Product Owner | Retail IT | (Core Administration Platform) at Allan Gray Proprietary Limited

Job Summary
We are looking for a dynamic individual who has experience managing teams, managing reportees and working with various stakeholders.  The ideal candidate for this position is detail-oriented, highly analytical, has relevant IT product owner experience and is passionate about building quality solutions.  This is an opportunity to manage the core administration team, responsible for building complex features that enhance the platform offering for clients. The application is vendor owned and therefore strong relationship and vendor management skills are required. The role presents the opportunity to proactively manage the backlog by collaborating with stakeholders to ensure the backlog consists of items that would add value in relation to our objectives and strategic initiatives. The problem space is particularly interesting as it involves integration with various systems and complex calculations related to fees, tax and a variety of product rules.

Job Responsibilities

•  Manage and mentor direct reports
•  Manage and control what is added to the production environment
•  Engage and collaborate with business stakeholders on what system enhancements are required to support their needs
•  Challenge stakeholders on their assumptions of how they envision business and system processes to work
•  Based on business priority, prioritise / plan the associated work and assess scope of projects
•  Manage team roadmap and communicate this roadmap with the team
•  Communicate with stakeholders on team progress and provide enough information to allow for informed business decisions
•  Critically evaluate information gathered from multiple stakeholders and resolve conflicts
•  Assist in enforcement of project deadlines, schedules and methodologies
•  Support and drive implementation of projects
•  Define development plans for reportees
•  Perform detailed analysis and review analysis of business analysts
•  Support the documentation and planning for test scenarios, test cases and testing activities necessary to assess the quality and completion of system implementations
•  Manage the team and assist in resolving conflicts or making trade-offs
•  Establish a healthy balance between business backlog, QA backlog and the technical backlog.
•  Manage vendor relationships

Requirements

•  Experience working in CIS industry
•  Good understanding of Unit Trusts, Retirement and Life products
•  Previous experience as a Business Analyst would be advantageous
•  Experience working closely with core LISP administration systems such as Flexcube would be advantageous
•  Experience leading software development teams and managing complex software projects
•  At least 2 years product ownership experience
•  At least 2 years people management experience
•  Experience in vendor relationship management would be advantageous
•  Experience with stakeholder management
•  Data analysis and SQL skills
•  Attention to detail and problem-solving skills
•  Methodical approach to work
•  Ability to multi-task across different projects
•  Good verbal, written and interpersonal communication skills
•  Planning, organizational and time management skills

Education

•  Technology or Business Analyst qualification
•  Strong academic performance