Manager: Airtime Advance

MoMo from MTN; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 1,000,000 - 1,700,000; Full time

Job summary

MTN seeks a Manager: Airtime Advance to own the Group-wide Airtime Advance product portfolio across Opcos. You will set strategy, drive lifecycle planning, and align partnerships to grow the business.

You will work with marketing on GTM and campaigns, guiding product owners and agile teams to deliver valuable experiences. The role requires 5+ years in fintech/product management, strong strategic thinking, and ability to manage complex stakeholder networks across multiple regions.

Qualifications

• Experience leading fintech or mobile money product portfolios across multiple regions.
• Strong strategy, product lifecycle and go-to-market capabilities.
• Proven ability to align business and technology across diverse teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the Airtime Advance product portfolio across Opcos.
• Define and drive product strategy, roadmaps and launch plans.
• Collaborate with Marketing on GTM strategies and campaigns.
• Monitor performance, profitability and KPIs; manage budgets.
• Coordinate with Finco and Opcos on partnerships and governance.
• Oversee end-to-end product lifecycle and value realization.

Skills

Product management

Agile delivery

Stakeholder management

Strategic planning

Financial acumen

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Engineering or related

MBA

PM/PO certification

Job description

Fintech is entering a new phase where operational and commercial excellence has become critical for success. We at MTN believe this is a game changer in terms of our business strategy. We are looking at an incumbent to join us as we build a successful business together.

As part of your portfolio as Manager: Airtime Advance you will be responsible for managing the Group-wide Airtime Advance product portfolio across Opcos. The role is responsible for establishing and manage product implementation, strategic partnerships supporting the Airtime Advance business, and drive business growth. The Manager will be responsible for the implementation of best practices across the group and develop Airtime Advance products and services.

The Manager: Airtime Advance is also responsible for setting the overall product strategy and vision, ensuring timely and robust planning and execution through the product lifecycle; including gathering and prioritizing product and customer requirements and finally ensuring the successful deployment of the product across Opcos.

Key Performance Areas: Core, essential responsibilities / outputs of the position (KPA's):

Strategy Development and Implementation

• Contribute to the development of the functional strategy in line with the overarching business goals
• Manage implementation of the strategy by means of providing direction, structure, frameworks, models, plans and roadmaps to the Opcos
• Continuously ensure alignment of product strategy with the changing dynamics of the internal and external ecosystem
• Identify and assess new growth opportunities in the Airtime Advance space
• Together with key stakeholders and strategic partners, analyse the technological, business, and competitive landscape to support development of an effective Airtime Advance strategy

Operational Delivery

• Lead and manage the Airtime Advance Products portfolio as the Product Manager
• As the Product Manager balance business, technology and design priorities to deliver brand-defining product and service experiences
• Work with the Product Owner to convert the vision into a level of detail that the Product Owner and Agile delivery team can then prioritize as epics and features
• Manage and drive implementation of Group Finco’s Airtime Advance strategy
• Understand and map customer journeys through the Airtime Advance product development lifecycle
• Develop and deploy Airtime Advance product roadmap, in line with the overall Group strategy, and ensure appropriate prioritization of projects is undertaken by the Group and Opcos
• In collaboration with Marketing, develop Go to Market Strategies and Product Promotional Campaigns to drive performance. Provide guidance to Opcos where required
• Manage and continuously monitor operational plans to support effective implementation and delivery of the Airtime Advance product portfolio
• Lead and manage the development, implementation, measurement and reporting standards for effective tracking of Airtime Advance business performance
• Monitor revenue and cost for the Airtime Advance product portfolio to maintain profitability as per organization strategy and business plan
• Develop launch roadmap plans, GTM and best practice guidelines handbook to support Finco Opcos in launching and managing Airtime Advance offering within the territory with consideration but not limited to the below:
• Relevance, accuracy, and effectiveness in targeting campaigns
• KPIs and Performance management
• Analytics & reporting
• Pricing and offering
• Contracting and partners management guidelines
• Financial and P&L Management
• Responsible to improve performance and drive sustainable growth of Airtime Advance
• Review and identify key risks, issues, and dependencies and set mitigation actions across the product development and launch lifecycle
• Manage the end to end Airtime Advance product lifecycle and develop new products or services
• Support the identification and selection of technology, sales and commercial partners required to execute on the strategy
• Collaborate with the CVM teams to develop & analyze loyalty/reward programs and Campaigns
• Collaborate the Group Finco functions, Finco Opcos and partners through effective management of inter-functional relations and activities
• Oversee the monitoring and tracking of Airtime Advance & International Airtime products and services' performance after launch
• Support Opcos to compile statistics and insights on product performance, working towards a near real-time tracking capability, with weekly and monthly reporting periods
• Lead the identification and selection of technology & development resources required to deliver the Products
• Ensure maintenance of quality/process standards that will enhance the customer experience and cost efficiency
• Engage with Finco Opco counterparts to receive local market insights, new product requests, share Group Finco insights with respect to partnerships and alliances
• Engage and manage the tech & delivery in alignment with partner teams in order to meet the delivery of respective initiatives or product feature or migration (as applicable) for the service with each of the OpCos
• Manage the end to end testing from system to user acceptance testing for the product or feature enhancement

Governance

Strategic Meetings

• Participate and provide input in strategic meetings
• Perform evaluation baseline of key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Request for relevant budget for internal projects and new initiatives
• Facilitate preparation of proposals on change initiatives, policies and procedures

Escalations

• Manage and resolve escalations that have impact on critical path of service delivery
• Escalate issues that will result in severe time, scope, productivity, and cost or resource or reputational impact
• Manage and provide solutions to escalations that have multiple processes / functions impact on critical path of service delivery
• Manage and provide solutions through stakeholder consultation where relevant
• Prepare URS, BRS, BRD for a feature or product

Function Tactical

• Prepare URS, BRS, BRD for a feature or product
• Prepare objectives, targets, and budgets as applicable
• Track key risks, issues and dependencies and mitigation actions
• Facilitate sign-off / making decisions regarding tactical changes

Performance

• Execute performance and alignment with sub-functional strategy
• Collaborate with other functions within Group DigiFin

Reporting

• Report on a periodic basis to the Reporting Manager relating to progress made within the function and in accordance with the measurement metrics set by the organization
• Report on an ad hoc basis on specific projects, as required

Budgets

• Input to functional budgets in line with overall business objectives
• Input to project initiative budgets in line with business objectives
• Ensure that the cost of operations is reduced, in line with a least cost operating strategy stemming.

The “Must-haves” we look for in an incumbent

Education:

• 4 year Business Science, Engineering (or related) Degree
• Master’s in business administration / relevant Master’s degree is advantageous
• Formal certification in Product Management / Product Owner, Agile Delivery, User Experience or other relevant fields would be beneficial

Experience:

• 5 years or more relevant work experience in Fintech / Financial Services
• At least 2-3 years’ experience in Mobile Money Product/Service Management
• Experience in Fintech Payments or Telecommunication industry will be useful
• Experience in managing and implementing innovative Fintech products and within the Telco, financial or banking industry
• Experience with Agile delivery and Development Operations frameworksDeep understanding of the Fintech ecosystem, players, business models and industry related best practices
• Experience with Scrum and Agile Software Development Methodology
• Entrepreneurial spirit, self-driven and ability to motivate a fast-paced team
• Understanding emerging markets is advantageous
• Pan Africa multi-cultural experience is advantageous

Closing date: 11 September 2026. Late applications will not be accepted.

Should you not hear from us within two weeks of the closing date, consider your application unsuccessful.