Senior Product Manager

Absa is committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from suitably qualified individuals from diverse backgrounds. In support of our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) commitments and Employment Equity objectives, preference may be given to candidates from underrepresented designated groups, including persons with disabilities. We encourage applicants who may require reasonable accommodation during the recruitment process to let us know so that appropriate support can be provided.

Job Summary

• Take full accountability for assigned Commercial Issuing products and capabilities from initial opportunity identification through development, launch, growth, optimisation and eventual retirement.
• Identify product opportunities using customer insights, portfolio performance, market developments, competitor analysis and banker or client feedback.
• Define the product vision, target market, customer problem, value proposition and intended commercial outcomes.
• Translate strategic opportunities into clear product requirements, business cases and executable delivery plans.
• Secure the necessary business, governance, funding, risk and technology approvals.
• Oversee product development, testing, operational readiness, implementation and go-to-market execution.
• Establish post-launch success measures and track actual performance against the approved business case.
• Intervene decisively when delivery or product performance is not meeting expectations.

The candidate should be able to demonstrate personal accountability for product validation, business-case development, approvals, delivery and post-launch performance measurement.

• Own or materially influence the P&L for assigned products.
• Understand and actively manage the key drivers of product revenue, cost and profitability.
• Develop budgets, forecasts and commercial plans, and monitor actual performance against agreed targets.
• Analyse active cards, activation, expenditure, transaction volumes, transaction yield, customer mix, pricing, margins, retention and cost to serve.
• Monitor relevant scheme, processing, operational, credit and fraud costs where applicable.
• Identify and implement pricing, revenue-growth and cost-optimisation opportunities.
• Develop robust business cases for new capabilities, product enhancements and material investments.
• Quantify expected revenue, cost savings, implementation costs, return on investment and payback period.
• Test assumptions and sensitivities and track benefits after implementation.
• Recommend corrective action when customer or card growth is not translating into sustainable revenue and profitability.

The role requires practical P&L capability covering pricing, transaction revenue, margins, operating costs, forecasting, budget performance and benefits realisation.

• Develop and manage propositions that address the specific payment, working-capital, control, reporting and reconciliation needs of business clients.
• Understand how Commercial Issuing differs from consumer card issuing in relation to customer needs, buying processes, credit and risk, payment workflows, controls, pricing, implementation and measures of success.
• Maintain practical knowledge of the Commercial Issuing and business-payment ecosystem
• Define appropriate customer segments and use cases for each product.
• Ensure that the portfolio provides differentiated customer value and addresses genuine business payment needs.
• Develop solutions for clients requiring improved spend control, transaction visibility, reconciliation and supplier-payment efficiency.
• Consider enriched transaction data, virtual payments, expense-management integration, ERP integration, reporting and implementation dependencies when designing solutions for complex clients.

• Develop and maintain product strategies aligned to Business Banking objectives and customer needs.
• Build evidence-based product roadmaps informed by customer insight, competitive analysis, portfolio performance, strategic priorities and market developments.
• Translate the roadmap into prioritised initiatives, milestones, dependencies and outcome measures.
• Shape the annual business operating plan for assigned products.
• Make defensible prioritisation decisions when available capacity and funding are limited.
• Balance:
  • Commercial value
  • Strategic alignment
  • Customer impact
  • Mandatory and regulatory requirements
  • Risk remediation
  • Delivery feasibility
  • Cost and available capacity
  • Dependencies
  • Opportunity cost
• Clearly communicate why initiatives have been prioritised, deferred or stopped.
• Regularly review the roadmap and adjust it where customer needs, performance, risk or delivery circumstances change.

• Monitor the health and performance of assigned products using agreed commercial, customer, operational and risk measures.
• Analyse card issuance, active cards, activation, client engagement, spend, transaction volumes, income, margin, retention and customer utilisation.
• Identify the root causes of low activation, low spend, poor customer engagement or declining profitability.
• Segment performance by customer type, product, usage pattern, channel and other relevant dimensions.
• Develop and execute practical product-performance improvement plans.
• Track interventions against defined outcomes and adjust the approach where expected benefits are not being achieved.
• Use product data to distinguish symptoms from underlying proposition, pricing, process, distribution or technology problems.
• Make recommendations on whether to invest, optimise, reposition, remediate or retire a product.

• Lead delivery through Technology, Operations, Sales, Distribution, Finance, Risk, Compliance, Legal, Fraud, Credit and other teams that may not report directly to the role.
• Establish clear accountability across cross-functional workstreams.
• Convert product outcomes into well-defined actions, owners, dependencies, milestones and target dates.
• Build commitment by clearly articulating the customer, commercial and risk implications of the required work.
• Resolve ambiguity regarding ownership between Product, Technology and Operations.
• Negotiate capacity and delivery priority where other teams have competing commitments.
• Challenge delivery assumptions constructively and consider viable alternative solutions.
• Escalate unresolved constraints through the appropriate governance structures.
• Maintain momentum and accountability without relying solely on formal authority.
• Communicate progress, decisions, risks and trade-offs clearly to senior stakeholders.

The candidate should demonstrate that they can secure outcomes through teams with competing priorities and respond constructively when an important technology enhancement is not prioritised.

• Apply disciplined product-management practices across all lifecycle stages:
  • Opportunity identification and discovery
  • Customer and market validation
  • Proposition design
  • Business-case development
  • Governance and investment approval
  • Requirements definition
  • Development and testing
  • Operational readiness
  • Go-to-market execution
  • Adoption and performance monitoring
  • Product optimisation
  • Product retirement or migration
• Ensure that distribution, servicing, onboarding, customer communications, training, support and reporting are ready before launch.
• Define clear entry and exit criteria for major implementation stages.
• Manage product migrations and closures in a controlled manner, including customer impact, communications, operational readiness and risk mitigation.
• Ensure lessons from product launches and underperformance are incorporated into future delivery.

• Ensure products operate within applicable legal, regulatory, scheme, credit, fraud, conduct and operational-risk requirements.
• Engage Risk, Compliance, Legal, Fraud, Credit and Operations early in product design and delivery.
• Ensure that control ownership is clearly assigned and understood.
• Identify emerging product risks and drive timely remediation.
• Maintain the relevant product-governance artefacts, approvals and performance reviews.
• Balance growth and customer-experience objectives with regulatory compliance, fraud prevention, operational resilience and responsible product management.
• Escalate material issues where the product, customer or bank is exposed to unacceptable risk.
• Ensure commercial decisions and trade-offs are transparent, evidence-based and appropriately governed.

• Develop a detailed understanding of the payment needs, operational challenges and buying processes of business and corporate clients.
• Engage bankers, relationship teams, servicing functions and clients to validate product needs and identify friction.
• Translate complex client requirements into scalable propositions and capabilities.
• Present product strategy, roadmaps, business cases and performance updates to senior governance forums.
• Support strategically important client opportunities where product expertise or solution design is required.
• Ensure internal stakeholders understand the value proposition, eligibility, pricing, implementation requirements and product limitations.
• Build productive relationships across the bank, card schemes, processors, technology providers and other relevant partners.

Education