Marketing Content & Communications Manager · Strategic Leadership Team

Mateo
Saldarriaga

I build brands with purpose and back it with boardroom-level strategy.

Commercially driven marketing leader with over a decade of experience turning brand strategy into measurable growth across B2B, education and consumer markets — creative instinct, backed by data discipline.

Portrait of Mateo Saldarriaga, Marketing Content & Communications Manager

Based in Auckland, New Zealand ·

Scroll for the highlights2026

What I'm accountable for.

Highlights

0%

Website user growth at Ultigroup

Feb 2024 – Aug 2026, alongside 109% growth in organic conversions

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LinkedIn organic impressions growth

Organic engagement up 60% in the same period

0M+

Views on ETCO TikTok videos

Channel built from zero — two videos past one million views

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Deals closed in UltiCare's first 3 months

Extended to 474 serviced assets across the customer base

0+

Years across marketing, brand & sales

In-house leadership, agency-side content and freelance consulting

Over 10 years of building brands.

Career

Now

01

Ultigroup NZ

Marketing Content & Communications ManagerFeb 2024 — Present

Sit on the Strategic Leadership Team with direct access to the CEO and CFO, connecting commercial priorities to the marketing, campaign and content agenda across NZ and Australia.

  • Lead a marketing team of three across NZ and Australia, with structured workflows and accountability systems
  • Drove 210% growth in website users, 109% growth in organic conversions and a 35.8% improvement in average search ranking
  • Grew LinkedIn organic impressions 450% and engagement 60%; lifted email open rates from 23.5% to 29.5%
  • Led the brand and digital launch of UltiCare — 40+ closed deals in 3 months, extended to 474 serviced assets
  • Achieved #1 AEO ranking across AI search platforms (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity) for core product topics
  • Manage a six-figure annual marketing budget; introduced AI-driven efficiencies across planning, reporting and creative

2023

02

Skills Group

Senior Content CreatorJun 2023 — Feb 2024

Crafted multimedia content across a portfolio of education and training brands — Ignite Colleges, SoftEd, IMNZ, ETCO, ICE, Etec and Skills Consulting Group.

  • Developed campaigns featuring Kiwi icons Hayden Paddon, Simon Gault and Michael Meredith
  • Produced digital content across multiple platforms, extending reach and building brand loyalty
  • Aligned messaging across internal teams and external agencies for acquisition and retention

2021

03

ETCO — The Electrical Training Company

Marketing Specialist · Brand LeadJun 2021 — Jun 2023

Owned the brand end to end for New Zealand's leading electrical training company, modernising how a traditional trades brand talks to Gen Z.

  • Spearheaded the nationwide “Earn While You Learn” campaign — record-level apprenticeship applications
  • Built ETCO's TikTok from zero: several videos past hundreds of thousands of views, two past one million
  • Owned a sponsorship portfolio spanning rally driver Hayden Paddon, the Auckland Dream and EVolocity
  • Delivered AR-based experiences, branded merchandise and a national fleet rebrand

2020

04

NZ School of Art & Fashion

Marketing CoordinatorFeb 2020 — Apr 2021

Ran digital marketing and social for one of Auckland's creative education providers.

  • Targeted Meta Ads and Google campaigns that lifted student enrolments across design, beauty and fashion courses
  • Coordinated open days, fashion showcases and student exhibitions to nurture leads in person
  • First point of contact for prospective students, blending marketing and admissions to improve conversion

2019

05

Abroad Global

Senior Associate — International Marketing & RecruitmentMar 2019 — Feb 2020

Led the education agency's expansion into the Australian market.

  • Delivered B2B pitches and partnership proposals to universities and polytechnics, winning new contracts
  • Owned the full student acquisition lifecycle from lead generation to CRM follow-up
  • Collaborated cross-culturally with LATAM and APAC stakeholders

2010

06

Earlier career — Colombia

Ford Motor Company · Artículos Publicitarios · Seguros SURA2010 — 2017

The commercial foundation: seven years across sales, B2B promotions and client advisory in Medellín.

  • Senior Sales Manager at Ford (2013–2017) — consistent top-tier performance, regional market analysis and brand ambassador at trade events
  • B2B Promotions at Artículos Publicitarios — branded merchandise campaigns for corporate clients
  • Client Adviser at Seguros SURA (2010–2013) — insurance solutions across automotive, life and health

Three projects worth talking through.

Case studies

The play

Rebranded and launched the service as UltiCare, then built the full-funnel B2B campaign from scratch — landing pages, lead capture and nurture sequences where none existed before.

The outcome

40+ closed deals within the first 3 months, extended to 474 serviced assets across the customer base, alongside a #1 AEO ranking on core product topics across AI search platforms.

474

Detail

  • —40+ closed deals in the first 3 months of launch
  • —Extended to 474 serviced assets across the customer base
  • —#1 AEO ranking on core product topics across ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity (~40% AI visibility)
  • —Full-funnel campaign infrastructure built from scratch: landing pages, lead capture, nurture sequences

Content I’ve put on screen.

Video work

Brand campaign feature

Long-form video content produced and directed end to end.

YouTube

Campaign story piece

Narrative-led video built to carry the brand message.

YouTube

Additional campaign video

Supporting brand content produced for the campaign.

YouTube

Short-form reel

Quick-cut vertical content for social reach.

YouTube

Short-form social content

Vertical content produced for social audience growth.

TikTok

Short-form social content

Vertical content produced for social audience growth.

TikTok

What I bring on day one.

Skills & toolkit

Strategy & Leadership

  • ·Brand strategy & growth
  • ·Budget ownership & commercial ROI
  • ·Team leadership & cross-functional collaboration
  • ·Stakeholder & board communication

Performance & Digital

  • ·SEO, AEO & GEO
  • ·Paid digital (Meta, Google, LinkedIn, TikTok)
  • ·Lead generation & CRO
  • ·Web analytics

Content & Storytelling

  • ·Content strategy & storytelling
  • ·Social & video (Meta, TikTok, YouTube)
  • ·AI marketing & personalisation
  • ·UX/UI & customer journey mapping

Partnerships & Activation

  • ·Ambassador & partnership marketing
  • ·Events, activations & sponsorships
  • ·End-to-end project delivery
  • ·Commercial documentation
Meta Ads ManagerTikTok Business ManagerGoogle AdsLinkedIn Campaign ManagerHubSpotMailchimpHootsuiteGoogle AnalyticsLooker StudioSEMrushHotjarChatGPTJasperMidjourneyAdobe FireflySurfer SEORunway MLElevenLabsZapierAdobe Creative SuiteCanvaCapCutFigmaZappar (AR)NotionAsanaMonday.comClickUpSlack

Still building the thinking.

Education

Completed 2025

Master of Applied Management (Marketing)

Te Pūkenga — Southern Institute of Technology (SIT)

Commencing November 2026

MBA

Auckland University of Technology (AUT)

2024

Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Management (Marketing)

Te Pūkenga — Southern Institute of Technology

2023

Business Sustainability Management

University of Cambridge

2018

Diploma in Business

Aspire2 International

2020 — 2023

Further credentials

Google Project Management Certificate · UC Davis Marketing · HarvardX Leaders of Learning · Google Fundamentals of Digital Marketing · IMNZ Project Management

Contact

Let's talk about
the role you're hiring for.

Hiring for a marketing manager, head of marketing or CMO-track role? Reach me directly by email or on LinkedIn and I'll reply with how I'd approach the first 90 days.

Emailmatesaldao@hotmail.comPhone022 363 20 22LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/mateosaldarriaga

Languages — Spanish (native) · English (fluent) · Portuguese (basic)