Takealot Group - Product Manager

The Takealot Group, a prominent player in South Africa's e-commerce landscape, is seeking an accomplished Product Manager to bolster its dedicated Product team in Cape Town. This is an opportunity to join a rapidly expanding and energetic organisation that values intelligence, creativity, diligence, and integrity in its workforce.

About the Role

As a Product Manager at Takealot Group, you will be instrumental in shaping the future of their customer service platform. The core objective of this role is to drive significant improvements in contact resolution times, a critical metric for customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. You will be the visionary behind the platform's feature set, charting a course from conception to implementation.

This position demands a collaborative spirit, working hand-in-hand with various departments, including customer service, engineering, design, and operations, as well as executive leadership. Your insights will directly influence product enhancements and the overall customer experience. You will also engage with business owners to thoroughly understand their strategic objectives, translate their needs into actionable requirements, and champion initiatives that align with the company's growth trajectory.

Your responsibilities will span the entire product lifecycle. A key aspect of this role involves defining and meticulously tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) that will guide all product-related decisions. You will develop compelling business cases to support the prioritisation of new features and enhancements, ensuring that resources are allocated to the most impactful projects.

To achieve this, you will lead requirements workshops with stakeholders, dissecting project scopes and core objectives. This will involve eliciting detailed functional requirements and documenting them clearly for the technical teams. Collaboration with technical leads will be essential to establish a shared technical vision and navigate complex trade-offs. Furthermore, you will play a vital role in evolving and refining product management practices to ensure their effectiveness within a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

Ensuring the development and quality assurance teams are aligned with product requirements is paramount. You will facilitate backlog grooming sessions and sprint planning meetings, providing clarity and direction. Setting realistic timelines, driving project schedules, and guiding cross-functional development teams from the initial design phase through to product release will be central to your duties. A crucial part of ensuring a high-quality output involves reviewing test plans and scripts, and participating in user acceptance testing.

What They're Looking For

Ideal candidates will possess a Bachelor's Degree or an Advanced Diploma in a relevant field, complemented by a minimum of five years of dedicated experience in Product Management. A strong foundation in a Product Development environment, with at least two years of experience, is also a prerequisite.

Alternatively, candidates with a minimum of eight years of direct Product Management experience may be considered, provided they can demonstrate equivalent expertise. Experience within the e-commerce sector or in environments leveraging API-driven technical solutions is highly advantageous and will strengthen an application. Familiarity with online grocery and restaurant shopping, as well as a deep understanding of customer experience principles within these domains, would be beneficial.

Proficiency in essential project management and collaboration tools such as JIRA and Confluence is required, as these are integral to the team's workflow.

In South Africa, Product Manager roles within large e-commerce entities like the Takealot Group often command competitive salaries, reflecting the strategic importance and skill set required. Growth paths typically involve moving into senior product management positions, leading larger teams, or transitioning into product strategy or leadership roles within the organisation.

• Bachelor's Degree or Advanced Diploma in a related field and a minimum of 5 years Product Management experience.
• Minimum of 2 years experience in a Product Development environment.
• Equivalent experience may qualify a candidate with a minimum of 8 years of Product Management experience.
• Experience in an e-commerce environment or API-driven technical environment is advantageous.
• Experience in online restaurant and grocery shopping and customer experience is beneficial.
• Proficiency with JIRA and Confluence.