IT Product Manager

SUMMARY:
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POSITION INFO:
Facing the challenge of aligning technology investments with strategic growth, our client seeks a results-driven IT Product Manager to lead the end-to-end lifecycle of critical products within a rapidly evolving logistics and supply chain environment. If you are an ambitious senior professional eager to influence strategic decision-making and optimise operational outcomes, this opportunity is designed for you. Essential Functions: Financial & Investment Accountability Own the full financial picture of the product — total cost of ownership (TCO), not just project budget — across run and change, with no unmanaged spend. Maintain a tiered cost model (Direct → Allocated → Unknown) and track a Cost Confidence % (target ≥80%); drive discovery to close cost gaps rather than guess. Track unit economics (cost per user, per transaction, per capability), explain budget variance monthly, and steward contracts and renewals — no auto-renew surprises. Act as the financial gatekeeper: review and approve every invoice before payment (“No PO sign-off, no payment”) and deliver an annual, data-backed lifecycle investment recommendation. Product Strategy & Lifecycle Ownership Define and sign off a Product Definition (canvas + charter) — the why, who, what and how — before anything moves. Own a 12+ month rolling roadmap across five swim lanes (business capability, user\/stakeholder, data & integration, platform\/technology, risk & compliance), updated monthly and never static. Set and defend the strategic lifecycle position — Retain, Grow, Consolidate, Migrate, or Retire — backed by evidence and reviewed at least annually. Make outcome-driven decisions: every initiative carries a named sponsor, a KPI, and a measurable target, with value realisation (revenue enabled, cost avoided, hours saved) proven against baselines. Business Stakeholder Leadership Act as a strategic advisor to the business — not a ticket processor. Shape demand and frame every request against value, cost and risk. Map stakeholders using a 4-quadrant power\/interest model, track sentiment (Champion \/ Supportive \/ Neutral \/ Resistant), and adapt engagement accordingly. Run business reviews at a cadence driven by product criticality and cost; challenge requests diplomatically with evidence — “if you never say no, you’re not managing.” Service, Vendor & Operational Performance Own end-to-end service performance regardless of delivery model or vendor mix — you cannot outsource accountability. Manage vendor performance through SLAs, scorecards and trend analysis over time (not spot-checks); track user adoption and satisfaction alongside technical metrics. Escalate failures with evidence and root-cause, and bring commercial recommendations (renew \/ renegotiate \/ exit) backed by 12 months of data. Partner with the Service Owner, who runs the day-to-day. Security, Risk & Compliance Continuously own the product’s security, risk and compliance posture (incl. POPIA\/GDPR) — not only when a finding appears. Security discovers; the Product Owner remediates to closure. Drive access, identity and privilege governance (least privilege, MFA\/SSO), validate vendor security attestations, and ensure BCP\/DR is documented and tested. Make explicit risk decisions — remediate, accept or escalate — and formally sign off residual risk annually. No unknown unknowns. Customer & Market Insight & Thought Leadership Bring an outside-in perspective: continuous market scanning, competitor and technology benchmarking, and customer discovery that shapes the roadmap. Act as a recognised thought leader for the product domain — publishing points of view, influencing strategy at leadership forums, and translating industry and logistics trends into advantage. Champion innovation (incl. AI and automation opportunities) and represent the voice of the customer in investment and prioritisation decisions. Technical & Architecture Ownership Own key architecture and technical trade-off decisions for the product, partnering with Enterprise Architecture, Cloud, Identity and Security. Demonstrate strong technical depth: understand the product’s technology stack, integration\/API landscape, data flows and technical debt, and make credible build-vs-buy and modernisation calls. Ensure technical decisions are evidence-based, standards-aligned (SRB, CAB\/ITIL, GitLab) and support performance, resilience, scalability and security by design. Operating Model, Artefacts & Governance The Product Owner operates within the Product & Service Management framework and maintains the Phase 1 artefact set for their product: Product Definition (Canvas + Charter) — vision, users, goals & KPIs, value proposition, lifecycle recommendation and TCO. Stakeholder Map & RACI — 4-quadrant map plus Responsible\/Accountable\/Consulted\/Informed across PO, SO and stakeholders. TCO Workbook — single source of financial truth — all contracts, dates and costs. 12+ Month Rolling Roadmap — five swim lanes, dependencies, lifecycle position; reviewed monthly and before every governance\/MAB review. Governs to the loop: Define → Plan → Execute → Measure → Review → Iterate, on a single source of truth with evidence over opinion. Works within existing standards and tooling: projects in Wrike (PMO-governed), development in GitLab, support via FreshService, and changes through CAB following ITIL principles. The PO commissions projects; the PMO governs delivery; the Service Owner runs the service. Requirements: Ownership & Accountability — takes single-point accountability for a product and drives it forward independently, without micromanagement. Strong Technical Expertise — deep understanding of IT systems, technical architecture, integrations and data; able to own technical and architecture decisions and hold engineering and vendors to a high bar. Hands-on technical or engineering background strongly preferred. Thought Leadership — shapes strategy and influences at leadership level; brings original, evidence-based points of view on product, market and technology direction. Financial & Commercial Acumen — confident with P&L\/TCO, unit economics, budget variance, and contract and vendor commercials. Analytical & Evidence-Based Judgement — interprets data, defines metrics, and makes decisions on evidence — not opinion or activity. Stakeholder Leadership & Influence — manages relationships across clients, leadership and delivery teams as a trusted advisor; negotiates and resolves conflict constructively. Delivery & Agile Fluency — applies Agile\/Scrum and disciplined backlog, capacity and demand management within a product operating model. Security & Risk Awareness — understands security, compliance (POPIA\/GDPR) and risk ownership as a core product responsibility. Communication & Language — fluent written and spoken English. Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering or equivalent; product management certification (e.g., Pragmatic, SAFe PO\/PM) advantageous. 5+ years in IT product ownership, technical product management or a senior technical\/solution role — ideally with P&L or TCO accountability for a product or platform. IT experience in the logistics and\/or warehousing industry. Strong knowledge of the IT market, trends, technologies and best practices, with excellent presentation and interpersonal skills across diverse, global teams. Willingness to complete a Pluralsight Role IQ baseline for the IT Product Manager role and follow a targeted learning path, consistent with the company capability-development framework. Should you not receive any feedback within two weeks of applying please consider your application unsuccessful.

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