Product Owner: Business Process Innovation

Sanlam; Midrand; On-site; ZAR 480 000 - 600 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial services organization based in Midrand is seeking a Product Owner to drive product development and improvement. The ideal candidate will have at least 3 years of experience in a relevant role, preferably within an agile environment. You will work closely with various teams, prioritize product backlog, and ensure stakeholder communication. Candidates should hold a relevant degree and have a strong analytical mindset. A collaborative and innovative approach will be essential for success in this position.

Benefits

Growth and development opportunities

Dynamic working environment

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience as a Product Owner or Business Analyst in financial services.
• Experience working in an Agile environment.

Responsibilities

• Elicit, define, and prioritize business requirements.
• Define minimum viable products and objectives-driven roadmaps.
• Manage stakeholder expectations and communicate priorities.
• Coordinate with other Product Owners and manage multiple backlogs.

Skills

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Agile environment experience

Attention to detail

Education

Bachelor's degree or relevant qualification

Tools

Agile tools

Product Management software

Job description

Who are we?

At MiWay, our purpose is to enable people to live their way. We understand that life is not just about "things" but the meaning that those things bring to your life. We believe that technology and innovation have infinite possibilities when it's inspired by humans by you.

Therefore, we focus on our clients' needs; finding new ways to simplify their lives and how they do things.

We give them products, services, and solutions that enable them to live and enjoy life on their own terms – in their own way.

Agile values and principles are strongly embedded in our culture, and they are at the core of how we make decisions and how we approach adding value within the company.

Build a successful career with us

We’re all about building strong, lasting relationships with our employees. We know that you have hopes for your future – your career, your personal development and of achieving great things. We pride ourselves in helping our employees to realise their worth. Through its five business clusters – Sanlam Fintech, Sanlam Life and Savings, Sanlam Investment Group, Sanlam Allianz, Santam, as well as MiWay and the Group Office – the group provides many opportunities for growth and development.

Minimum Requirements

Minimum Qualification Required

• Accredited Business Analysis / Product Owner / Project Management / Technical Diploma or Certificates will be advantageous
• A relevant tertiary qualification. Bachelor's degree will be advantageous

Minimum Experience

• A minimum of 3 years working experience
• Solid Product Owner, Business Analyst, System Analyst or Product Manager experience that focuses on technical operations of products, ideally within an agile financial services company.

Additional Skills/Exposure Preference

• Previous work in an Agile environment as a Product Owner, Product Manager, Business Analyst or Systems Analyst
• Exposure to the insurance and/or financial services industry
• Exposure to Communication/Automation/ChatBot technology

What will make you successful in this role?

Deliverables Include, But Will Not Be Limited To

• Partner with business subject matter experts (Sales, Client Services, Claims and Supporting Areas) and cross‑functional scrum product teams to elicit, define, clarify, and prioritise business requirements
• Develop and articulate a vision from which a business case for product or process improvement ideas must be developed
• Define minimum viable products (MVP) for the release of new products, process improvements or projects, with clearly defined growth or value experiments that will be validated by the release. This will include possible direction changes based on the reasonably expected outcomes of the experiments
• Define objectives‑driven roadmaps, projects or process improvements in order to drive early and incremental return on investment taking into account the bigger picture and being flexible with regard to changing priorities.
• Manage stakeholder expectations by communicating roadmaps and requirements, negotiating and communicating priorities and timelines, managing change & providing necessary progress feedback.
• Understand technical debt and risk expressed by the Scrum teams: the ability to negotiate the priority of the technical debt with the teams with consideration for the release plan and the ability to articulate the decision to other stakeholders.
• Additional:
• Coordinate, collaborate and align with other Product Owners on prioritized work.
• Manage multiple backlogs and prioritize work accordingly to the relevant team.
• Support product release & usage by producing training material for new tech and ensuring that users are adapting to the product.
• Develop an understanding of the processes, and technology in the area to better drive awareness of new products and technology in the business.
• Communicate and collaborate with Service Providers, and third parties for required integration development.
• Collaborate, and manage work with Business Analysts; allocate work and review completed work.

Competencies Required

• Analytical and delivery‑focused
• Ability to pay attention to detail
• Excellent communication (spoken and written) and facilitation skills
• Presentable, assertive, team player with leadership qualities
• Ability to deal with, communicate and manage change
• Experience working in an Agile environment
• Process re‑engineering and process documentation experience
• Test management exposure an advantage
• Excellent documentation skills

Knowledge And Skills

• Business and Data Analysis
• Business Requirements Definition
• Quality assurance
• Feasibility studies and documentation of underlying business architecture
• Governance, process and methodologies
• Expertise (spreadsheet)

Personal Attributes

• Interpersonal savvy - Contributing independently
• Decision quality - Contributing independently
• Plans and aligns - Contributing independently
• Optimises work processes - Contributing independently

Core Competencies

• Cultivates innovation - Contributing independently
• Customer focus - Contributing independently
• Drives results - Contributing independently
• Collaborates - Contributing independently
• Being resilient - Contributing independently

Turnaround time

The shortlisting process will only start once the application due date has been reached. The time taken to complete this process will depend on how far you progress and the availability of managers.

Deadline to apply

27 January 2026.

Our commitment to transformation

At MiWay we believe in cultivating a positive and dynamic working environment that gives you freedom and opportunity to succeed. MiWay is committed to transformation and embracing diversity. This is what drives us to achieve a multicultural workplace with employment equity as a key goal to create an inclusive workforce, reflective of the demographics of our society.