{"id":2868825,"url":"https://alion.io/job/absa-group-senior-product-manager","title":"Senior Product Manager","company":{"id":5669,"name":"Absa Group","domain":"absa.co.za","url":"https://alion.io/company/absa","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":85,"open_postings":5,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.8,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":6,"computed_at":"2026-10-22T06:10:10Z"}},"role":"Product","role_family":"Product","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Johannesburg, South Africa"],"countries":["ZA"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":33000,"max_usd":74000,"period":"year","method":"global_role_cell_scaled_by_country","sample_n":4091},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-19T18:46:43Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-19","last_verified_at":"2026-10-22T14:45:29Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":2,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":2},"description":"Empowering Africa’s tomorrow, together…one story at a time.\nWith over 100 years of rich history and strongly positioned as a local bank with regional and international expertise, a career with our family offers the opportunity to be part of this exciting growth journey, to reset our future and shape our destiny as a proudly African group.\n\nBelonging at Absa\nAbsa is committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from suitably qualified individuals from diverse backgrounds. In support of our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) commitments and Employment Equity objectives, preference may be given to candidates from underrepresented designated groups, including persons with disabilities. We encourage applicants who may require reasonable accommodation during the recruitment process to let us know so that appropriate support can be provided.\nJob Summary\nRole purposeThe Senior Product Manager: Commercial Issuing is accountable for the end-to-end strategy, commercial performance and customer value proposition of assigned Commercial Issuing products and payment capabilities within Business Banking.\nThe role requires a commercially minded product leader who can translate business and customer needs into viable product propositions, develop credible business cases and roadmaps, mobilise cross-functional teams and take accountability for measurable outcomes with minimal supervision.\nThe successful candidate must combine strong product-management discipline with sound commercial judgement and practical knowledge of the commercial card and business-payments ecosystem. This includes the ability to manage product performance, profitability, customer adoption, risk, compliance, operational readiness and technology dependencies across the full product lifecycle.\nThis role is expected to personally own product outcomes, rather than simply coordinate activities performed by other teams.\nJob Description\nKey accountabilities\n1. End-to-end product ownership\nTake full accountability for assigned Commercial Issuing products and capabilities from initial opportunity identification through development, launch, growth, optimisation and eventual retirement.\nIdentify product opportunities using customer insights, portfolio performance, market developments, competitor analysis and banker or client feedback.\nDefine the product vision, target market, customer problem, value proposition and intended commercial outcomes.\nTranslate strategic opportunities into clear product requirements, business cases and executable delivery plans.\nSecure the necessary business, governance, funding, risk and technology approvals.\nOversee product development, testing, operational readiness, implementation and go-to-market execution.\nEstablish post-launch success measures and track actual performance against the approved business case.\nIntervene decisively when delivery or product performance is not meeting expectations.\nThe candidate should be able to demonstrate personal accountability for product validation, business-case development, approvals, delivery and post-launch performance measurement.\n2. Commercial and P&L management\nOwn or materially influence the P&L for assigned products.\nUnderstand and actively manage the key drivers of product revenue, cost and profitability.\nDevelop budgets, forecasts and commercial plans, and monitor actual performance against agreed targets.\nAnalyse active cards, activation, expenditure, transaction volumes, transaction yield, customer mix, pricing, margins, retention and cost to serve.\nMonitor relevant scheme, processing, operational, credit and fraud costs where applicable.\nIdentify and implement pricing, revenue-growth and cost-optimisation opportunities.\nDevelop robust business cases for new capabilities, product enhancements and material investments.\nQuantify expected revenue, cost savings, implementation costs, return on investment and payback period.\nTest assumptions and sensitivities and track benefits after implementation.\nRecommend corrective action when customer or card growth is not translating into sustainable revenue and profitability.\nThe role requires practical P&L capability covering pricing, transaction revenue, margins, operating costs, forecasting, budget performance and benefits realisation.\n3. Commercial Issuing proposition management\nDevelop and manage propositions that address the specific payment, working-capital, control, reporting and reconciliation needs of business clients.\nUnderstand how Commercial Issuing differs from consumer card issuing in relation to customer needs, buying processes, credit and risk, payment workflows, controls, pricing, implementation and measures of success.\nMaintain practical knowledge of the Commercial Issuing and business-payment ecosystem\nDefine appropriate customer segments and use cases for each product.\nEnsure that the portfolio provides differentiated customer value and addresses genuine business payment needs.\nDevelop solutions for clients requiring improved spend control, transaction visibility, reconciliation and supplier-payment efficiency.\nConsider enriched transaction data, virtual payments, expense-management integration, ERP integration, reporting and implementation dependencies when designing solutions for complex clients.\n4. Product strategy and roadmapping\nDevelop and maintain product strategies aligned to Business Banking objectives and customer needs.\nBuild evidence-based product roadmaps informed by customer insight, competitive analysis, portfolio performance, strategic priorities and market developments.\nTranslate the roadmap into prioritised initiatives, milestones, dependencies and outcome measures.\nShape the annual business operating plan for assigned products.\nMake defensible prioritisation decisions when available capacity and funding are limited.\nBalance:Commercial value\nStrategic alignment\nCustomer impact\nMandatory and regulatory requirements\nRisk remediation\nDelivery feasibility\nCost and available capacity\nDependencies\nOpportunity cost\n\nClearly communicate why initiatives have been prioritised, deferred or stopped.\nRegularly review the roadmap and adjust it where customer needs, performance, risk or delivery circumstances change.\n5. Portfolio performance and optimisation\nMonitor the health and performance of assigned products using agreed commercial, customer, operational and risk measures.\nAnalyse card issuance, active cards, activation, client engagement, spend, transaction volumes, income, margin, retention and customer utilisation.\nIdentify the root causes of low activation, low spend, poor customer engagement or declining profitability.\nSegment performance by customer type, product, usage pattern, channel and other relevant dimensions.\nDevelop and execute practical product-performance improvement plans.\nTrack interventions against defined outcomes and adjust the approach where expected benefits are not being achieved.\nUse product data to distinguish symptoms from underlying proposition, pricing, process, distribution or technology problems.\nMake recommendations on whether to invest, optimise, reposition, remediate or retire a product.\n6. Cross-functional leadership and delivery\nLead delivery through Technology, Operations, Sales, Distribution, Finance, Risk, Compliance, Legal, Fraud, Credit and other teams that may not report directly to the role.\nEstablish clear accountability across cross-functional workstreams.\nConvert product outcomes into well-defined actions, owners, dependencies, milestones and target dates.\nBuild commitment by clearly articulating the customer, commercial and risk implications of the required work.\nResolve ambiguity regarding ownership between Product, Technology and Operations.\nNegotiate capacity and delivery priority where other teams have competing commitments.\nChallenge delivery assumptions constructively and consider viable alternative solutions.\nEscalate unresolved constraints through the appropriate governance structures.\nMaintain momentum and accountability without relying solely on formal authority.\nCommunicate progress, decisions, risks and trade-offs clearly to senior stakeholders.\nThe candidate should demonstrate that they can secure outcomes through teams with competing priorities and respond constructively when an important technology enhancement is not prioritised.\n7. Product lifecycle and go-to-market management\nApply disciplined product-management practices across all lifecycle stages:Opportunity identification and discovery\nCustomer and market validation\nProposition design\nBusiness-case development\nGovernance and investment approval\nRequirements definition\nDevelopment and testing\nOperational readiness\nGo-to-market execution\nAdoption and performance monitoring\nProduct optimisation\nProduct retirement or migration\n\nEnsure that distribution, servicing, onboarding, customer communications, training, support and reporting are ready before launch.\nDefine clear entry and exit criteria for major implementation stages.\nManage product migrations and closures in a controlled manner, including customer impact, communications, operational readiness and risk mitigation.\nEnsure lessons from product launches and underperformance are incorporated into future delivery.\n8. Risk, compliance and product governance\nEnsure products operate within applicable legal, regulatory, scheme, credit, fraud, conduct and operational-risk requirements.\nEngage Risk, Compliance, Legal, Fraud, Credit and Operations early in product design and delivery.\nEnsure that control ownership is clearly assigned and understood.\nIdentify emerging product risks and drive timely remediation.\nMaintain the relevant product-governance artefacts, approvals and performance reviews.\nBalance growth and customer-experience objectives with regulatory compliance, fraud prevention, operational resilience and responsible product management.\nEscalate material issues where the product, customer or bank is exposed to unacceptable risk.\nEnsure commercial decisions and trade-offs are transparent, evidence-based and appropriately governed.\n9. Customer and stakeholder engagement\nDevelop a detailed understanding of the payment needs, operational challenges and buying processes of business and corporate clients.\nEngage bankers, relationship teams, servicing functions and clients to validate product needs and identify friction.\nTranslate complex client requirements into scalable propositions and capabilities.\nPresent product strategy, roadmaps, business cases and performance updates to senior governance forums.\nSupport strategically important client opportunities where product expertise or solution design is required.\nEnsure internal stakeholders understand the value proposition, eligibility, pricing, implementation requirements and product limitations.\nBuild productive relationships across the bank, card schemes, processors, technology providers and other relevant partners.\n Education\nBachelor`s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)","description_format":"text","description_chars":11134,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"South Africa","iso":"ZA","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Commercial & Retail Banks","Wealth Management & Financial Advisors","Property & Casualty Insurance","Investment Banking & M&A Advisory"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-19T18:46:43Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":83,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.875,"p_room":0.945,"age_days":2,"expected_fill_days":6,"reasons":["conf:8","velocity","win:mid"],"computed_at":"2026-10-22T06:10:10Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/absa-group-senior-product-manager","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/absa-group-senior-product-manager.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-22T14:51:04Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":14301,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-23T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":5669},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=5669"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fabsa-group-senior-product-manager"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fabsa-group-senior-product-manager"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fabsa-group-senior-product-manager"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/absa-group-senior-product-manager\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fabsa-group-senior-product-manager"}]}