Group Product Manager

About the position

Location: Bryanston, South Africa
Department: Commercial - Products
Direct report: Group Chief Commercial Officer

The Group Product Manager for Intelligent Connectivity will define and drive the strategy, development, and launch of next-generation connectivity solutions across seven African operating companies (OpCos). This role involves close collaboration with local Product Managers, CTOs, Sales Leaders and MD's to build business cases, guide products through standardized Ready-for-Sales and Ready-for-Delivery gates, and ensure seamless go-to-market and operational execution. Success will be measured through KPIs spanning time-to-market, adoption, revenue growth, product profitability, launch readiness, and stakeholder satisfaction.
Position Overview
The Group Product Manager for Intelligent Connectivity will oversee the end-to-end product lifecycle of managed network and connectivity services, ensuring alignment with group strategy and local market needs. This role requires owning the product vision and roadmap, conducting market and competitive analyses, and partnering with cross-functional teams to deliver scalable, secure, and differentiated connectivity solutions.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Planning & Roadmap

• Define Vision & Strategy: Own the Intelligent Connectivity product strategy and roadmap, translating group objectives into clear priorities across OpCos.
• Market Research & Positioning: Conduct in-depth market, customer, and competitive analysis to identify new opportunities and validate product concepts

Product Development & Launch

• End-to-End Lifecycle Management: Lead the full development lifecycle-from ideation through release-ensuring products meet group standards for quality, security, and scalability.
• Feature Orchestration: Orchestrate the introduction of new connectivity features by aligning engineering, operations, and marketing teams to deliver high-impact capabilities.
• Pricing & SLA Management: Define pricing models, service level agreements, and packaging strategies in collaboration with finance and CTO's to optimize profitability and competitiveness.

Go-to-Market & Enablement

• Sales Readiness: Develop comprehensive sales enablement materials, including presentations, proposal material, datasheets, playbooks, demos, and training sessions, to equip local sales teams for successful product launches.
• Go-to-Market Coordination: Partner with marketing, channel, and support functions to execute launch plans tailored to each country's market dynamics.

Operational Readiness

• Launch Readiness Assessment: Implement and monitor Ready-for-Sales and Ready-for-Delivery gates, ensuring each product meets predefined criteria before market entry.
• Delivery Enablement: Coordinate with operations and service delivery teams to validate infrastructure, processes, and resources, guaranteeing on-time and on-scope roll-out.

Collaboration with OpCos

• Business Planning Support: Lead workshops and provide templates for financial modeling and business case development, ensuring local teams build robust plans aligned with group targets for the Intelligent Connectivity.
• Stakeholder Alignment: Serve as the primary liaison between group and OpCo leadership, articulating product objectives, roadmaps, and resource requirements.
• Launch Readiness Coaching: Guide OpCos through the three dimensions of launch readiness-market, sales (Ready-for-Sales), and operational delivery (Ready-for-Delivery)-leveraging best practices and standardized checklists.
• Enablement & Training: Customize enablement programs to local needs, including technical workshops, sales training, and customer pilots to drive adoption and feedback loops.

Qualifications

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• Education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Business, or a related field.
• Experience: 5+ years in product management within ICT connectivity or managed network services, including multi-regional product launches.
• Technical Expertise: Deep understanding of enterprise networking, managed services, ISP achitectures, SD-WAN, Last Mile Services of Fixed wireless, fibre, Satellite, 5G, LTE, IoT connectivity, and cloud integration.
• Business Acumen: Proven ability to build and manage business cases, P&Ls, and pricing strategies in a complex, matrixed environment.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, with experience in facilitating workshops and aligning diverse teams.
• Travel: Willingness to travel within Africa to support product launches and regional initiatives.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Product Profitability: Ensure product profitability of each product portfolio product, finding innovative ways to reduce costs and manage pricing.
• Time-to-Market: Average duration from business case approval to product launch across all OpCo's.
• Product Adoption Rate: Percentage of target customers in each market adopting new Intelligent Connectivity offerings .
• Revenue Growth: Year-on-year increase in revenue from the Intelligent Connectivity portfolio per OpCo.
• Return on Investment (ROI): Ratio of net profit to total investment for each new product initiative.
• Customer Satisfaction Score: Internal CSAT from sales and delivery teams on product readiness and support materials.

[URL Removed]

Desired Skills:

• Business Acumen: Proven ability to build and manage business cases
• P&Ls
• and pricing strategies in a complex
• matrixed environment. Cross-Functional Leadership: Strong stakeholder management and communication skills
• with experience in facilitating workshops and aligning diverse teams

Desired Work Experience:

• 5 to 10 years

Desired Qualification Level:

• Masters

About The Employer:

https://recruitcrm.io/apply/[Phone Number Removed];JGL