Senior Product Manager (Petrochemical/Loyalty) (Contract)

DataFin; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 500,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

A dynamic Energy Specialist in Cape Town seeks a Senior Product Manager to automate forecourts and shops. The role involves vendor management, project execution across multiple countries, and expertise in Site Automation. Applicants should have strong leadership experience and a Bachelor’s Degree. Travel may be required, and French skills are advantageous.

Qualifications

• Experience in Site Automation is critical.
• Strong knowledge of payment networks and loyalty integrations needed.
• Ability to work in a multi-country environment, preferably in Africa.

Responsibilities

• Define and manage global partnerships and vendor management.
• Coordinate deployment across CO and DO sites.
• Ensure compliance with legal and fiscal specifics.

Skills

Site Automation implementation experience

Strong understanding of POS systems

Project Management skills

Vendor management

Change Management

Education

Bachelor’s Degree from a recognised university

Tools

Power BI

Job description

Overview

ENVIRONMENT: AN exciting 12-month Contract position with our client, a dynamic Energy Specialist, for a Senior Product Manager responsible for defining and implementing the strategy to fully automate its forecourts and shops businesses. The role will identify the right partners for hardware, software and support based on business requirements and deploy the chosen solution across CO and DO sites. This position is critical to the continued growth of the Retail business and to automation as a key dependency for data, insights, operational efficiencies and customer value propositions. The successful candidate will require a suitable Bachelor’s Degree with experience and leadership in Site Automation choices and implementation in a global capacity, with a strong understanding of POS systems, terminals, BOS, HOS, forecourt controllers, ATGs, payment networks and loyalty program integrations. Experience in a multi-country environment, preferably across Africa or other emerging markets, is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Right Global Partnerships and Vendor Management
  • The business has started an RFP to identify potential vendors. You will be responsible for ensuring the RFP is assessed correctly and recommending the right solution, or hybrid solutions, to meet business needs.
  • Ensure costs are fully documented, SLAs are agreed and documented, and the contract award is endorsed by senior stakeholders and the contract board.
  • Manage the solution providers once identified, ensuring commitments are met and performance and delivery are regularly monitored and documented.
• Solution and Deployment
  • Define deployment priorities by market and secure buy-in to project timings.
  • Allocate budgets for each annual cycle and report on costs.
  • Oversee hardware orders, shipping and customs to required locations.
  • Manage new OUs to Site Automation and retrofit solutions to partly automated OUs.
  • Ensure a "one touch" approach so DO sites are considered alongside CO, maintaining consistent customer experience across platforms.
  • Ensure solution compliance with legal, fiscal OU specifics and undergo architectural and security reviews.
  • Manage interactions with QSRs and other retailers to support customer experience and integrations.
  • Conduct Change Impact Assessments and work with the project manager on a consolidated delivery and readiness plan.
  • Establish and enforce SLAs for delivery, support and maintenance.
  • Define ongoing performance monitoring frameworks, including KPI tracking for system uptime, transaction success rates and customer experience impact.
  • Support hyper-care activities post-deployment for rapid issue resolution and continuous improvement.
• Value Realisation
  • Coordinate with OUs at each stage gate to ensure appropriate resources, training and onboarding for capability understanding and operational impact.
  • Ensure OUs utilize tools and data to optimize business and gain value from Site Automation.
  • Share best practices and learnings across OUs to drive additional value.
  • Align data with the central data strategy, data lake and Power BI reporting.
  • Enable deployment of strategic CVPs around payments and loyalty that require automation.
  • Foster a culture of replication and ongoing product improvement.
• Stakeholder Management & Collaboration
  • Work with central and local teams (IT, Operations, Finance, Legal and Retail) to align deployment efforts with business objectives.
  • Collaborate with external partners, technology providers (including payment processors, terminals, connectivity) to ensure compliance and security.
  • Provide regular updates to senior management on deployment progress, challenges and risk mitigation.
  • Engage with suppliers to ensure adherence to quality and performance standards for hardware and software solutions.

Requirements

The role is suited to a Site Automation specialist with prior successful global implementation experience (ATG, DOMs, HOS, BOS) in the fuels industry, ideally in Africa or other emerging markets.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree from a recognised university (preferred).

Experience / Skills

• Experience and leadership in Site Automation choices and implementation on a global scale.
• Strong understanding of POS systems, terminals, BOS, HOS, forecourt controllers, ATGs, payment networks and loyalty integrations.
• Experience working in a multi-country environment, preferably across Africa or other emerging markets.
• Hands-on experience with vendor management, procurement, and SLA negotiations.
• Strong Project Management skills, including Stakeholder Engagement, Risk Management and Reporting.
• Ability to work under pressure, manage multiple priorities and meet tight timelines.
• Experience in Change Management and staff training for technology rollouts in retail/fuel environments.
• Willingness to travel as required.
• French language skills would be an advantage.

Delivery Focus

• Understanding and experience of Site Automation across shop, forecourt and QSRs in retail petroleum.
• Strong working knowledge of Site Automation systems and vendor capabilities.
• Experience delivering across multiple geographies and cultures with project execution.
• Problem-solving with a replication-focused knowledge base.
• Analytical, troubleshooting and resolution skills.
• Ability to work with limited supervision, strong time management and urgency.
• Build supportive relationships with peers, customers and third parties.
• Ability to manage and extract value from disparate teams.
• Adaptability to complex and changing environments.
• Excellent decision-making skills.