Main Job Functions:

Product Strategy:

• Define the organisation’s overall telco product portfolio and strategy and align it with the MTN Group business strategy, mission and vision.
• Lead the managing of products & services in line with the MTN Group technology, procurement and business strategy and exploit new opportunities to scale
• Define and implement the strategic capability and capacity requirements needed for the effective execution of this portfolio across the Design, Build and Go-to-Market (GTM) streams
• Define a product ranging and design framework for Consumer, Digital, S&D and CVM product elements
• Monitor and assess the market, competitors and technological advancements and, when applicable, propose the development of products and services relevant to the portfolio
• Develop and maintain a short, medium and long-term strategy for the Product catalogue including product reviews, product performance and management
• Identify areas in the product portfolio where value can be added/exploited further, areas where the value is being destroyed and areas where the value is latent, and act accordingly
• Develop models for expanding MTN’s products and services operating model beyond traditional mobile voice and data, in the ICT space.
• Lead the life product management aligned to the delivery of the Segments and Business objectives
• Work with the IT and NWG teams to identify, design and develop new platform strategies to enable new and existing products and services
• Lead the product managers responsible for Consumer, Digital, Service Delivery and CVM portfolios in the execution of their duties.
• Coordinate with all senior leads from the relevant stakeholder divisions in the product and services strategy.
• Monitor the profit goal for the product’s post-launch phase.
• Analyze and articulate the user needs and feedback for the relevant stakeholders.
• Communicate with the Executive team and provide the report of product progress.
• Supervise the project management of the product delivery.

Design, Build & Collaboration:

• Lead the end-to-end Design & Build optimal products and services, driven by segment requirements and technological advancements.
• Manage the product and services roadmap in alignment with Consumer, Digital, Service Delivery, CVM, IT, NWG and CPG.
• Drive the differentiation and growth strategy through the design and management of optimal and innovative product portfolios
• Predict future opportunities in products and services and innovations based on a segmented approach.
• Oversee the application of the BRIGHT and EPIC themes into all elements of product design and pro-customer experiences.
• Oversee weekly engagements with all stakeholders across all business streams to ensure alignment through the planning, design, implementation and lifecycle of the full portfolio of products and services.
• Lead the training and development of the product managers assigned to the SM role.
• Take responsibility of all the human resource elements for the product managers including their code of conduct adherence, succession planning and progression as per policies defined.
• Manage all the self-service touch points for Consumer, S&D, CVM and Digital segments from a design and lifecycle perspective.
• Articulate with relevant segments the product development plans to deliver on revenue and profitability targets
• Drive differentiation and growth through the development and management of optimal and innovative product portfolios

Service Delivery Implementation:

• Oversee the development and management of all customer interaction points for Consumer, Digital, S&D and CVM segments.
• Over the design, implementation and management of the self-service terminal strategy.
• Ensure compliance with the EPIC strategy across frontend and backend processes impacting the customer’s journey in their interaction with the product and brand.
• Manage the articulation of the user feedback into actionable initiatives to address and improve the customer experience.
• Guarantee alignment of all self-service and digital touch points to meet the seamless experience for users.
• Manage service delivery performance results, including the compilation of periodical activity, budget compliance and feedback reports
• Manage the enablement of the device portfolio across all the partner segments.
• Define and manage the delivery of technical specifications for devices.
• Oversee the performance reviews of the device enablement with periodic reporting and insights for improvement.
• Align device technology strategies with the Network and IT Strategy to optimize the deployment and utilization of the network investment
• Support the strategy for devices, SIM profiles and other hardware in close coordination with EBU, S&D and Consumer segments.
• Support the device ranging policies for the EBU, S&D, Digital and Consumer segments to ensure they meet the compatibility and commercial objectives.
• Monitor and assess the market, competitors and technological advancements in terms of devices and liaise with relevant business teams.
• Conduct qualitative and quantitative research to gain a general understanding of user behaviour in the device purchase needs and decisions.
• Provide initiatives to improve purchase and usage patterns for devices through added features, pricing and distribution channels.

Product & Market Analysis:

• Lead profitability analyses of products and services, which are used to recommend strategies that will improve the business’s product’s market position, enable cost reduction, and improve quality over the product’s competition.
• Oversee research, studies and surveys of the product lines to quantify feedback and customer satisfaction, that will be the foundation for product enhancements and/or discontinuations.
• Support product review exercises by the relevant segment owners and provide insights for informed decision making.
• Manage the Products and Services portfolio to identify and generate incremental growth opportunities for the business

Budget Management:

• Forecast, plan and develop business cases that provide MTN with return on investment, and seek OPCO approval thereof
• Base annual budgets on the identification of trends and patterns within the current operations and extrapolate these over the next planning cycle, taking any known changes in new products or services into consideration
• Manage and optimise the budget, ensuring all expenditure is in line with the agreed budgets
• Manage the Products and Services delivery process in alignment with technology team

Responsibility towards:

• Direct reports:  5
• Matrix reports: Supporting resources across MTN functions .
• Key customers: Consumer and Business Segments, Sales Channels; Customer Experience and all end users
• Key suppliers: Segment Managers, Sales and Distribution, Network Group, IT, Customer Experience, Products and Services and Business Intelligence
• Relations: Segment Managers, Sales and Distribution, Network Group, IT, Brand and Communications, Customer Experience, Products and Services and Business Intelligence

Education 

• Degree in Marketing or Bachelors of Commerce degree.
• Postgraduate qualification in Marketing or Business Administration with exposure to Business/ Marketing concepts

Work Experience            

• 7 years experience in the area of specialization
• 5 years’ proven experience as a product manager or similar role.
• Experience in product delivery and project management.
• Experience in product lifecycle management.
• Familiarity with agile frameworks
• Leadership skills
• Organizational abilities
• Excellent communication skills
• Problem-solving aptitude
• Creative thinking skills
• Analytical skills

Trainings

• Project Management
• Media communications
• Computer literacy: MS Project, MS Word, MS Access, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint

Attributes and Skills Necessary Skills:

• People management and leadership skills – the ability to hire the right people, get the best out of people, and make sound people management decisions
• Relationship skills – to build relationships to facilitate efficient workflow
• Coaching skills – to develop the team and staff
• Scanning skills – to search for new ideas, trends and principles
• Strong “can-do“ attitude combined with an ability to use minimum resources to get maximum outputs
• Systems thinking – understanding the “big picture”
• Delegating skills
• Business acumen –understanding of the business as a whole
• Planning and Project Management skills
• Conflict management skill
• Influencing skills

Behavior Attributes 

• Assertive – being tough when necessary without fear or favour
• Courage and conviction – challenging the status quo and breaking down silo barriers to performance, and overcoming resistance to change
• Resilience – to repeatedly challenge despite setbacks and resistance
• Proactivity / initiative – to introduce ongoing changes to maximize productivity and influence the future
• Focused and priority driven – staying focused amidst the multiple demands and expectations
• Innovative & creative
• Customer centricity