Data Product Owner

SUMMARY:
Product Owner to own a retail AI-powered app from a business and customer value perspective

POSITION INFO:

CAPE TOWN-BASED

We are looking for a data-driven Product Owner to own a retail AI-powered app from a business and customer value perspective.

This role is focused on turning data into product direction — understanding what customers want, what the data is revealing, and how the app should evolve to create more value for customers and the business.

The person will own the data coming out of the app, define how it is used, identify opportunities for new features, tools, and products, and shape the roadmap alongside business stakeholders, data teams, and engineers.

This is not a deep technical data engineering role — it is a product and insight-led role for someone excited by data, customer behaviour, experimentation, and innovation.

Key Responsibilities

Product & Business Ownership

• Act as the business owner of the AI-powered app’s data and insights.
• Define the product vision and roadmap for the app based on customer needs, usage data, and business objectives.
• Continuously ask:
  “What do our customers want next?”
  “What is the data telling us?”
  “How can the app be better?”

Data & Insights-Driven Decision Making

• Analyse and interpret the app’s data to uncover:
• Customer behaviours and preferences
• Product usage patterns
• Opportunities for new tools, features, and improvements
• Translate data insights into clear product requirements and priorities.
• Identify how the data can be leveraged across the broader retail ecosystem.

Product Discovery & Innovation

• Drive product discovery, experimentation, and ideation.
• Explore new use cases, features, and AI-driven capabilities.
• Partner with stakeholders to validate ideas through data, testing, and customer feedback.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Work closely with:
• Business teams (marketing, commercial, digital, innovation)
• Data & analytics teams
• Engineering and AI teams
• Act as the bridge between business needs and product delivery.
• Present insights, opportunities, and roadmap recommendations to senior stakeholders.

Delivery Enablement

• Own and prioritise the product backlog.
• Define clear problem statements, success metrics, and outcomes.
• Support delivery teams with well-articulated requirements, goals, and context.

Experience & Profile

The ideal person is someone who:

• Has worked in a Product Owner, Product Manager, Business Product Owner, or Insights-led role.
• Is excited by data, customer behaviour, and product innovation.
• Is comfortable doing light to moderate data analysis (SQL, dashboards, exploratory analysis) — but is not a pure technical specialist.
• Has experience turning insights into product features, tools, or strategic direction.
• Enjoys working in ambiguous, fast-evolving product environments.
• Is naturally curious, commercially minded, and customer-centric.

Skills & Capabilities

• Strong product ownership and product thinking
• Data curiosity and analytical mindset
• Ability to interpret dashboards, reports, and trends
• Stakeholder management and business engagement
• Problem framing and opportunity discovery
• Translating insights into product requirements
• Roadmap development and backlog prioritisation
• Excellent communication and storytelling with data

What Success Looks Like

• The app has a clear, data-driven product roadmap.
• The business understands:
• Who is using the app
• How they are using it
• What to build next and why
• New features and tools are driven by real customer insights, not guesswork.
• The app’s data is actively leveraged to create measurable customer and business value.