About the position
Introduction
MANCOSA, a DHET registered and CHE-accredited private higher education distance education provider, offering undergraduate and postgraduate business qualifications, has the following vacancy available:
Data Product Manager
Duties & Responsibilities
CORE PURPOSE
MANCOSA is looking for an experienced Data Product Manager who will be responsible for managing the lifecycle, strategy, and governance of the institution's data products - including data warehouses, dashboards, analytics platforms, and data integration pipelines. This role bridges business intelligence, data governance, and product management, ensuring that data products deliver measurable value to academic, operational, and strategic stakeholders. The incumbent will work closely with IT teams, data analysts, system owners, and executive leadership to transform institutional data into actionable insights that enhance student outcomes, optimise operations, and inform evidence-based decision-making.
CORE FUNCTIONS
1. Data Product Strategy & Roadmap
- Define and maintain the roadmap for institutional data products (e.g., student analytics dashboards, CRM reports, academic data integrations).
- Align data product initiatives with institutional goals, regulatory requirements, and digital transformation strategies.
- Collaborate with executive and academic leadership to identify data-driven opportunities for innovation and improvement.
- Prioritise data product enhancements and new features based on business value and stakeholder needs.
2. Product Ownership & Lifecycle Management
- Act as the primary owner for data platforms such as the data warehouse, data lake, BI dashboards, and reporting systems.
- Translate business requirements into technical data specifications for development and integration teams.
- Oversee the design, testing, and deployment of new data products or enhancements.
- Manage release cycles, documentation, and post-launch performance evaluation.
3. Data Governance & Quality
- Ensure data integrity, consistency, and compliance with institutional and regulatory standards (e.g., POPIA)
- Collaborate with Data Stewards and System Owners to maintain a single source of truth across systems
- Define and enforce metadata management, data cataloguing, and data access controls.
- Develop and promote best practices for data collection, transformation, and usage.
4. Stakeholder Engagement & Communication
- Serve as the bridge between business stakeholders (e.g., academics, student services, finance, marketing) and technical teams
- Gather user feedback and translate insights into actionable improvements
- Deliver user training, demos, and communication on new data tools and features
- Present data product performance and roadmap updates to leadership committees.
5. Data Insights & Value Realisation
- Collaborate with analysts and data scientists to ensure data products enable advanced analytics and institutional research
- Promote data literacy and self-service analytics across departments
- Measure and communicate the business value and ROI of data products
- Support institutional performance dashboards, compliance reporting, and student success analytics initiatives.
6. Team Leadership
- Lead and manage the data team, ensuring delivery of high-quality data products that support institutional decision-making and reporting.
- Foster collaboration, accountability, and continuous development within the team to build data capability and performance excellence.
- Align team priorities and workflows with the institution's data strategy, governance framework, and key performance objectives.
SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES
- Strategic and analytical thinking with strong business acumen.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Strong understanding of the higher education data ecosystem (enrolment, student lifecycle, academic performance, student services).
- Ability to translate technical data concepts into accessible business language.
- Project management and prioritisation skills in a cross-functional environment.
- Passion for data-driven decision-making and digital transformation in education.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
- Postgraduate qualification in Data Analytics, Information Management, or MBA.
- Certifications such as Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Pragmatic Product Management, or Data Management Professional (DAMA).
- Experience with cloud-based data platforms (e.g., Azure Data Factory, AWS Redshift, Google BigQuery).
- Familiarity with data governance frameworks and compliance (POPIA, GDPR).
- Exposure to technologies within the Higher Education setting
Desired Experience & Qualification
QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Data Science, Business Management, or related field.
- 8 years' of managerial experience in data management, business intelligence, analytics or product management in a senior role.
- Proven experience working with enterprise systems.
- Strong understanding of data architecture, data modelling, and integration concepts.
- Proficiency in BI and analytics tools (e.g., Power BI or equivalent).
