Product Operations Specialist

Sphere Digital Recruitment; Wes-Kaap; Hybrid; ZAR 250,000 - 520,000; Part time

Job summary

Sphere Digital Recruitment is seeking a highly organized Product Operations Specialist to support the Product function within a growing international marketing agency. This hands-on role keeps product delivery organized, documented and moving, coordinating activities, maintaining backlogs and documentation, and tracking actions across cross-functional teams.

You will work closely with Product Managers to support ceremonies, ensure processes are followed, and help bring structure to fast-paced

Qualifications

• Experience in product operations or related delivery roles.
• Experience managing backlogs and tickets.
• Strong documentation skills.
• Experience using ClickUp, Jira, Confluence.
• Ability to coordinate across Product, Engineering and QA.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate day-to-day operational activities across Product initiatives.
• Maintain visibility across active Product workstreams, milestones, risks, dependencies and blockers.
• Manage and maintain Product backlogs using ClickUp, Jira or similar.
• Ensure tickets are properly documented and ready for refinement and planning.
• Support sprint preparation, stand-ups, refinement sessions and other Product ceremonies.
• Maintain Product documentation, processes, templates and decision records.
• Capture actions, owners and deadlines from meetings and follow through to completion.
• Coordinate activity between Product, Engineering, QA and other relevant teams.
• Support delivery and release planning.
• Prepare regular Product and delivery status updates.
• Coordinate User Acceptance Testing activities and track issues through to resolution.
• Identify opportunities to improve, simplify or automate Product processes.
• Ensure agreed ways of working are consistently followed across the Product function.

Skills

Product Operations

Backlog Management

Documentation

Stakeholder Management

Agile Delivery

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Organisational Skills

Tools

ClickUp

Jira

Confluence

Job description

Location: Cape Town preferred (Open to JHB)

Contract: 6-month contract with potential to extend or convert to permanent

Working arrangement: Hybrid role, 3 days in office and 2 remote.

About the Role

We are looking for a highly organised and proactive Product Operations Specialist to join and support the Product function within a growing international marketing agency.

This is a hands-on operational role focused on keeping product delivery organised, documented and moving. You will work closely with Product Managers and cross-functional teams to coordinate product activities, maintain backlogs and documentation, track actions and dependencies, support product ceremonies, and ensure agreed processes are followed.

You will help create the structure and operational discipline that allows Product Managers to focus on strategy, discovery and delivery priorities.

The role would suit someone from a Product Operations, Business Analysis, Scrum, Agile Delivery, Product Coordination or Product Delivery background who enjoys bringing structure to fast-moving environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate day-to-day operational activities across Product initiatives.
• Maintain visibility across active Product workstreams, milestones, risks, dependencies and blockers.
• Manage and maintain Product backlogs using tools such as ClickUp, Jira or similar.
• Ensure tickets are properly documented and ready for refinement and planning.
• Support sprint preparation, stand-ups, refinement sessions and other Product ceremonies.
• Maintain Product documentation, processes, templates and decision records.
• Capture actions, owners and deadlines from meetings and follow through to completion.
• Coordinate activity between Product, Engineering, QA, Design and other relevant teams.
• Support delivery and release planning.
• Prepare regular Product and delivery status updates.
• Coordinate User Acceptance Testing activities and track issues through to resolution.
• Identify opportunities to improve, simplify or automate Product processes.
• Ensure agreed ways of working are consistently followed across the Product function.

What We Are Looking For

• Experience working within a Product, Agile, software or digital delivery environment.
• Strong organisational and administrative capability.
• Experience managing backlogs, tickets, workflows and delivery actions.
• Strong documentation skills.
• Experience using tools such as ClickUp, Jira, Confluence or equivalent.
• Confidence working across Product, Engineering, QA and other technical teams.
• Strong stakeholder management and follow-up skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and workstreams simultaneously.
• Strong attention to detail.
• A proactive approach to problem solving.
• Ability to work independently and identify what needs to happen next without waiting for tasks to be assigned.
• Confidence holding stakeholders accountable for agreed actions and deadlines.

Nice to Have

• Previous Product Operations experience.
• Business Analysis experience.
• Product Management or Product Owner exposure.
• Scrum Master or Agile certification.
• Experience coordinating UAT.
• Experience within ecommerce, digital platforms, fintech, iGaming or similarly fast-paced digital environments.
• Basic understanding of APIs, web technologies, CMS platforms or digital products.
• Experience improving or automating operational workflows.

About You

You are likely to be someone who is naturally organised, process-driven and dependable. You enjoy creating structure, keeping teams accountable and making sure nothing falls through the cracks.

You are proactive, detail-focused and comfortable working with different teams and personalities. You enjoy solving operational problems, improving ways of working and helping a Product team operate more effectively.

This is a great opportunity for someone who wants to build their career within Product Operations and take on broader responsibility as the function continues to grow.

Sphere Digital Recruitment is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.