Product Manager at Kyosk Digital Services

Job Description:

We are looking for an experienced Product Manager (PM) to define the right thing to build, rally a cross-functional team to deliver it and iterate until the user and business outcome is met.

The PM will lead product innovation based on a deep understanding of user pain points as well as business needs and priorities. They will also develop metrics to measure and effectively manage the deployment of solutions that optimize business processes. To be successful in this role they will need to be a great communicator, innovator, influencer and an analytical problem solver. They will need to think and act fast, deal with ambiguity and be able to develop ideas into scalable products that work on a Pan-African scale.

This is a rare opportunity to impact not just the future of Kyosk, but the future of retail of fast-moving consumer goods across Africa.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

• Strategic alignment: Define the vision, roadmap and strategy of multiple internal tools e.g. CRM for the internal operations teams; 
• Product Discovery: Collect, organize and prioritize product enhancements for maximum business/user impact. Define what needs to be built in line with the company’s objectives and product strategy;
• User Experience enhancement: As the primary User Experience (UX) person on the team, translate user research and hypothesis testing into product requirements to enhance user experience. Work closely with User Interface Designer to craft simple, useful experiences;
• Scope Definition: Collaborate with the Engineering team to discuss scope trade-offs and agree on specific timelines for functional solutions. Help to champion and model an agile approach to product design and management;
• Product Review: Conduct regular user testing and analyses of products and services to ensure they are meeting user needs;
• Reporting: Review and report on your squad’s success metrics. Monitor the project and keep stakeholders updated on progress and escalate any risks to delivery; 
• Documentation: Occasionally create support and training documents for internal users. Produce and prioritise product backlogs and other relevant project documentation. 

Skills required

• Excellent communication skills along with the ability to effectively collaborate and lead cross-functional teams
• Presentation skills -- to motivate and lead a cross functional team toward a goal, while also getting buy-in from others (whether that be someone on another team or an exec)
• Focus -- on the key problem to be solved, and build only the right thing
• Time management -- distinguish between urgent, and important, and know how to prioritize and plan your time 
• Business skills --  to work with company finance staff, marketing people, sales, and executive management, and the language and concepts that these people deal with. Lead Build vs. buy decisions
• User understanding -- to empathize, listen, and co-create with the end customer and solve for an existing pain point or identify new pain points
• Technical & data comfort -- around analysis, defining and interpreting dashboards and key insights, understanding or setting metrics/financial goals, and working with developers/data science comfortably
• Problem solving to break down an ambiguous product/customer need and go about experimenting or iterating to find an appropriate solution
• Strategic thinking to create a plan and a story to explain what’s next while also taking into account the many moving parts across a team, product, or organization

Professional Background and Experience

REQUIRED: 

• For at least three (3) years, you’ve built multiple tools for internal users and loved it!
• Business background e.g. MBA, ex-consultant, or have upskilled in some other way and can prove it;
• You’ve integrated and scaled internal platforms and services for continued organizational growth (including 3rd party systems such as ERPs);
• Internally, you’ve closely worked with Engineering, Design and Data/Data Science;
• Experience in handling the pressure of fast-paced, startup environments where you wore multiple hats and used limited resources. 

 DESIRED/NICE TO HAVE: 

• Managed large projects, especially where integration with 3rd parties was involved 
• Experience overseeing areas such as customer experience, internal data and analytics, machine learning, payments and billing, authentication/identity
• Externally, you’ve collaborated effectively with Customer Support, Legal, Finance/Accounting
• Experience in eCommerce and/or distribution of FMCG products is a plus

Behavioral competencies

• Analytical Thinking;
• Desire for continuous improvement
• Ability to work under pressure and with tight timelines
• Passion for products
  • Essential to stay motivated through difficult challenges, and occasional long hours
  • Passion is contagious, so you will need it to inspire the rest of the team
• Empathy for internal users, and by extension the target market of Duka owners
• Work Ethic -- genuine care for the product and willingness to go to any necessary length to ensure its success
• Integrity -- do what you say you’ll do. Deep understanding and respect for what each team member is responsible for, and trust them to do their job
• Confidence -- and can communicate persuasively. know when to make decisions (even when others might disagree) vs when to build consensus, and you can articulate the strategy and business rationale behind your decisions.
• Attitude — full responsibility for the product's success, no excuses. Quick to take the blame if something goes wrong, and equally quick to give credit to the rest of the team when it goes well
• You're detail-oriented, process-driven, and organized, and are able to stay two steps ahead of the work your team is doing
• You have an eye for good design and user experience
• Tech Savvy