-profit organisations in the Western Cape, South Africa

Master's research at Cape Peninsula University of Technology. The foundational study from which the published papers extended. Download the full thesis (PDF).

CPUT · 2023
06 / Speaking

On stage,
in the classroom.

Recent

I lecture part-time in marketing at CPUT, chair its Marketing Advisory Committee, and speak at industry events on performance marketing, data-led decision-making, and the realities of growth in higher education. Open to keynotes, panels, podcasts, and guest lectures.

Shaun Cedric Thomas presenting research at a CPUT marketing conference in Cape Town
Research Presentation · CPUT
Shaun Cedric Thomas presenting at a 2U event
"No Excuses, Just Facts" · Internal Talk
08 / Off the Clock

When the laptop closes.

Running

Most weekends I'm on the road. Some mornings, I'm running the dark at 5am with the Renegade Running Co crew. Discipline shows up before the sun does, and so do they.

Shaun Cedric Thomas running on the coastal road at sunrise with mountains in the background, Cape Town
Shaun Cedric Thomas hiking solo on a rocky mountain trail
Shaun Cedric Thomas with the Renegade Running Co crew at a morning run in Cape Town

Open to a
conversation.

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