We are looking for a Product Manager to join our Products Team.

Job title: Product Manager

Employment Type: Contract

Permanent Reporting to COO

Department: Products

As Product Manager, you will work with our Customers and internal teams to set the strategic context for our Smart Foundry products team and to develop new product ideas based on your industry experience and your contact with our customers and representatives from relevant market sectors. You must possess a blend of business and technical savvy; a big-picture vision, and the drive to make that vision a reality. You must enjoy spending time engaging with customers, markets, and internal teams to understand and shape the full breadth of Smart Foundry propositions. You will also be responsible for investigating potential new markets for our products and readying the product set for market exploitation.

Main duties:

Product Strategy:

• To create, gain agreement for, and implement product strategies for the SmartFoundry suite of products and target markets to assist our Business Development to secure long term profitable growth and the achievement of revenue and profit targets
• Own the product roadmap for the SmartFoundry product suite developed with a focus on customer expectation as well as market research, competitive analysis and benchmarking to help define new functions and features
• Identify and qualify new market opportunities and develop new product roadmaps to address their needs.
• Evaluate market trends and competitor offerings and search for new opportunities/partnerships, including the recommendation of potential acquisition targets Product Development.
• Track technology trends and validate product requirements and specifications in collaboration with colleagues, lead customers and channel partners.
• Define and manage vehicles for collecting customer feedback, including Customer Advisory Boards and focus groups.
• Gather data on new product ideas and evaluate them for financial and market potential.
• Work with product development on new products and current product enhancements ensuring achievement of strategic revenue objectives.
• Define product specifications using high-level wireframes, flow diagrams and clear and consistent user stories with any acceptance criteria or supporting documentation supplied
• Play a lead role in the product life cycle by breaking down product requirements into user stories, participating in development sprints and taking the product/project to market launch.
• Support product development in resolving functional questions throughout the development effort

Product Launch :

• Lead introduction of products into new and existing markets to agreed timescales and customer satisfaction targets.
• In conjunction with Sales and Marketing develop and implement pricing strategies, core product messaging and positioning, and programs supporting the local and global customer base.
• Support and train the Marketing and Sales team to help develop product collateral, demos and training courses for product launches/product line enhancements.

Product Operation

• Provide product life-cycle management for the in-life product portfolio, for successful management of products against approved business plans, and for management of End-of-Life.
• Measure product performance after a new feature is implemented, Analyze and report on the performance of features in production, reflecting on successes and identifying areas for continuous improvement.

Product Leadership

• Support the cross-functional product team – consisting of , product portfolio Internal and External products, Marketing, Pre-Sales, Customer Services and Technical Services to ensure whole-product readiness.
• Provide best practice leadership to all of Smart Foundry in Product Management helping to promote and engender good product development and disciplines

Skills and competencies required:

Essential:

• Proven strategic and commercial experience in a product management/product development role with a forward thinking technology company.
• Proven track record of successful new product development using formal methodologies working with an Agile Technology Team, preferably using Scrum.
• Sound understanding and practical experience of modern technology stacks, application development methodologies.
• Experience of developing and implementing go to market strategies for Market place products in addition to core product development experience.
• Experience of strongly influencing product strategy at Board level.
• Ability to continuously prioritize development based on business value.
• Ability to create and foster consensus from the whole business for a coherent product vision that helps align sales, development, delivery and service teams

Qualifications:

• You have at least 3 years of industry experience working in digital innovation fields and have background in tech, business development or customer support with a strong interest for product
• Bonus if you have worked on projects in the fields of: mobility and transport, FMCG and agriculture, supply and demand platforms, informal workers.
• Bachelor's Degree preferably in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology.