Executive: Product Management & Pricing at Liquid Telecom South Africa

Job Purpose

Develop the Product & Pricing Strategy through: managing complex pricing and ensuring the application of pricing and business case principles and methodology. Develop conclusions and make recommendations to the relevant stakeholders with respect to tariffs, prices, offer duration, billing, economic and legislative changes. Provide Pre-sales and technical leadership for the development and support of complex Solutions that will support all Sales segments.

Duties and responsibilites include (not limited to):

Product Performance Review – Wholesale and Enterprise for LTSA.

• Define the business requirements to product management and development teams, to turn information into insights and in turn to business decisions (key performance reports for products; revenue reports; product pipeline etc).

Strategic Planning for new Product Development and Enhancements for LTSA Products

• In conjunction with the CMSO, assists and contributes to the 3 to 5-year Strategic Business Plan by:  providing research and insights for strategic direction for new Products, and Digital Services; developing a comprehensive annual plan including time lines to guide the Products Management and development teams in the achievement of the medium and short-term objectives; managing and maintaining the Product Development Roadmap and align with cross functional stakeholders; building and maintaining the internal relationships with the Sales, Marketing, Information Technology and Customer Service Teams.

Budget planning, implementation and monitoring  

• Develop the annual budget for New Product, and Digital services and submits to the CMSO for inclusion in the overall LTSA Product Financial Budget; monitors the new Product Management budget monthly, identifies variances and takes corrective action through team members;  
• Directs and provides input to the CMSO regarding technology strategy and market related thought leadership via engagement with Industry Analysts, Telecommunication forums and technology partners.
• Understand the Product Lifecycle - manage the progression of the phases

Lead and Manage Product Management & Development Teams  

• Ensure set product targets are met, through regular reviews; review, agree and update roadmaps.
• Assist Product Managers to engage all departments re product performance and possible enhancement.
• Ensure the Product life cycle management is followed. Manage the progression through the phases.
• Support Request for Proposal & Tenders.

Complex Pricing

• Ensure standard product pricing is relevant, competitive and market related.
• Develop all non-standard pricing elements of customer proposals, particularly those associated with solutions-based proposals
• Maintain pricing databases and price books.
• Design and implement efficient pricing and business case processes. Align pricing with the product strategy as well as sales strategy.
• Develop pricing models in line with the customer requirements and sales strategy.
• Prepare monthly management reports for submission and / or presentation to Divisional Heads and other relevant stakeholders.
• Provide pricing support to Sales and Strategic Customers, including responding to inquiries.
• Develop and implement product price strategies including segment strategies for the various markets and channels with the Product Management team.
• Use market analysis data, customer satisfaction data and internal service costing data to develop and manage value based pricing and pricing strategies across the full range of products, working with product managers, segment managers, product development managers and finance managers.
• Coordinate the Bid process, ensuring that RFP and proposals are commercially and financially complete in terms of ensuring that all cost elements are included and priced.

Customer Specific Solutions

• Responsible for the development of complex technology solutions - oversee technology, vendor and partner recommendation for complex solutions.
• Lead the mapping of business requirements to systems/technical requirements to ensure they are in line with existing or future capabilities.
• Review, interpret and respond to detailed business requirements specifications.
• Provide input to the strategic direction of technology investments to assist in the development of the enterprise architecture and maximise the return on technology investment.

Executive Business Engagement

• Develop the business strategy into operational execution plans, objectives and monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the strategy is under execution while being closely monitored for success.
• Manage multiple business priorities concurrently while delivering on the business as usual requirements of the company.
• Understand and operationalize the complexities of the companies operating model to focus on quarterly and annual objectives.
• Develop areas of improvement across own business unit and interfaces with other business units to contribute towards a more streamlined business operation.
• Investigate and understand impact analysis of the business unit as it relates to the companies operating model.
• Manage the impact of the business unit function to ensure that the company objectives and targets are met.
• Contributes to the development of best practice in the company, with aim of driving continuous improvement and innovation.

Minimum Requirements

Qualifications

• Degree or a minimum of a 3-year tertiary education from a recognized public education institution
• Post-Graduate Diploma or Master’s Degree (MBA/MBL) advantageous.

Job Related Experience Required

• A minimum of 8 years' experience in a leadership role in sales, marketing, product development and management in a similar Business or Industry is mandatory.