Executive Head: VSA Pricing and Governance at Vodafone Global Enterprise

Role purpose:

As the Head of Pricing at Vodacom South Africa, you will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of pricing strategy, revenue optimization, and profitability for the organization's products and services. Your role will involve developing and implementing pricing models, conducting market analysis, and collaborating with various teams to drive business growth and optimise VSA A&R spend. This position requires strong analytical skills, strategic thinking, and an understanding of the telecommunications industry. You will work closely with pricing teams in the Mobile, fixed business unit, wholesale teams, as well as regulatory teams

Your responsibilities will include:

• Margin creation: The encumbered will be responsible for predictive impact assessments of VSA pricing and A&R decisions across the entire base, regular monitoring of these impacts as well as effective business partnering across VSA to ensure that key interventions are actioned to protect margin, mitigate revenue leakage and drive efficiencies. Develop and implement wholesale pricing strategies that align with the company's financial goals and market positioning.
• Pricing Strategy Development: Develop and execute comprehensive pricing strategies aligned with the company's overall business objectives. Analyze market dynamics, competitor pricing, and customer insights to determine optimal pricing models. Define pricing frameworks and strategies per segment, based on supply & demand, costing, regulatory, competition factors, etc. This includes frameworks for products, sales, terminal propositions. 
• Market Analysis: Conduct a thorough market analysis to identify customer segments, pricing trends, and competitive landscape. Utilize data and market research to make informed pricing decisions. You will work with the various regulatory teams to ensure margin squeeze tests are performed regularly to allow for both wholesale and retail businesses to operate within tolerance levels required. 
• Pricing Model Development: Design and implement pricing models, structures, and frameworks that align with market dynamics and business goals. Ensure pricing models are flexible, scalable, and meet regulatory requirements.
• Pricing Analytics: Leverage data analytics and tools to monitor pricing performance, identify revenue opportunities, and track pricing effectiveness. Develop pricing metrics and KPIs to measure pricing performance. Work with broader group teams to establish pricing best practise. 
• Centralise company-wide acquisition and retention expenditure through the Commercial pricing CoE, ensuring effective use of funds. This extends providing support for deal creation and commercial negotiations with partners.
• Reporting & Insights:  Forecasting and prediction models relevant to IBRO volumes, rates, ARPU(A), A&R, and mix within each product line, essential to management decision making. 
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including sales, finance, operations, and legal, to align pricing strategies with overall business objectives. Provide guidance and support to sales teams on pricing negotiations, contract terms, and deal structures. 

Leadership and teamwork

• Team Management: Lead a team of pricing analysts or specialists, providing guidance, mentoring, and performance management. Foster a collaborative and high-performing pricing team.
• Lead, motivate and develop Commercial teams, ensuring they have clarity of direction and support in prioritising demands. 
• Enable improved decision making within VSA and identify and drive focused corrective actions, better resource allocation and challenge the divisions to maximise and drive sustainable value and cost efficiency

Communication

• Communicate with clarity and impact using multiple channels to foster open communication throughout the organisation. The ability to effectively manage expectations of key stakeholders
• Written material must be of the highest quality with clear insights and actions for executive management 
• Effectively communicate pricing strategies, changes, and rationale to internal stakeholders, including senior management. Collaborate with marketing teams to develop customer-facing pricing communication and promotional activities.
• The ability to prepare and present performance to commercial, sales, regional and management teams

Knowledge and experience

• Develop knowledge of key mobile and fixed communication products and devices across prepaid and postpaid environments. 
• Provide timeous, accurate, consistent and insightful management reporting and performance analysis to senior management aligned to KPI target trackers (PDs), P&L’s, dashboards and customised reporting where required. 
• Provide pricing input to detailed financial models and budget / forecasting processes 
• Provide governance and approval process for all incentives ( including monthly trading incentives), commissions and bonuses in all Trade partner agreements. 
• Familiarity with regulatory frameworks and compliance requirements related to pricing in the industry.

Innovation and change

• The ability to use systems tools & technologies to analyse data, such as BI, big data that can be used by business units to predict outcomes and make informed decisions.

The ideal candidate for this role will have:

Experience & Qualifications

• At least 5-10 years financial and pricing management experience with Relevant BSc. or BCom. Mathematics, Actuarial, Statistics, Econometrics or relevant financial degree
• Advanced skills in Excel, Word and PowerPoint
• Advanced SQL skills is an required.
• ICT industry experience an advantage

Person specification - Technical / Professional / Personal Expertise

• Excellent understanding of the Telecoms industry and key value drivers within the industry and market. Knowledge of the VSA business model is an advantage. 
• Commercial Acumen: The ability to drive value through commercial knowledge, insights and the understanding of the impact of decisions on the business, both short and long term impacts. 
• Decision making support: The ability to understand the full value chain, distinct analytical and systematic thinking and the ability to execute on the strategic plan. 

Competency / Performance Drivers

• Strong Leadership & Ownership ability 
• Formulating Strategies & Concepts
• Deciding and Initiation action
• Delivering Results and Meeting Customer Expectations
• Relating and Networking
• Persuading and Influencing
• Strong Writing and Reporting
• Adapting and responding to change