Head of Product

Communicate Recruitment; Wes-Kaap; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 2,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Communicate Recruitment seeks a Head of Product to own the product vision, strategy, and portfolio across multiple products in the fintech space. You will define strategic direction, drive investment decisions, and leadProduct Managers and Designers to achieve commercial success.

You will work with executive leadership to set goals, govern lifecycle processes, and ensure security and regulatory compliance across the portfolio.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in Product Management with leadership experience.
• Experience in fintech, payments, or regulated tech environments.
• Strong competency in strategy, portfolio management, and commercial ownership.
• Proven ability to build and lead high-performing product teams.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the product strategy aligned with business objectives.
• Make portfolio investment decisions on what to build, partner on, or retire.
• Lead and develop Product Managers and Product Designers.
• Establish measurable goals, operating frameworks, and governance.
• Drive discovery, prioritisation, lifecycle management, and governance processes.
• Partner with delivery and engineering leadership on planning and trade-offs.
• Ensure security, compliance, and regulatory requirements are embedded.
• Own business cases, pricing strategies, and commercial performance.
• Lead go-to-market strategies for major product launches.
• Represent product with clients, partners, and industry stakeholders.
• Present strategy, performance, and investment recommendations to executives.
• Manage budgets, resourcing plans, and portfolio growth.

Skills

Product leadership

Portfolio management

Stakeholder management

Agile product

Fintech domain knowledge

Team leadership

Education

Degree in Business or IT

Postgraduate certifications

Job description

Job Description

As the Head of Product, you will own the product vision, strategy, and portfolio roadmap across multiple products and services.

Key responsibilities include:

• Defining and driving the product strategy in alignment with overall business objectives
• Making portfolio investment decisions, including what to build, enhance, partner on, or retire
• Leading and developing Product Managers and Product Designers
• Establishing measurable goals, best practices, and product operating frameworks
• Driving product discovery, prioritisation, lifecycle management, and governance processes
• Partnering with delivery and engineering leadership on planning, execution, and technical trade-offs
• Ensuring security, compliance, and regulatory requirements are embedded into product decisions
• Taking ownership of product business cases, pricing strategies, and commercial performance
• Leading go-to-market strategies for major product launches
• Representing the product function with key clients, partners, and industry stakeholders
• Presenting product strategy, performance, and investment recommendations to executive leadership
• Managing product budgets, resourcing plans, and long-term portfolio growth

This role offers the opportunity to influence company-wide strategy while leading products that support large-scale transaction environments and business growth initiatives.

Skills & Experience

• Minimum 10+ years’ of Product Management experience
• Minimum 4 years' experience managing and developing Product Managers
• Experience within fintech, payments, financial services, or highly regulated technology environments
• Strong understanding of product strategy, portfolio management, and commercial ownership
• Proven experience building and leading high-performing product teams
• Experience establishing and improving product operating models
• Ability to engage confidently with executive leadership and board-level stakeholders
• Strong commercial acumen and experience managing revenue-focused product portfolios
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills
• Strong understanding of customer-focused product development principles
• Experience working within agile product and technology environments
• Strategic thinker with a data-driven approach to decision making

Qualification

• Degree in Business, Commerce, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field
• Product leadership qualifications or certifications advantageous