Product Manager
An international freight forwarding and supply chain logistics company is seeking a Product Manager who will act as the internal "mini-CEO" for an IT product, holding single-point accountability across its entire lifecycle-from inception through operation to retirement.
Responsibilities:
Own the full financial picture and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) across run and change costs.
Maintain a tiered cost model (Direct $rightarrow$Allocated $rightarrow$Unknown) targeting $ge 80%$Cost Confidence.
Track unit economics (cost per user, transaction, or capability) and explain monthly budget variances.
Act as the financial gatekeeper: review/approve all invoices prior to payment and present annual data-backed lifecycle investment recommendations.
Define and sign off on formal Product Definitions (Canvas & Charter) before work commences.
Own a 12+ month rolling roadmap across 5 swim lanes: Business Capability, User/Stakeholder, Data & Integration, Platform/Technology, and Risk & Compliance.
Establish and defend strategic lifecycle positions (Retain, Grow, Consolidate, Migrate, or Retire) backed by annual evidence.
Drive outcome-based decisions, ensuring every initiative links to a named sponsor, KPI, and measurable ROI.
Serve as a strategic advisor-shaping demand and evaluating requests against value, cost, and risk.
Map stakeholders, track sentiment, and adapt engagement strategies accordingly.
Conduct regular business reviews based on product criticality; diplomatically challenge requests using data.
Retain end-to-end service performance accountability regardless of the underlying delivery model.
Manage vendors through SLAs, scorecards, and trend analysis; track adoption alongside technical metrics.
Escalate failures with root-cause analysis and bring commercial recommendations (renew, renegotiate, exit) backed by 12 months of performance data.
Maintain continuous ownership of security, compliance (POPIA/GDPR), and risk posture.
Drive access governance (least privilege, MFA/SSO), validate vendor security, and ensure BCP/DR plans are tested.
Formally review and sign off on residual risks annually.
Maintain continuous market scanning, competitor benchmarking, and customer discovery to inform the roadmap.
Act as a domain thought leader, publishing points of view and translating industry trends into competitive advantages.
Champion innovation (including AI and automation) and represent the customer's voice in prioritization decisions.
Make non-delegable architecture and technical trade-off decisions in partnership with Enterprise Architecture, Cloud, and Security teams.
Possess deep technical understanding of the product stack, APIs, data flows, and technical debt to drive build vs. buy calls.
Ensure all technical decisions align with governance standards (SRB, CAB/ITIL, GitLab) and support security by design.
Minimum Requirements:
Education: Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, Engineering, or an equivalent field. Product certifications (e.g., Pragmatic, SAFe PO/PM) are advantageous.
Experience: 5+ years in IT Product Ownership, Technical Product Management, or Senior Technical/Solution roles with proven TCO/P&L accountability.
Domain Knowledge: Experience within the logistics, supply chain, or warehousing sectors is highly preferred.
Continuous Learning: Willingness to complete a Pluralsight Role IQ baseline and follow a targeted learning path within the internal framework.
Accountability: Single-point ownership mindset; ability to drive outcomes independently.
Technical Depth: Deep understanding of systems architecture, integration, and engineering (hands-on background strongly preferred).
Financial Acumen: Strong grasp of P&L, TCO, unit economics, and contract/vendor negotiations.
Strategic Influence: Excellent stakeholder management and evidence-based decision-making skills.
Agile Fluency: Expertise in Agile/Scrum, backlog management, and product delivery models.
Compliance & Risk: Thorough understanding of POPIA/GDPR and security governance.
Communication: Exceptional written and spoken English (additional global languages are advantageous).
Benefits:
Competitive salary based on experience (salary can potentially be more based on experience/skills)
IF you meet the above requirements and want to make a career-changing move, apply today by emailing your CV to [email protected]