Product Manager: Digital Business Innovation

**About Company**

We are a JSE-listed company that sells innovative technology for mobile commerce to emerging markets in South Africa and abroad. Our users are rich, poor, urban and rural, and we allow them all to interact and transact on an equal footing. We reach them by using both physical and virtual distribution channels. We target many of our services at people who do not have easy access to bank accounts, and we allow them the convenience of being able to transact where and when they want to. Our good reputation is our license to operate.

**Job Purpose**

Partners with Business Units within the BLT Group functioning as their digital champion ensure new digital business initiatives are overseen from idea to implementation. This is for their digital innovation and growth through introducing platform business models, digital product development, implementation, adoption & customer acquisition, digital channel development and advancement of a data driven business model.

**Responsibilities**

**Visualization and tracking of BU’s digital roadmaps**
- Ongoing visualisation and tracking of BU's digital roadmaps to drive sustainable transformation, aligned to business strategy
- This includes identifying tech-enabled opportunities and mapping out a clear path to this value for the business
- Conduct research and develop insights relevant to identified digital business concepts / initiatives
- Incubate business innovation / digital business concepts by developing suitable prototypes and orchestrating the development of minimum viable products
- Validate (measure and test) prototypes / minimum viable products against KPIs using quantitative and qualitative criteria
- Provide input into the development and updating of innovation cases that are feasible, desirable and sustainable
- Coordinate with Technology delivery to convert MVPs into sustainable, integrated BLT solutions

**Translate digital strategy into plans for delivery**
- Work with the business and other key stakeholders to define the implementation requirements for digital delivery including customer segment and digital channel analysis, building economic models and business cases, sourcing technology solutions, identifying and building strategic partnerships, data sourcing and analysis

**Linking digital strategy to enterprise architecture**
- Collaborate with the enterprise architecture team to ensure digital strategy and plans are supported by a viable solutions architecture
- This includes exploring the market to build vs buy solutions, support procurement, establish development and roll our approach, manage design deployment and integration

**Establish and manage pilot studies**
- Define and manage pilot studies and/or minimum viable product (MVP) solutions with the business and other involved stakeholders to support decision making

**Collaborate with and manage multiple parties**
- Co-ordinate and collaborate with multiple parties to enable digital innovation and delivery. This includes Business Units (CEO’s, CIO’s or COO’s, Product Development, Project Portfolio Office, Customer / Channel representative, Business Analysts, Product owners), Group Technology (Architecture, Digital delivery team, Technical Programme Office), BluNova (for data analytics and decisioning), BI Team (for management information) and relevant external partners

**Manage stakeholder expectations**
- Managing project uncertainty and understanding the impacts on the project portfolio/programme and wider business

**Business change and digital transformation management**
- Work with all company departments, most notably human capital, finance and operations teams and group international digital development teams to ensure the adoption of digital transformation happens smoothly
- Works with human capital to ensure all skills, communication and training is available for the transition

**Best practice research, alignment and communication**
- Stays abreast and aligned with industry best practice, innovates with emerging technology
- Aligns organization and communicates on digital adoption in South Africa and globally, digital opportunities in relevant industries and businesses

**Uses agile methods**
- Uses agile methods and organization to deliver digital innovation to the Blue Label businesses, focusing on business value creation

**Management**
- Programme management and co-ordination of internal and external teams for delivery of digital initiatives as prioritized by the Blue Label business

**Plans and Aligns**
- Plans and prioritizes work to meet commitments aligned with organizational goals

**Behavioural Competencies**
- Customer Focus
- Balances Stakeholders
- Proactive self starter
- Tech Savvy
- Cultivates Innovation
- Instills Trust
- Collaborates
- Situational Adaptability
- Works under pressure

**Skills**
- Digital Transformation management
- Business Insight
- Manages Complexity
- Commercial and financial acumen
- Creative problem Solving and Judge