Senior Product Manager

Why this role exists

AI has made building cheap. Our engineers ship ~4000 changes a month, and a prototype that once took a sprint now takes an afternoon. That changes what product management is for. The scarce skill isn't writing specs or managing a backlog. It's choosing which bets are worth making and making sure they turn into revenue. This is the type of Product Manager we’re looking for: commercially minded first, close to customers, and rigorous about evidence before we commit. We have strong engineers and good AI tools for the building. We need someone to make sure we build the right things.

AI is also changing the market: much of our space is moving from point-in-time surveys that create point-in-time reports to always-on AI that clients use directly inside their own tools and AI assistants, through agents and MCP. Part of this job is working out where the market is going, how the buyer changes, and how we charge for it.

You’ll work with a team of competent cross-functional peers, including market research domain experts, senior engineers, experienced product designers, senior product marketers and other peers in the GTM function. Not every bet will land, and that's fine. What we expect is that each one was worth making: grounded in data, tested with customers, and with the business behind it before we commit.

What you'll do:

Own the outcome. You'll be accountable for clear commercial and customer goals, such as revenue, adoption, retention and win rate. Every quarter, you'll be able to say what moved and why.

Stay close to the market. You'll talk to customers often. You'll understand their problems, their budgets and how they decide to buy.

Discover before we build. You'll write short problem briefs that set out the problem, the evidence and the outcome we want. Then you'll test the riskiest assumptions with engineers and designers, using prototypes, pricing conversations and small pilots with real clients. Success includes celebrating the ideas we killed as much as the ones we backed.

Make the commercial case. You'll size opportunities, build business cases and shape pricing and packaging with our commercial team. You'll make the case for your investments to Sales, Marketing and Leadership, and bring them with you.

Bridge product and go-to-market. You'll work with Sales, Customer Success and Product Marketing on positioning, launches and enablement. When a big client asks for something that isn't on the roadmap, you'll find the real need and make the call.

How we work

• Product leads on which opportunities matter and why, and Engineering leads on how we deliver, but discovery and solution design are shared, and designers and engineers are in customer conversations too.
• We write problem briefs, not long specs.
• We ship changes every day and make extensive use of feature flags to separate “deployment” from “release”
• We use AI tools every day, and we share what works and what doesn't.
• We change course when the evidence says we should.

What we're looking for

We don't mind which degree you have or which exact frameworks you follow. We'd love to see:

• Strong commercial instincts. You're comfortable with pricing, packaging, business cases and sizing an opportunity on the back of an envelope, and you can show products you've worked on that moved real numbers.
• Real discovery and prototyping experience. You've tested ideas with customers before they were built, and you've killed ideas because the evidence said so.
• Credibility with Sales and Leadership. You can stand up in a room, defend an investment with evidence, and bring people along, including when the answer is no.
• Excited and curious about AI. You use tools like Claude or ChatGPT yourself, you can demonstrate how it’s changed your workflows, and you have a view on where AI changes research and where it's hype.
• Enjoyment of working with an empowered team. You treat engineers and designers as partners in solving problems, not people to hand specs to.
• 8 or more years in product management, ideally in B2B SaaS, data or analytics, selling to enterprise customers.
• Happy to travel to London and the US several times a year.

Big pluses: experience in market research, consumer insights, advertising or CPG, and familiarity with both quantitative and qualitative research. We'll help you grow into the domain.

Where you'll be

You'll be based in Cape Town, reporting to a VP of Product, and working with teams in both London and Cape Town.

Benefits

• Unlimited holidays - we want well rested and motivated teams so encourage people to take plenty of time off.
• One company-paid mental health day of rest every quarter (these are pre-scheduled, so the entire company can take the same days off regularly to reset)
• Thoughtfully designed offices to support both individual work and collaboration without interrupting others
• Private medical healthcare cover
• Medical Aid
• Group risk, life & disability contributions
• Wellbeing benefits such as free yoga and access to trained therapists / counsellors
• Paid 24h secure parking in Cape Town
• Free coffee, lunches and in-office snacks
• Tailored personal development through training allowances, coaching, mentorship and career frameworks

Why join us?

We’ve been recognized as one of the hottest martech companies in 2022 by Business Insider and named Best Place to Work by Quirk’s Media for our engaging and inclusive workplace culture. We’re committed to both people and the planet.

Our belief in inclusion means we’re building an organisation of diverse individuals and helping brands eliminate cultural presumptions in their research. Read our Diversity Manifesto here.

We are a values and behaviours driven business and believe that Trust, Truth, Ownership, Ambition andHumility describe Zappi employees on our best day. This is how we strive to show up for our customers, for each other and for our communities.

Earning B Corp certification assures us we’re on the right track and have structures in place to become the business we want to be.

Our commitment to minimise our impact on the environment means being honest with ourselves and transparent with you-about everything from carbon emissions to tree-planting initiatives. We achieved our goal of becoming Net Zero in 2021!

Zappi Company Culture Highlights

• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company for Women 2022
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company Work-Life Balance 2022
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company Compensation 2022
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best CEO for Women 2022
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company for Diversity 2022
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company Culture 2022
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best CEO 2022
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Happiness 2022
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Leadership Teams 2023
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best CEOs for Diversity 2023
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Engineering Teams 2023
• Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company Outlook 2023
• Winner of Newsweek’s Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces in the UK 2022 & 2023
• Recognised by Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators 2023
• Recognised as Best Marketing Insights Platform in the MarTech Breakthrough Awards

Equal Opportunity

Zappi is an equal opportunity employer; our diversity is a major strength. We are committed to providing equal opportunities for all individuals, regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.

We believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce fosters innovation, creativity, and success. Our hiring decisions are based solely on merit, qualifications, and abilities, ensuring fairness and equity throughout our recruitment process. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply. Join our team and contribute to an inclusive environment where everyone's unique perspectives and talents are valued and respected.