Senior Product Owner - Partnerships

Lulalend; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Lulalend is seeking a Senior Product Owner to lead funding journeys and fintech features. You will partner with Partnerships, Business Development, Design, Data Science and Engineering to shape a high-quality, end-to-end digital experience for SMEs.

You will gather and translate user insights into measurable outcomes while balancing business goals and technical feasibility in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor degree in a relevant field or equivalent.
• 5+ years of experience as a Product Owner.
• 1-2 years experience as a Senior Product Owner.
• Product owner certification is a plus.
• Experience prototyping, testing and validating product hypotheses.
• Backlog management with iterative delivery and MVP focus.
• Hands-on with Engineering in an Agile (Scrum) environment.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Strong technical acumen and passion for technology.
• Understanding UI/UX concepts and design thinking.

Responsibilities

• Own and drive Lula’s product roadmap and backlog.
• Create clear feature specs by gathering requirements and defining functionality.
• Collaborate with Tech teams to deliver features quickly and reliably.
• Ensure quality releases meet standards and customer expectations.
• Gather customer insights and use data to drive measurable outcomes.
• Work with UX/UI to build end-to-end journeys delivering value.
• Align strategy with daily work and backlog priorities.
• Build strong relationships with stakeholders and partners.

Skills

Product ownership

Backlog management

Agile / Scrum

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication skills

Technical acumen

Education

Bachelor degree in a relevant field

Tools

JIRA

Confluence

Mixpanel

Segment

Job description

OVERALL PURPOSE

We’re seeking a highly motivated and experienced Senior Product Owner with a solid understanding of financial services to join our growing fintech. You will work alongside our Partnerships team creating world-class funding journeys and products for our partners and affiliates.

This role will see you collaborate with cross-functional teams to define and manage our product backlog, ensuring we deliver a best-in-class product. Working collaboratively with Business Development, Product Design, Marketing, Data Science & Engineering, you will be responsible for our product and its end-to-end features. We’re looking to build a high-quality, beautiful end-to-end digital experience, helping SMEs thrive in a tough market.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Value Delivery:

• Driving the delivery of Lula’s roadmap
• Creating clear and actionable feature specifications by gathering requirements, defining functionality, and setting goals in line with Lula’s product requirements definition standards.
• Collaborating with Lula’s Tech teams (Architecture, Engineering, Design, etc.) to iteratively and quickly deliver product functionality that accomplishes our goals
• Ensuring the reliability and quality of product releases meet our standards and our customer expectations.

Customer Insights:

• Gaining a deep understanding of our customer’s needs and what progress looks like for them
• Analysing and using data and product analytics to generate actionable insights and turning these into measurable and impactful business outcomes
• Gathering and using customer feedback to understand how users engage with our products to drive meaningful outcomes for the business
• Working with UX and UI designers to build end-to-end journeys that ensure we’re generating value for our customers

Collaboration & Alignment:

• Aligning our bigger picture and strategy to daily work and deliverables
• Driving business impact by mapping product functionality and commitments to the strategic objectives of our channels and the business
• Defining a clear backlog of highly prioritised features and initiatives that deliver against our business vision
• Collaborating and building excellent relationships
• Proactively working with stakeholders to factor their requirements into product decisions
• Influencing peers and direct reports with the goal of enabling them to successfully deliver on their product areas, to continuously grow their product craft and deliver meaningful business outcomes
• Influencing and persuading Lula’s senior managers and executives to help achieve goals, remove blockers and deliver meaningful business outcomes

Partner Management:

• Work closely with our Business Development team to grow our partnerships and affiliates, including onboarding new partners/affiliates and growing our existing partners/affiliates
• Manage relationships with external partners alongside our Business Development team
• Work with external partners to scope and prioritise technical solutions

THE SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE WE’RE LOOKING FOR

• Bachelor degree in a relevant field or equivalent
• 5+ years of working experience as a Product Owner
• 1-2 years experience as a Senior Product Owner
• Product owner certification an added bonus
• Experience with prototyping, testing, and validating product hypotheses
• Managing and building out a backlog with a focus on iterative and continuous delivery
• Experience building products iteratively by applying lean principles and focusing on MVPs
• Hands-on experience working with Engineering teams in an Agile environment with an understanding of agile development process (Scrum in particular)
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills
• Technical acumen and genuine passion for technology
• Understanding of core concepts related to UI/UX design
• Experience with product management tools such as JIRA, Confluence, Mixpanel, Segment, etc. a plus