Senior Manager : Financial Products and Portfolio Development at MTN

Mission/ Core purpose of the Job
The Senior Manager:  Financial Products & Portfolio Development  is responsible to identify key innovations in the fintech & banking sector and develop accordingly the Financial Product portfolios i.e. Consumer Banking, Business Banking & Open Banking.

The role is expected to drive a holistic portfolio based approach to be able to provide unique value propositions to the segments end user, enterprise & financial institutions.

The Senior Manager is responsible to identify, design, develop & deliver those new products & services for the market owners of end user, enterprise & financial institutions segments. The role is also responsible to develop the recommendation engine to offer a personalized experience to target users using these financial products.
Responsible for defining and driving the implementation of the business Banking portfolio & go to market strategy across Opcos.

Key Performance Areas: Core, essential responsibilities / outputs of the position (KPA's) 
Strategy Development and Implementation

• Lead the creation of the sub functional strategy in line with the overarching business goals
• Ensure effective implementation of the strategy by means of providing direction, structure, frameworks, models, plans and roadmaps
• Cascade and communicate overall Strategy and Business Plan
• Translate the overall strategy into operational initiatives and plans and drive execution
• Define detailed portfolio development plans for various digital products and services.

Operational Delivery

• Manage & drive portfolio based convergence across various advanced banking & financial products  to increase revenue and market share with the recommendation engine
• Identify & develop new banking services
• Collaborate with the market owners and leading partners
• Monitor and report on portfolio risks
• Follow market trends & innovation, conduct market assessments and competitor analysis
• Monitor the risk of the overall advanced banking & financial products portfolio to ensure the integrity of the ecosystem
• Based on the recommendation engine, identify & develop opportunities to leverage cross functional products & services among the advanced banking portfolio
• Build curated financial portfolio based products that provides a single one stop shop value proposition to the customer
• Lead the business and the relationship development with business partner prospects. Align objectives, priorities, and resources between Finco and relevant partners
• Support implementation of Advanced Banking & Financial Products strategy
• Develop comprehensive operational plans to support effective implementation and delivery of the strategy, and manage the execution across Group Finco
• Identify future challenges and opportunities; and identify trends to develop new products & services to drive sustainable growth
• Identify customer needs and competitor solutions to drive new business opportunities and create disruptive experiences
• Manage the product development lifecycle from ideation to delivery and ensure integration with the existing product suite across advanced banking portfolio with market owners
• Lead the identification and selection of technology & development resources required to deliver the products
• Ensure synergy across the Group Finco functions, Finco OpCos and partners through effective management of inter-functional relations and activities
• Oversee the monitoring and tracking of products and services’ performance after launch
• Lead the establishment and maintenance of quality/process standards that will enhance the customer experience and cost efficiency
• Responsible for backlog management, iteration planning, and elaboration of the user stories
• Manage the prioritization of product feature backlog and development
• Review and monitor product backlog according to business value or ROI
• Manage product release plans and set the expectation for delivery of new functionalities
• Engage with Finco Opco counterparts to receive local market insights, new product requests, share Group Finco insights with respect to partnerships and alliances
• Ensure customer needs and requirements are satisfied through appropriate systems, processes, and procedures

Governance

Strategic Meetings

• Participate and provide input in strategic meetings
• Perform evaluation baseline of key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Request for relevant budget for internal projects and new initiatives
• Facilitate preparation of proposals on change initiatives, policies and procedures

Escalations

• Escalate issues that will result in severe time, scope, productivity, and cost or resource or reputational impact
• Manage and provide solutions to escalations that have multiple processes / functions impact on critical path of service delivery
• Manage and provide solutions through stakeholder consultation where relevant

Function Tactical

• Review all projects initiated (internal or global)
• Prepare objectives, targets, and budgets as applicable
• Review key risks, issues and dependencies and set mitigation actions
• Sign off and Facilitate sign-off / making decisions regarding tactical changes

Performance

• Monitor and analyse products performance trends from financial, competitive, and operational perspectives
• Monitor performance and alignment with Finco global strategy
• Ensure alignment between and across other functions within the Group Finco team

Reporting

• Report on a periodic basis to the Reporting Manager relating to progress made within the function and in accordance with the measurement metrics set by the organization
• Report on an ad hoc basis on specific projects, as required

Budgets

• Manage functional budgets in line with overall business objectives
• Manage project initiative budgets in line with business objectives
• Ensure that the cost of operations are reduced, in line with a least cost operating strategy stemming from the business drivers

Managerial / Supervisory Responsibilities

• Continually develop a culture of strong collaboration and effective team working
• Provide guidance and leadership ensuring future focus and current efficiency
• Coach and mentor direct reports to ensure staff motivation is high
• Ensure adequate succession planning & that succession plans are achieved
• Set KPIs and provide regular performance feedback through a well-defined and implemented performance review program
• Ensure the effective management of diversity among personnel in the division
• Identify staff training and development needs and implement necessary actions
• Manage team (including recruitment, on boarding, attrition)
• Recruit and build a world class product team

Job Requirements (Education, Experience and Competencies) 
Education:

• 4 year Business Science. Engineering (or related) Degree
• Master’s in business administration/ relevant Master’s degree is advantageous
• Formal certification in Digital Product Management / Product Owner, Agile Delivery, User Experience or other relevant fields would be beneficial

Experience:

• Minimum of 7 years of experience in Financial services, consulting, strategy, analytics, engineering, or related industry
• At least 3-4 years’ experience in in Commercial/Financial Portfolio Management in a scalable/large scale Financial Services and/or Consumer Finance multi-country environment
• Or at least 3-4 years’ experience in in banking product owner or product management role
• Manager track record of 3-4 years or more
• Experience in defining and project managing the technical and business implementation of portfolio strategies within a FinServ/FinTech environment
• Experience in B2C and/or B2B financial products with a broad range of products offered
• Experience in leveraging traditionally unconventional data and insights to deploy and optimize multi-territory/multi-product portfolio strategies via mobile/telco channels
• Deep understanding of the digital banking ecosystem, players, business models and industry related best practices
• Understanding emerging markets advantageous
• Worked across diverse cultures and geographies
• Pan Africa multi-cultural experience is advantageous
• Entrepreneurial spirit, self-driven and ability to motivate a fast-paced team
• Attitude of Innovation, inventiveness and thought leadership
• Abreast of global mind-set and best practice
• Willing and flexible to travel within Africa and Middle East
• English speaker. French, Portuguese, Zulu, Swahili, and other African languages a plus

Competencies:

Functional Knowledge:

• Understanding of FinTech, banking, microfinance and payment businesses
• Fintech Products & Ecosystem
• Payments Ecosystem
• Portfolio Management
• Financial Asset Classes & Product Portfolio Management
• Project and Programme Management
• Product management
• Understanding of the regulation environment
• Working knowledge in related Big Data technologies
• Agile delivery and Development Operations frameworks
• GTM strategy

Skills

• Business Acumen
• Analytics and Interpretation
• Strategic Thinking
• Organizational Agility
• Digital mind-set
• Dealing with ambiguity and complexity
• Decision Making
• Conflict Management
• Negotiation
• Financial and Numerical
• Project Management
• People Management
• Executive Presentation

Behavioural Qualities

• Adaptable
• Complete candour
• Culturally aware
• Emotional Maturity
• Innovation
• Integrity
• Leadership
• Team Player