Product Release Manager at Mukuru

• We are looking for an experienced Product Release Manager who enjoys a challenge. This role would afford you the opportunity grow your career by delivering quality in a fast-paced, agile team environment and collaborating across verticals in the business.
• The main purpose of this role is to manage the deployment, implementation and effective use of new technology/product features into business operations across various territories. The Product Release Manager reports directly to a Product Owner, or else to the Head of Product Domain: Customer.
• This position is required to coordinate and manage the rollout of new technology and product features in the Customer domain. They carry out final testing for new product features and ensure that users are adequately prepared and trained for the correct use of new features or technologies. The role also provides feedback to the Product and Operations teams in terms of any bugs, issues or enhancements identified to drive effective adoption of the new products/features. Internal Liaison takes place across the Domain teams, Project Management team, Training & Development, Application Support, in country business teams as well as with project stakeholders. External liaison may also be required with third parties.

Duties And Responsibilities (Includes But Is Not Limited To)

• Plan and coordinate the rollout of new technology / product features
• Effective planning and coordination of rollouts with alignment to strategy, domain stakeholders, project and in country stakeholders
• Liaise with product, dev and testing in terms of technical readiness
• Identify and manage dependencies
• Plan, coordinate and manage user and production testing
• Collaborate with the QA team to document Test/UAT/Production processes and standards and ensure they are adhered to
• Coordinate and assist with end-to-end staging, production, regression and user testing
• Feedback to product team on any bugs or suggested enhancements
• Ensure users are able to effectively use new product features
• Train users (internal staff) or train-the-trainer on feature functionality
• Create training material/demos where necessary
• Ensure new features are correctly implemented and successfully adopted by the end user
• Manage the deployment and implementation of new product features
• Responsibility for the go-live and beta rollout phase of new technology, as well as updates and features in existing and new technology products
• Ensure that new products or features are fully deployed, implemented properly and are functioning correctly in business operations
• Carry out post-deployment recons from a technology perspective
• Liaise with internal departments and country stakeholders in order to ensure successful roll-out
• Communicate with relevant internal departments on the progress of the feature roll-out from deployment until the feature is working correctly in a production environment
• Liaise with the Projects team for handovers for the full project roll-out i.e. marketing launches, partner communications or other 3rd party relationship management
• Liase with operational support teams to ensure that support processes are in place for post-implementation support
• Effectively manage the change, including communications and barriers to adoption
• Communicate with country stakeholders and users to ensure that they understand why the change is happening, what is changing and how it will impact them
• Understand and communicate any barriers to success for that particular implementation
• Provide updates on progress and accurate reporting on the roll-out of products/features
• Liaise with relevant stakeholders regarding the timeframes of deployment and implementation of projects
• Provide weekly reports to the domain regarding all projects and upcoming priorities

Key Requirements

• Grade 12 /or equivalent (Essential)
• IT Qualification (Desirable)
• Project Management experience (Essential)
• Test Analyst experience (Desirable)
• Financial Services/ Payment / Fintech industry experience (Desirable)
• Experience working across multiple countries in Africa (Desirable)
• Experience working in a structured delivery environment, in line with best practices & standards
• Knowledge of project management principles
• Knowledge of Agile methodology
• Knowledge of QA methodology, tools and processes (including UAT and bug tracking)

Additional Skills

• Multitasking & time management skills
• Communication skills
• Organisational & administrative skills
• Attention to detail
• Presentation skills
• Analytical skills