CIS Marketing Specialist

Lifted, an Upwork Company™ Open · verified Sep 10, 2026

Remote Astana Contract Mid-level General Marketing

Mid-level General Marketing role at Lifted, an Upwork Company™. Remote · contract.

Role brief

Growth Roles summary, based on the employer's posting.

What you'll do

Build current insight on Russian-speaking CIS consumers, digital culture, and category trends for EU marketing briefs
Represent regional customers by assessing shopping behavior and finding ways to improve the e-commerce experience
Set CIS brand and campaign direction, then brief growth and creative teams across paid and organic channels
Assess emerging CIS channels and bring business cases for shared prioritization and resourcing
Report regional performance, acquisition, new-customer, and affiliate results while monitoring competitors and health trends

What you bring

Native or near-native Russian with strong written ability for marketing content; Ukrainian is a notable advantage
Six or more years in marketing strategy, consumer insight, or brand work with digital, social, or affiliate exposure
Strong knowledge of CIS consumer behavior, digital culture, and health or wellness buying patterns
Working knowledge of TikTok and Telegram for marketing, plus comfort with performance data, tracking links, and attribution
Business-level English and the independence to build strategy in an early-stage environment

Who this fits

This role suits someone who can make independent CIS market decisions while coordinating with global growth, creative, affiliate, and EU teams. You’ll work remotely during Kazakhstan business hours as a contractor, with the role based in Astana. Experience in health, wellness, supplements, FMCG, or a fast-growing ecommerce brand is preferred.

From the employer

Our client is a global online retailer that specializes in vitamins, dietary supplements, natural health products, and personal care items.

They are looking for a CIS Marketing Specialist who will be the team's market insight and strategy lead for the region: developing a deep understanding of the Russian-speaking CIS consumer, shaping brand and campaign strategy, and briefing and working alongside the team's existing paid media, creative, and affiliate specialists to bring that strategy to life.

Develop and maintain deep, current market insight for Russian-speaking CIS markets — consumer behavior, digital culture, and category trends — and translate this into actionable briefs for the wider EU marketing team
Be the voice of the customer for the region, studying expected customer shopping behaviors and e-commerce experience and identifying opportunities to improve the digital experience - working closely with the wider EU team to prioritize and implement.
Shape brand and campaign strategy for CIS priority markets, briefing the Senior Growth Marketing Manager and Creative team to plan and execute paid and organic activity (TikTok, Yandex.Direct, VK, Instagram) within the existing global media buying framework
Identify and evaluate opportunities in emerging CIS channels — e.g. Telegram health communities, health-professional partnerships — bringing recommendations and business cases to the team for joint prioritization and resourcing, rather than building and running these independently
Own market strategy and insight specifically for Russian-speaking CIS markets; partner closely with the Social & Influencer Activation Manager – East to maintain a single, non-overlapping plan across Central/Eastern Europe and CIS
Partner with Trade/Growth/CX on localizing the affiliate program for CIS market economics — local currency payouts, micro-influencer tiers,
Brief the Senior Growth Marketing Manager on CIS-native paid channel opportunities (Yandex.Direct in Kazakhstan, VK, Instagram) and review performance together, within the global media buying framework
Track and report CIS marketing KPIs to EU leadership monthly — channel performance, customer acquisition cost, new customers, and affiliate revenue
Monitor competitor activity, local health trends, and channel developments across the region; share insights with the team regularly.

Russian speaker at native or near-native level with strong written skills for content creation; Ukrainian is a significant additional advantage
6+ years of experience in marketing strategy, consumer insight, or brand roles, with working exposure to digital, social, or affiliate channels
Working knowledge of TikTok and Telegram as marketing channels, ideally in Eastern Europe or CIS markets, sufficient to brief and evaluate specialist execution
Deep familiarity with CIS consumer behavior, digital culture, and health or wellness purchasing habits
Comfortable working independently in an early-stage, build-from-scratch environment with high ownership.
Analytical mindset: comfortable with performance data, tracking links, and channel attribution
Business-level English required for communication with global team
Experience in health, wellness, supplement, or FMCG categories preferred
Background at a fast-growing ecommerce brand or regional marketplace (Wildberries, Kaspi, or similar) preferred
Experience briefing or working cross-functionally with paid media, creative, or affiliate teams to deliver campaigns preferred
Familiarity with Yandex.Direct, VK advertising, or other CIS-specific paid channels preferred

Equipment Knowledge:

Experience with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Experience with Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Forms) preferred
Familiarity with social media management and affiliate tracking tools preferred

Education Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, or a related field preferred; equivalent professional experience considered

Judgment/Reasoning Ability:

Operates with strong independent judgment on CIS market insight and strategy within an agreed framework. Proactively identifies opportunities and risks, and brings data-backed recommendations to the EU Brand & Social Manager and wider team. Escalates to the EU Brand & Social Manager when decisions have cross-functional implications or require budget authorization.

Remote Opportunity
Work in Kazakhstan's business hours