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POSITION INFO:
JOB DESCRIPTION PRODUCT DELIVERY MANAGER Industry: Digital Technology \/ Mobile Applications Department:Technology -- Applications and Solution Delivery Location: Bellville, Cape Town Employment type:** Permanent | In -office About our client Our client is a growing business with a strong focus on member engagement and digital communication. Its mobile application is a key channel for connecting with members, supporting communications, transactions and the overall member experience. The opportunity Our client is looking for an experienced Product Delivery Manager to oversee the delivery, operational performance and continuous improvement of its Member App. This role combines digital product delivery, operational management, technical coordination and external partner management. You will be the key internal contact for the application, working closely with the product development partner, Member Relations and internal technology teams to ensure that the app is reliable, user-friendly and continually evolving in line with the approved product roadmap. You will own the organisation's delivery governance for the app, including intake and prioritisation processes, delivery milestones, release readiness, UAT coordination, partner performance and budget tracking. You will also coordinate day-to-day incidents and ensure that the application is ready for important business events and member communications. The Product Owner retains responsibility for product vision, roadmap priorities and budget approval. The development partner is responsible for application development, releases and contracted technical support. Your role is to ensure effective delivery governance and operational coordination on the business's side. Key responsibilities Day-to-day application operations Oversee the daily operational performance of the Member App, including availability, login and registration success, transactions, push notifications and in-app communications. Monitor the integration between the app and the organisation's ERP and related systems. Act as the central internal contact between Member Relations, Technology and the product development partner. Coordinate operational priorities with the Member Relations Operations Manager. Manage internal functional configuration and administration of the app, ensuring changes follow the appropriate governance and change-control processes. Maintain appropriate user roles and access to app administration tools. Incident and problem management Act as the internal L2 escalation point for Member App incidents. Triage issues, confirm severity, apply known workarounds and escalate to the development partner with appropriate supporting evidence. Coordinate P1 and P2 incidents with the partner and IT Service Manager, including impact assessment, stakeholder communication and service recovery. Monitor partner performance against contracted production support service levels. Ensure root cause analyses and preventive actions are completed following major incidents. Identify recurring member-facing issues and drive permanent improvements through the product backlog. Escalate suspected security incidents and information breaches to the appropriate internal security function. Business event and communication readiness Plan application readiness around the business calendar, including month-end activities, promotions, events and campaigns. Coordinate release freezes and peak-load readiness with the development partner and internal platform team. Confirm that planned member communications can be delivered through the app as scheduled. Ensure that alternative communication channels are available where required. Maintain and rehearse the app downtime and recovery plan ahead of major business events. Performance, service and compliance reporting Report on application availability, incidents, usage, adoption, partner SLA performance and communication delivery. Monitor compliance with internal delivery governance, change control, access reviews and contractual requirements. Prepare and facilitate monthly service reviews with the Product Owner and development partner. Provide regular operational reporting to Member Relations and Technology management. Product roadmap and delivery governance Coordinate delivery of the approved Member App roadmap with the product development partner. Plan and track delivery phases against agreed scope, milestones, dependencies and target dates. Coordinate dependencies involving ERP, cloud infrastructure, app store accounts and internal teams. Manage parallel runs, cutovers and the transition away from replaced systems or screens. Review UX \/ UI designs, prototypes and releases for usability, accessibility and alignment with design standards. Monitor app adoption, usage and app store ratings and reviews, feeding insights into future improvements. Own the delivery framework and governance gates for the Member App. Manage request intake and triage, ensuring work is appropriately logged and allocated to the relevant delivery stream. Coordinate delivery sequencing and capacity with the partner within the priorities set by the Product Owner. Participate in backlog refinement, change advisory processes, steering committee discussions and roadmap reviews. Release, UAT and operational readiness Own release planning against the business calendar. Confirm that release readiness requirements, operational handover and change approvals are in place before deployment. Plan and coordinate UAT with the Business Systems Analyst and business testers. Coordinate the Go \/ No-Go process with the Product Owner. Ensure release notes, service desk knowledge articles and operational handover requirements are completed. Manage post-release hypercare and the transition into normal operations. Coordinate urgent releases and critical fixes through the appropriate change governance. Partner and budget management Manage the development partner's performance against delivery framework metrics and contracted service levels. Monitor delivery performance using DORA metrics, including deployment frequency, lead time for changes, change failure rate and time to restore service. Track project spend, commitments, budget burn and forecasts against the approved budget. Ensure that work is supported by the appropriate approved quotation, purchase order or retainer arrangement. Monitor retainer utilisation and delivery performance. Ensure that the organisation retains appropriate administrative access to repositories, pipelines, cloud accounts, app store accounts and relevant third-party services. Documentation, training and knowledge Maintain application support procedures, escalation paths, runbooks, administrative guidance and release history. Ensure that the IT Service Desk has the knowledge articles and triage guides required before releases go live. Train Member Relations users on administration tools and new features. Keep user guides and operational documentation current. Minimum requirements National Senior Certificate (Grade 12). Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business or a related field. At least 10 years' experience in digital product and software delivery. At least five years' experience delivering consumer-facing mobile and web applications in a competitive market. Demonstrable experience managing the full application lifecycle, from discovery and design through development, release and continuous improvement. Strong experience working with in-house and outsourced software development teams. Strong UX \/ UI exposure, including user research, usability testing, design reviews and user journey development. In-depth understanding of software development lifecycle management, Agile delivery and DevOps practices. Experience with CI\/CD, test automation and delivery performance measurement, including DORA metrics. Proven track record of delivering releases against agreed timelines within formal governance frameworks. Experience using product analytics, app store ratings and reviews to assess release impact. Experience managing external development partners, service levels and commercial arrangements. Experience coordinating production support and incidents for a live consumer application. Advantageous qualifications and experience Agile delivery certification, such as Professional Scrum Master, Certified ScrumMaster or Kanban Management Professional. Product management certification. UX certification, such as Nielsen Norman Group UX Certification. DevOps certification. PMP or PRINCE2 project delivery certification. ITIL V4 Foundation. Experience delivering major app transformations or re-platforming initiatives. Exposure to member, loyalty or communication platforms, e-commerce or fintech. Experience with multi-country or multilingual digital products. Technical knowledge Digital product delivery, discovery, prioritisation and roadmap sequencing. User-centred design, usability testing, accessibility and design systems. Figma or similar prototyping and design tools. Product analytics, funnels, cohort analysis, retention, event tracking and experimentation. Consumer mobile application ecosystems, app store requirements, push notifications and device compatibility. Native and cross-platform mobile applications, web technologies, APIs and ERP integrations. Cloud platforms, CI\/CD and application observability. Agile methodologies, including Scrum and Kanban. Release management, deployment readiness, feature flags, phased rollouts and rollback processes. IT service management, incident and change management, CAB and SLA management. Partner and contract management, statements of work, quotations, purchase orders and budget forecasting. POPIA requirements relating to member data and communication consent. Azure DevOps, GitHub and relevant product analytics and observability dashboards. Key skills and competencies End-to-end digital product delivery. Roadmap planning, sequencing and dependency management. UX \/ UI judgement and design review. Product analytics and continuous improvement. Agile, SDLC and DevOps leadership. Sprint and Kanban delivery management. Release planning and deployment readiness. Technical fluency across mobile, web, APIs, cloud and CI\/CD. External partner performance and SLA management. Budget tracking and forecasting. Incident triage and P1 \/ P2 coordination. Stakeholder management and executive communication. Personal attributes The successful candidate will be highly organised, delivery-focused and comfortable managing multiple workstreams, deadlines and stakeholder expectations. You will need the confidence to influence external development partners, challenge estimates and delivery assumptions, and ensure that commitments translate into measurable outcomes. Strong analytical and communication skills are essential, as is the ability to remain composed when managing production incidents or time-sensitive releases. You should have a genuine appreciation for the user experience and be able to balance business priorities, technical considerations and delivery quality. A collaborative approach and the ability to build effective relationships across business and technology teams will be key to success.
