Product Manager (Catalogue)

Takealot.com, South Africa's leading online retailer, is looking for a talented Product Manager to join the Catalogue team in Cape Town. 

You will be responsible for defining and executing a Product Roadmap that strategically balances commercial growth objectives with robust compliance and risk management frameworks. This role requires navigating complex regulatory landscapes to ensure our merchant division operates with total security and excellence. We are a young, dynamic, hyper-growth company looking for smart, creative, hard-working people with the integrity to maintain this critical balance!

Think you've been challenged before? Think again!

• Scale: 4 million happy shoppers shop online on takealot.com. Show them what you can do.
• Learn: We work with the best of the best, and then some. Code alongside industry leaders and upskill in record time.
• Grow: Expand your career in the fast-growing Takealot Group: takealot.com , TFS and Mr D. We like to promote from within: Here's your chance.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

• Gain a deep understanding of the Catalogue division in terms of its strategic objectives, business processes, available tools & systems, and relevant external best practice benchmarks
• Work closely with the Product Lead for Catalogue to define and maintain a Product Roadmap that delivers on technical developments required to support the Catalogue Division in achieving its strategic objectives
• Measure the success of developments via the tracking of relevant metrics 
• Take ownership of improving these metrics by identifying and prioritising appropriate roadmap projects
• Define the strategic business requirements for technical systems development related to specific projects prioritised on the Product Roadmap, using relevant data to support decision-making
• Translate business requirements into functional and technical IT user stories and project specifications, by ensuring that projects are broken down into phases to deliver immediate business benefit
• End-to-end project management of technical projects throughout the entire product development lifecycle – setting timelines, driving project schedules, leading cross-functional development teams from design through to release, and managing the production launch
• Manage all stakeholder communications - to ensure appropriate input on the Product Roadmap prioritisation and communication on its execution
• Manage the engineering backlog via appropriate sprint prioritisation and planning

Who’s who in the tech space

You will report directly to the Product Lead for Catalogue and collaborate with a team of software engineers, QA engineers, and UX designers.

Attributes required:

• A proven track record of delivering results, in a fast-paced environment
• Demonstrates strong commercial acumen with analytical capabilities, proficient in SQL for obtaining and analysing data, and effectively leverages insights to drive informed decision-making.
• Highly structured thinker with strong attention to detail
• Strong technical understanding & experience with the development process
• Strong project management and communication skills – able to effectively manage cross-functional stakeholders (in particular the engineering team) to ensure projects are delivered according to specifications on time
• A flexible and adaptable mindset
• Proven experience with system scalability and automation projects
• Ability to balance rapid growth with robust compliance and quality control mechanisms

Qualifications and experience:

• Relevant Bachelor's Degree or Advanced Diploma (Information Systems/Computer Science/Engineering/Commerce) with at least 3 years of experience in product management, business analysis, or a related role, preferably driving large, company-wide initiatives (through projects or responsibilities)
• In the absence of a Bachelor's Degree or Advanced Diploma in a related field, an equivalent experience requirement must be met which equates to at least 7 years of experience in product management, business analysis, or a related role, preferably driving large, company-wide initiatives (through projects or responsibilities)
• Experience in an agile/iterative project management and development environment is beneficial 
• Experience in an e-commerce or compliance environment is beneficial

Let’s talk about life @ Takealot Group

• No doors: We aren’t fans of stuffy offices or siloed work environments. See someone you like? High five, collab and make something great.
• Remote working: Love water cooler chats and working from home? Takealot.com offers a hybrid working model for the best of both worlds.
• Mentorship programme: We aren’t kidding when we say the people with the best people win. Now’s your chance to be one of the best, by learning from the best.
• Naspers Tech Community & Online Learning: Share ideas and grow with global industry leaders who are all just a Slack message away. Love to learn? Up-skill with free access to courses on MyAcademy, Udacity, Coursera and more.
• Good times: Get to know the other extraordinary minds at takealot.com during regular social events and out-of-office activities (think hikes, think mini-golf, think good times).
• Staff discount. Millions of products across 28 departments. What more could you ask for?
• Birthday leave: Cake Day all the way. Enjoy your day off - you deserve it. 
• Help when you need it most: Confidential counselling, legal support and financial guidance, for free, anytime, anywhere. 
• Tech stack (for days): ReactJS, Python, Scala, Kotlin, Swift, Google Cloud, Kafka, Redis, Kubernetes and all things machine learning. If you build it, they will come.
• Free parking: No more 5km fun runs to your desk (unless you want to). 

Like what you see? 

If you meet the above you are an Extraordinary Mind. Apply today!!

Takealot is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants from the previously disadvantaged groups and people with disabilities will be given preference.