Product Lead

Are you an experienced Product Lead who has experience working in start-up environments and developing valuable, usable, viable and technically feasible products that users love from inception? Do you have the ability to understand the user problem and put yourself in the shoes of the customer to address their needs and add value? Are you comfortable with developing rapid prototypes and experiments to validate hypotheses while working with the Engineering team to build new features?

If this sounds like you, continue reading….

ABOUT US

Africa has an untapped talent pool that is increasing exponentially, with a projected workforce that will exceed India and China by 2035 Fuelled by this, our mission is to create work opportunities for millions of Africa’s youth and solve the world’s shortage of technology talent.

Our company SAND has 170+ staff members from 30+ countries with plans to acquire several companies around the world to become a multi-billion dollar global technology services provider that employs over 100K employees across the globe.

We have 3 brands represented in our ecosystem:

• With ALX, we are building the fastest-growing pool of technology talent in the world, training young talent across Software Engineering, Cloud Computing, Data Science and Salesforce. We are shaping the next generation of software engineers in over 60 countries.
• Through our talent agent, The Room, we are creating a community (43+ countries represented to date) for the World’s top tech talent sparking transformative careers by connecting top technology talent with extraordinary opportunities for impact.
• Through Sand Technologieswe support enterprises and scale-ups around the world to develop world class technology products, build great technology teams, generate more revenue, and deliver outstanding customer experience. Our clients include one of the largest cloud computing providers in the world as well as Bestseller A/S (Denmark), Create Prime (New Zealand), Stanbic Bank (Kenya), and Tamara (Dubai).

With varying levels of expertise in software development, data, cloud, machine learning, artificial intelligence, UX design, web development, etc, we providing unparalleled opportunities to technology talent worldwide while reshaping industries, disrupting traditional business models, and creating new opportunities for innovation and growth.

We do hard things!

ABOUT THE PRODUCT & UX DEPARTMENT

We are a team of passionate and dedicated data-driven Product Managers and Ux Designers who are on a mission to to define and develop valuable, usable, technically feasible & commercially viable digital products that our customers (internal and external) love

We adopt a lean startup mindset and are constantly testing, measuring and learning to get to product market fit and start scaling to achieve our ambitious and transformative goals.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are looking for a Product Lead to own and lead all aspects of product development for our key platforms in our business. Platforms currently in the works include our Community platform which will build an engaging value-added community for our graduates fostering long term relationship, two-sided Jobs Portal to help place our talent with employer partners and our Directory of innovative startups across Africa and globally to build an entrepreneurship ecosystem.

As a Product Lead, You will be responsible for overseeing the development of new products. You will coordinate with a variety of different stakeholders including designers, engineers, marketers, and other product managers to ensure that the product fits the various users’ needs.

A director of product management typically has a wide range of responsibilities, which can include:

• Evaluating new technology and incorporating it into existing products or creating new products based on new technology
• Maintaining relationships with suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors to ensure that product quality is maintained throughout the production process
• Developing marketing campaigns to promote new products or services to consumers
• Meeting with clients to discuss product development needs and providing proposals for solutions
• Reviewing sales reports to determine which products are performing well and which need improvement
• Collaborating with designers to create prototypes of new products or improve existing designs
• Reviewing customer feedback to understand how customers are using products and how they could be improved
• Identifying market trends and consumer preferences to predict which products will be popular in the future
• Holding meetings with staff members to discuss upcoming product developments or changes in company policy

Your KPIs (dependent on product):

• User and Customer NPS & CSAT
• Customer Engagement & Stickiness
• On time delivery
• Usability to increase CLV
• Loyalty

REQUIREMENTS:.

• Master’s Degree in Product Leadership, Business Administration, Marketing, Finance, Economics, or an equivalent in work experience.
• 10-15 years experience in performance of functions as a Head of Product Management with a proven track record in product planning, defining and launching successful products, unifying product portfolios, and working with SaaS product lines.
• Experience in thought leadership in order to be better positioned to drive and inspire such a large and important department.
• Ability to synthesize diverse and complex information and data and design refined strategies, solutions, workflows, and procedures that are presentable to the Chief Product Officer and stakeholders.
• Passion for coaching more junior PMs.
• Strong customer-centeredness mindset
• Experience running large projects using software development tracking tools (e.g. Jira) and project management tools (e.g. Asana)
• Proficient in Ms Word, the Ms Excel analytical tools and PowerPoint in order to create engaging content for presentations made to the Chief Product Officer, the stakeholders, as well as external partners.
• Strong familiarity with product management methodologies and best practices & proven ability to complete projects on time, on budget, and to scope defined
• Clear and concise communication abilities to be a bridge between multiple teams, both technical and non-technical
• Experience managing projects with remote teams across multiple time zones is a plus

We would also like to remind you that this is a remote job, which means that you can work from anywhere in the world. However, we have a preference for a GMT to GMT +4 time zone.