JOB OVERVIEW
Are you:
– Savvy, confident, and bold?
– Passionate about empowering Black tech professionals globally?
– Looking for the opportunity to work at a company with an exciting and supportive culture?
If you answered yes to all of the above, stop your job search now because this role is for you!
Simply put, BPTN Zambia is growing! As a start-up, we’ve experienced tremendous growth over the past few years, so it only makes sense that we expand the dream team! This is where you come in. As our Product Manager, you’ll be responsible for the product Software development lifecycle, ideally in multiple industries, as well as in coaching and developing people. If you’re ready to bring your adept agile delivery strategies and excellent “Shift-Left'' Verification and Validation (V&V) techniques and practices, own the risk profile of product features, and be accountable for the launch readiness recommendation of BPTN Zambia products and services, we need you!
The Product Manager will play a critical role in defining, communicating, and executing the product vision and strategy on a platform that will feature multiple products under its umbrella. Everything you do will help the company meet its objective of supporting Black tech professionals by connecting them to the resources they need to succeed. In the larger BPTN Zambia team, you’ll experience what it’s like to work in a supportive community of people who are all striving for excellence. With an attentive Senior Leadership Team, you’ll feel valued, heard, and recognized at every stage in your workflow. In addition, there are ongoing development opportunities for you to grow as a professional and reach new levels.
You will succeed because you are inspired by our mission to provide black professionals in tech access to a strong peer network, senior executive sponsorship, and skill-building to support their development.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
In this role, you will:
- Collaborate with our Product Strategy, Customer Experience, and Sales Department in building the strategy necessary to launch BPTN Products and services from scratch.
- Prioritize the member user experience above all else by understanding our membership’s needs via user research (including collecting feedback) and testing, as well as leveraging our rich data to make informed decisions.
- Become an authority on BPTN Zambia”s business and product needs, and you will identify business opportunities through research and engagement with our audiences.
- Execute at a fast pace with a focus on member user experience, impact, and learning.
- Define, understand, and improve key funnels and metrics. You’re excited about the business impact of your work and can work collaboratively with key stakeholders from finance to go-to-market teams.
- Own product features and growth experiments end-to-end, including writing product specs, driving cross-functional execution, making thoughtful product decisions along the way, and sharing insights and results throughout the company.
- Demonstrate complete ownership of the product throughout its lifecycle, including concept, design, development, product launch, and post-product release.
- Actively participate in software requirements definition, providing feedback, and identifying areas of risk.
- Coordinate with the Product team and BPTN Zambia’s stakeholders on test strategies and product release timelines and raise any risks.
EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, Computer Science or equivalent
- Master of Science in Information Technology, Computer Science or Equivalent is preferable.
- Scrum Master Certification (sprint planning, scrum techniques, agile methodologies, scrum team, DSDM methodology) is an added advantage.
- ITIL Certification is an added advantage
- Membership to the Information Technology Association of Zambia (ICTAZ)
KEY SKILLS
- Product Creative Ideation
- Software product feature identification
- Software development releases
- Overall Software product strategy
- Excellent execution and attention to detail
- Team Leadership
EXPERIENCE
We are looking for someone who embodies the following:
- 4-5 years of experience leading major enterprise software product initiatives in a busy environment across consumer or direct-to-customer business products. You can take rough themes and big ideas and turn them into a roadmap of features, experiments, and research with minimal guidance.
- Excellent understanding of SDLC, software architecture, and modern product methodologies (Lean, HCD, etc.) honed through countless product releases.
- Familiar with React Native, GitHub, Java, and other technologies
- Experience with product analytics and growth tools beyond Google Analytics (e.g., Mixpanel, Amplitude, Segment, Braze, Taplytics, Tableau, Heap, Sisense, Microsoft Power BI, etc.).
- Proven track record in defining and launching high-quality, high-impact platforms and/or consumer products.
- Degree in or emphasizing Innovation, Product Design, Engineering, a related field, or equivalent work experience in a technical product domain.
- Deep expertise in leading Agile product builds and a strong history of collaboration with designers, user researchers, developers, and QAs.
- You are familiar with the quality process for solutions across all parts of an Agile software development lifecycle, from validating features, epics, and stories through verification of features through formal acceptance testing and delivering excellent features to the market.
- You are comfortable participating in the design and execution of delivery strategy (e.g., test plans, test documentation, release readiness, etc.) within cross-functional agile product teams.
- You are familiar with analyzing business, functional, and technical requirements and test results, generating test reports, identifying defects and/or anomalies, and fine-tuning test data or cases.
- You are able to deliver communications that are clear, concise, and effective, both written and verbal, to get your ideas across and get buy-in if needed.
- You have basic organizational skills, a work ethic, and a passion for delivering on commitments.
- You’re able to work effectively in a team with minimal supervision, having led small teams of technologists/developers/etc.
- You have a basic understanding of SDLC, software architecture, and modern product methodologies (Lean, HCD, etc.) honed through countless product releases.
- Tracking progress against plans and bridging any variances that may arise
- Prioritizing software features based on market needs and business strategy
- Ensuring all software product releases meet business needs and member user needs and continuously improving on the UI/UX to ensure the products remain fresh and relevant at all times.
Why You Should Work at Black Professionals in Tech Network (BPTN):
If you’re looking for a work environment where you can grow and develop personally and professionally while delivering value to others, then BPTN is the place to be!
At BPTN, we are all about community. Not only do we work hard to empower Black tech professionals globally, but we work together to support each other in all that we do. We are motivated by something bigger than ourselves, namely our mission to push the future of tech forward by creating a space for Black tech professionals to gather, grow and evolve. With an inspirational team and a solid list of goals, your career at BPTN will be fun, challenging, and rewarding. Plus, we’ve got a pretty sweet benefits package!