Specialist - Product Owner.Customer Operations at MTN

Job Description

• The Product Owner works alongside business owners to define the product roadmaps, writes user stories and prioritizes the team backlog to streamline execution and the delivery of priorities of the business. The Product Owner will maximize the value derived from the development team by ensuring the team is working efficiently and on the right items.
• They have a deep understanding of the target market / industry, and they build close relationships with key stakeholders to ensure that the team’s effort is aligned with overall strategy. 

Responsibilities
Key Performance Areas: 

• Provide input into the product vision and roadmap for Supersonic by aligning overall company strategy, business unit requirements, Supersonic objectives and key opportunities identified through business system knowledge
• Be a Super User on the Supersonic Business Systems
• Provide direction to the Agile development team and stakeholders and create requirements 
• Ensure that the development team always has an adequate amount of prior prepared tasks to work on
• Provide input into creating the Agile Product Roadmap which is based on the goals of the company and resources available. 
• Maintain the Agile Product Roadmap and make sure all stakeholders are aligned and informed on all progress of all projects.
• Provide backlog management, iteration planning, and elaboration of the user stories
• Prioritization of the backlog based on business priorities. 
• Develop user stories. 
• Spend significant time project managing the actual development of the product. 
• Provide an active role in mitigating impediments impacting successful team completion of Release/Sprint Goals
• Acting as the primary liaison between the business stakeholders and the development teams. 
• Participating and driving agile ceremonies meetings and product sprints
• Monitoring and evaluating product progress at each stage of the process
• Keep abreast with Agile/Scrum best practices and new trends
• Optimize and continuously improve the experience and the value derived from of the products, journeys and services delivered through ongoing analysis of customer feedback, user / journey analytics and innovation
• Follow local and international trends from both a technological and a business perspective and make recommendations to extend offerings or improve existing ones

Quality and Project Management

• Implement effective methods and standards to deliver the strategy
• Ensure that projects are delivered within the agreed timelines and in accordance with agreed quality standards
• Consider and recommend enhancements for project performance and processes and initiate remedial action where defects are evident

Stakeholder Management

• Ensure development team has clearly defined metrics to evaluate success and continuous, measurable improvement and that these are properly monitored
• Compile regular project management reports, status and showcase reports

Product Ownership Complexity: 

• Contribute toward a customer centric culture
• Contribute toward a culture of innovation and agility
• Build professionalism, loyalty and commitment to the organization 
• Communicate actively and effectively resolving any potential conflicts that may arise 
• Living the SUPERSONIC Brand – influence employees’ behavior 

Required Skills & Capabilities 

• Provide input into the formulation of strategy and vision and translate big picture thinking into an executable roadmap
• Proven knowledge of standard concepts, practices, and procedures within the agile framework
• Strong collaborator with cross-functional teams from tech, design, and business
• Experienced in facilitating agile workflows, managing a backlog/release plan, tracking team level metrics, removing blockers and reporting on progress
• Working experience guiding teams in an agile setting
• Strong business acumen and commercial mindset
• Strong leader, collaborator, team player, and individual contributor
• Strong communication skills with comfort in speaking with business stakeholders
• Strong problem solver with ability to influence the team to push the solution and progress
• Passion to challenge the status quo and find new solutions and drive out of the box ideas – loves and embraces change
• Able to think like a customer, to anticipate new customer needs and further develop the range of services to the mutual benefit of the company and the customer
• Believes in a non-hierarchical culture of collaboration, transparency, safety, and trust
• Not afraid to “roll up the sleeves” and seeks to go outside comfort zone to learn – pushes teams to do the same 
• Experience with front-end and website applications and integration, building consumer quality products, enabling business capability and objectives through technology
• Ability to work under pressure and manage stakeholder expectations with tight deadlines. 
• Skills to communicate complex ideas effectively and succinctly 
• Excellent knowledge of tracking and analytics setup

Key Deliverables

• Drive a clear product vision and communicate it effectively to stakeholders, the product team, and the rest of the unit
• End to end team output strategy from inception to production
• Accountable for product specific KPIs once solution enters production and communicate regular tracking to stakeholders 
• Completion of projects within agreed time frames
• Facilitate release planning with stakeholders as well as regular demos

Qualifications
Education:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, business, or equivalent
• Formal certification in Product Owner, Agile Delivery, User Experience or other relevant fields essential

Experience:

• 4 - 6 years as a Product Owner and / or Product Lead working within a product environment to develop and build digital platforms /digital products and services
• Experience in Agile delivery environment
• Experience in ISP industry or telecoms would be beneficial
• Outstanding communication, presentation, and leadership skills