Senior Manager/ Lead - Digital Content Platforms at Safaricom Kenya

JOB DESCRIPTION

Reporting to the Tribe Lead – Digital Services , the role purpose is; 

• Lead in building and managing high quality digital services technology roadmap based on business vision and strategy to support scale & experience.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to define and clearly communicate digital platforms vision and strategy.
• Oversee the delivery of robust digital platforms (service delivery platform,  content aggregator & AdTech) - that offer superior journeys across content platforms
• Oversee all aspects of backend development including API and core functional logic, with add on skill of frontend development for the digital content platforms
• Define the Vision so that the different squads clearly visualize the expected outcome by the user and manage the platform backlog
• Responsible of the overall leadership for Platforms development, commercialization and rationalization.
• Engage Product Owners, Tribe Leads, and Tech Area Leads to allocate Chapter members and ensure Squads have proper technical resourcing and functional expertise to deliver the best digital platforms
• Partnering with local and global technology partners to identify and influence development of latest digital products.
• Execute AI/ML for personalized customer engagement and deliver intuitive digital journeys across all content platforms
• Incorporate benchmarking information as well as best practices and lessons learned from to define best-in-class platforms that offer superior customer experience
• Drive the adoption and implementation of Agile best practices within the Platforms development team
• Attend agile ceremonies and demo/present the development work incrementally 
• Optimize the deployment of Chapter members across Squads and line-manage Chapter members to guide and develop their skills and expertise
• Serve as a “player-coach,” spending part of your time embedded in a Squad yourself. You will work as a Squad Member in your domain of expertise, helping to advance the work and using your experience to maximize Squad performance

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Agree with the business and all stakeholders on the Platforms roadmap and deliverables for each quarter and drive innovation
• Deliver a stable and in best in class platforms for superior customer experience
• Serve as a “player-coach,” spending part of your time embedded in a Squad yourself. You will work as a Squad Member in your domain of expertise, helping to advance the work and using your experience to maximize Squad performance
• Bring expertise in full stack development, Performance, and stability of custom-built platforms to serve the needs of content customers
• Analyze customer insights, usage patterns, competition activities, and market scenario to draw insights into customer usage /behavior to design and optimize the product and platforms
• Develop the commercial case and secure commercial approvals for the Product & Platforms
• Oversee the Product & Platform commercial plan deliverables by working with Stakeholders and prepare and update all documents.
• Present Formal product & platform commercial performance in weekly and monthly reviews (Customers, Transactions, penetration Revenues, tNPS, ARPU etc.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to define and communicate the product vision and strategy.
• Work closely with other stakeholders including the brand and segment team to define a clear and precise Go To Market strategy and channel engagement including visibility requirements
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement by identifying areas for optimization and innovation.
• Implement and measure key performance indicators (KPIs) to track product team performance.
• Collaborate with other Chapter Leads and teams to share best practices and lessons learned.
• Facilitate Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, backlog grooming, and retrospectives.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor degree in IT/Engineering from a recognized University
• Total 6+ years’ relevant software development experience, including experience leading development teams and solving complex problems for business functions.
• Significant expertise in product software development, with a desire to remain ‘hands on’.
• Lead-level Full-stack coding experience Backend/API (J2EE), Front end/UI (React or similar).
• Knowledge of multiple back-end languages (e.g. Python, Node JS, Typescript).
• Knowledge of multiple front-end languages and libraries (e.g. React, Node.js, HTML/ CSS, JavaScript).
• UI/UX front-end tools and frameworks, APIs, relational databases and other persistence technologies, integration tools and strategies, etc.
• Strong understanding of Cloud offerings (AWS) and capabilities.
• Strong software design & development principles, with a focus on system stability, reusability and performance optimized for a global audience.
• Experience leveraging DevOps tools and principles.
• Experience in Agile Methodologies, establishing a culture of continuous improvement, understanding, and applying a “servant leader” mindset.
• Strong communications, influencing and stakeholder management skills.
• Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) or Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) certification is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to drive systems strategy and execution.
• A passion for staying up-to-date with industry trends and best practices.