Product Owner - African Region

Purpose of the position

You will work closely with team members across varied teams to enhance and bring to market products and improved features that aligns to the company reputations as a leader in the Fintech industry. In this role you will take ownership of the Recon Assist and Recon Assist product. The incumbent will be required to define the vision and execution for this product to ensure that there is significant escalation in scale impact and user experience. You will work on enhancing the customer experience of users relying on analytics feature experimentation and a understanding of building an industry leading product. Furthermore a good understanding of software development concepts is essential in order to communicate effectively with all stakeholders.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Market Assessment

• Determined define and provide indepth market industry competitive analysis and positioning and identify new opportunities;
  
• Generate new product ideas and research product feasibility within the market;
  
• Represent the customer s views and understand the problems they need solved;
  
• Improve customer journey of our users relying on data analytics feature experimentation and your understanding of building a worldleading edtech product;
  
• Investigate competitor offerings and continually strive to ensure offer the superior product;
  
• Develop Business Cases for new product proposals considering business viability obtaining approval from stakeholders and overseeing successful implementation;
  
• Prepare and coordinate the completion of various data and analytics reports;
  
• Identify shortcomings in existing processes systems and procedures and use established change management programs to address them; and
  
• Ensure products remain of a high standard by interpreting guiding and refining requirements.
  

Strategy Creation

• Translate ideas into product strategy and developing and implementing product strategies consistent with the company vision and strategy;
  
• Develop implement and report on roadmaps and product plans with senior management;
  
• Define the vision and execution for this product to drive it to the next level in terms of scale impact and user experience;
  
• Translate product roadmap items and business requirements into detailed requirements for development by technical teams;
  
• Elicit complex business requirements using a variety of methods such as interviews document analysis workshops and workflow analysis to express the requirements in terms of target user roles and goals;
  
• Analyze and evaluate the feasibility and relevance of proposed complex products and services;
  
• Communicate the local action plan; explain how this relates to the functions strategy and action plan and the broader organizations mission and vision; motivate people to achieve local business goals; and
  
• Articulate product strategies in support of business objectives.
  

Planning and Release

• Determine develop and implement high level product features;
  
• Writing presenting guiding and reviewing product business and financial cases;
  
• Develop pricing framework by product;
  
• Engage and negotiate contracts between Ecentric and Vendors or partners;
  
• Lead or facilitate presales solutioning with potential customers;
  
• Identify blockers that will impact timeline scope cost or other project variables and escalate to the appropriate stakeholders; and
  
• Monitor all aspects of a product life cycle including long and shortterm development and marketing. Perform analyses to stay abreast of trends in the marketplace to ensure the products competitive position. Managing the product through the product life cycle ensuring successful implementation and ensuring business objectives are achieved. Manage product /concept implementation in partnership with relevant stakeholders.
  

Design and Development

• Select contract with and manage development vendors incl. inhouse dev shop;
  
• Collect and critically analyze feedback from stakeholders to shape requirements features and end products;
  
• Ensure that all product enrichments are in line with the product success profitability and company strategy;
  
• Establish operational processes to be implemented (Onboarding Support etc.);
  
• Publishes thought leadership papers;
  
• Define and maintain product/feature specs with inputs from all stakeholders;
  
• Ensure requirements are fully understood and that implementation plans match expectations;
  
• Assess and address risks of all forms; and
  
• Define success criteria for testing and product acceptance.
  

Rollout and Launch

• Provide internal and external stakeholder support and service;
  
• Take new products to market;
  
• Ensure products are developed according to spec and on time and in budget;
  
• Ensure product feasibility efficiency and profitability;
  
• Build strong trusted relationships with customers;
  
• Ensure establishment and execution of a wellplanned marketing strategy for your product;
  
• Ensure establishment and execution of a wellplanned sales strategy;
  
• Ensure requirements are fully understood and that implementation plans match expectations; and
  
• Track budgets and report variances to more senior colleagues.
  

People Engagement

• Lead cross functional teams; and
  
• Manage selected product managers; and
  
• Work closely with team members across multiple teams to optimize and bring to market the products and/or features that make Ecentric payment systems a world leader in the FinTech space. You will report to the Head of Product. In this role you will take ownership of our Product; and
  
• Respond to personal objectives and use performance management systems to improve personal performance; and
  
• Collaborate with our tech teams to spec requirements where necessary.
  

Requirements

Education and Experience

• 3 years of experience across technical and product roles; and
  
• 2 years of product management experience; and
  
• Experience with scrum and agile methodologies; and
  
• Experience working and coordinating effectively in a remotefirst environment; and
  
• 3year degree or diploma in Business Management/ BComm or similar; and
  
• Post graduate qualification in Business Management/ BComm or similar (advantageous); and
  
• Experience in Short Term Insurance environment (advantageous); and
  
• 5 years Financial Service experience in a Product Development or similar areas; and
  
• FinTech background with developer education preferred.
  

Skills and Behavioral Competencies

Business Skills

• Understanding requirements for internal and external stakeholders;
  
• Maintaining the relationship between internal and external stakeholders;
  
• Be organized; and
  
• Have problem solving skills.
  

Behavioral Skills

• Be an open thinker;
  
• Be willing to learn;
  
• Have good networking skills; and
  
• Be a team player.
  

Leadership

• Be respectful;
  
• Be decisive;
  
• Be a leader for change;
  
• Be a strategic influencer;
  
• Be able to build your team;
  
• Shape the performance of yourself and your team;
  
• Environmentally astute; and
  
• Ensure alignment between customer needs and the company s product.
  

Benefits

Benefits

• Pension Fund;
  
• Funeral Benefit;
  
• Life Cover;
  
• Dread Disease cover;
  
• Disability cover;
  
• Employee Wellness program;
  
• Training opportunities; and
  
• Hybrid work environment.