Role Purpose:
The Product Manager role is responsible for defining core parts of the customer experience of a marketplace product, driving critical decisions that we encounter as part of scalable growth across the globe. This means serving as end-to-end product owner of complex products, including building tracking mechanisms and post-launch improvements. Along the way, you will partner with teams across Technology, Operations, Marketing and Account Management / Business Development.
The role holder has a track record of Product Delivery of complex, multi-faceted products, is driven by data, and has the ability to engage with and influence executive-level cross-functional stakeholders through written and verbal channels. Successful candidates will demonstrate experience balancing data analysis, project management, and customer communication. The candidate must have sound business judgment and the ability to think strategically about this fast growing business, while having the ability to dive into the tactical details.
Role Details – Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:
Product Strategy & Roadmap Planning
- Develop technical roadmap aligned with growth strategies in collaboration with stakeholders and leadership.
- Analyze needs with internal and external contacts to align the product roadmap to strategic goals.
- Assess value and develop business cases to ensure work aligns with overarching product strategy.
- Suggest innovative ideas and improvements to solve complex business problems.
Stakeholder Management & Requirements Definition
- Understand departmental priorities and translate them into priorities for the technical team.
- Turn high-level business requirements into technical specifications, stories, and detailed feature specs.
- Define the product vision and communicate progress to stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle.
- Establish transparency around execution, risks, and potential issues.
Agile Execution & Delivery Management
- Lead scrum teams, keeping up with Agile/Scrum best practices and trends.
- Plan and prioritize the product backlog, including stories, epics, and themes.
- Create execution plans that balance priorities, costs, schedules, and tradeoffs.
- Actively mitigate roadblocks impacting the team’s ability to hit release or sprint goals.
- Lead product-release plans and set clear expectations for the delivery of new functionalities.
- Meet defined milestones and provide weekly/monthly reporting on the state of initiatives.
Technical Quality & Operational Excellence
- Work with engineering to deliver a product that is stable, scalable, reliable, and performant.
- Operate the production product in collaboration with the technical team.
- Perform root-cause analysis for complex problems and implement corrective recommendations.
Growth, Analytics & Continuous Improvement
- Deep-dive post-launch metrics (growth and profitability) to uncover business-driving trends.
- Drive adoption growth of rolled-out solutions.
- Assess opportunities to further enhance the customer experience and remove friction points.
People & Organisation Responsibilities
- Ensure the implementation of MAF Retail’s corporate policies and relevant procedures
- Assist with the implementation of the performance management process by setting objectives, monitoring performance, and provide constructive feedback and provide inputs to senior management
- Provide inputs on training needs and coordinate with the HC department to ensure facilitation of training requirements
- Ensure the implementation of MAF Retail’s corporate policies and relevant procedures
Disclaimer: This role description reflects the general details considered necessary to describe the principal responsibilities of the role identified and shall not be construed as an exhaustive description of all the work requirements inherent to success in the role.
Functional/Technical Competencies
- History of developing business strategy in conjunction with senior leadership.
- Define and communicate a clear product vision, strategy, and roadmap.
- Ability to provide technical architecture and/or API design guidance and direction, demonstrating strong judgment in balancing long-term strategic investments with near-term business goals.
- Ability to present complex technical information in a clear and concise manner, to peers and developers and to senior leaders.
- Excellent customer experience intuition; demonstrated success in creating innovative and user-friendly products and customer-facing features.
- Technical fluency; comfort understanding and discussing technology concepts, schedule trade offs and new opportunities with technical team members.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
- Advanced Knowledge of SQL and Excel or willingness to learn
- Entrepreneurial spirit, with track record for delivering results in fast-moving and demanding environments
Qualification, Experience & Skills:
Minimum Qualifications/education
- Bachelor’s Degree in IT, Engineering or related field
- Background that comprises both solid business understanding as well as high-level understanding of high-quality digital product delivery.
- MBA or Certifications in Product Management preferred, but not essential
Minimum experience
- 5+ years of strong experience owning and delivering digital products
- Previous experience in e-commerce, start-ups or similar dynamic digital environment
Skills
- Experience developing holistic product strategies across multiple merchandise categories
- Advocate and thought leadership for agile processes and scrum methodologies
- Understanding of commercial goals and how to implement design changes to achieve desired results.
- Ability to communicate effectively in multiple business areas (e.g., marketing, sales, finance, operations, technology) to drive cross functional programs and influence teams in multiple locations / time zones
- Background that comprises both solid business understanding as well as high level understanding of high-quality digital product delivery
- English (Full professional proficiency - Required)
- Team orientation and willingness to roll up sleeves to solve complex, dynamic challenges
