Product Manager – Vas

Spar Group Limited; KwaZulu-Natal; On-site; ZAR 600 000 - 900 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the retail sector is seeking a Product Manager – VAS to join their dynamic team. The role involves managing product vision, driving lifecycle initiatives, and leading cross-functional teams to enhance digital customer experiences. Ideal candidates will have extensive experience in product management and a strong background in IT services, particularly in VAS platforms. This position offers the opportunity to influence product strategy and collaborate with key stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 5 years' experience in technology product management.
• 8 years' overall experience in IT/Tech Services.

Responsibilities

• Manages product vision, strategy, and roadmap.
• Drives full product lifecycle initiatives from inception to launch.
• Leads a cross-functional product team in an agile environment.

Skills

Organisational Capability

Problem Solving

Communication

Team Leadership

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science

Specialist IT Certification

Job description

SPAR Central Office – Tech Services is currently recruiting for a Product Manager – VAS to join their dynamic team.

The purpose of the Product Manager – VAS is to partner with the business to establish business requirements and product feature definitions for each product within the portfolio. The incumbent is responsible for managing the relevant product roadmap and must lead a cross-functional team that executes a continuously enhanced product solution for internal or external customers. This role serves as the key integration point with Tech Services, business leadership, and manages vendors, all whilst ensuring a seamless end-to-end digital customer experience.

KEY PERFORMANCE AREAS

1. Manages the product vision, strategy, and roadmap within the product area in support of business goals.
2. Drives full product lifecycle initiatives from inception to launch working closely with relevant stakeholders.
3. Maintains a deep understanding of the VAS systems, customer journeys (including expectations and pain points), as well as industry best practices, and uses these insights to drive a product maturity plan.
4. Enables the roadmap to deliver scale of the VAS business across all channels and categories.
5. Evaluates different technology options, APIs, and capabilities to establish integration plans in the context of business requirements.
6. Ensures document management for all new product configuration, development, and process changes.
7. Serves as a product subject matter expert to the technical/developer community and business.
8. Monitors emerging trends both technical and functional to ensure the product stays relevant and meets business requirements.
9. Ensures an end-to-end product improvement process that delivers agile and coordinated change.
10. Ensures that the product conforms to legal, risk, and governance criteria.
11. Recommends appropriate processes to facilitate data availability and ensures information and data integrity.
12. Ensures end-to-end testing of issues and communicates status to key stakeholders.
13. Engages with the CX Helpdesk to monitor any issues and provides second-level support for issue resolution.
14. Leads a cross-functional product team (including vendor developers), ensuring role clarity and collaboration in an agile working environment.
15. Collaborates with the demand to deploy team to drive effective solution implementation across the user community.
16. Provides feedback to team members on progress and performance on an ongoing basis, ensuring a continuous learning environment and effective teamwork.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

1. A Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, IS, or related technology discipline.
2. Appropriate Specialist IT Certification is an advantage.
3. At least 5 years' experience in a technology product management environment, including experience as a product manager.
4. At least 8 years' overall experience within IT / Tech Services technical role.
5. Experience directly managing third-party developers to design and update related applications.
6. Experience in VAS platforms and related integrations e.g., to third parties like airtime providers, betting providers, etc.
7. Experience working with and coordinating multi-business stakeholders and business owners in a retail environment.
8. Experience in a retail or FMCG environment is preferred.
9. Experience within an agile environment is preferred.

SKILLS REQUIREMENTS

• Ability to work at all levels of the business and engage with senior business customers.
• Excellent organisational and executional capability.
• Good judgment, agility, and responsiveness to emergent challenges.
• Innovative and proven problem-solving capability.
• Proven ability to influence and collaborate with key decision-makers and stakeholders, both internally and externally.
• Outstanding customer orientation and very good stakeholder facilitation skills.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Good team leadership skills with high-performance team management standards.

Note: All applications are to be submitted through the Careers Site and Pnet. Please refrain from calling the Distribution Centre (DC) or emailing applications directly.