Retail Media Solutions Manager

The Retail Media Solutions Manager owns the strategy, roadmap, growth and execution of the retail media product portfolio within the Rainmaker Tribe in ShopriteX. The role builds experiences that satisfy and delight customers while improving advertiser outcomes, supporting client acquisition and retention, and scaling retail media revenue. It carries end-to-end accountability for a medium- to high-complexity, high-impact and high-visibility portfolio, from discovery and benefit hypotheses through delivery, launch and ongoing optimisation.

The portfolio spans digital media, in-store media, EPOS (electronic Point of Sale) media (till slip), campaign management, reporting, and data collaboration capabilities that connect the retail media network. Digital product responsibilities include ad serving, campaign management, audience targeting, measurement and reporting integrations across relevant mobile app and web touchpoints. Working with Product Managers, Product Owners, UX, engineering, analytics, growth and business teams, the role maximises value from advertising tooling, strengthens measurement transparency and balances commercial growth with a consistent customer experience.

• Determine, scope, prioritise and manage a 12–18-month retail media portfolio roadmap aligned with Rainmaker’s strategy and OKRs. Maintain a clear Now / Next / Later view and prioritised backlog with business leadership, Product Owners, business analysts and solution architects. Ensure prioritised initiatives enter development roadmaps, make dependencies and trade-offs explicit, and communicate requirements and sequencing to all relevant stakeholders.

• Lead and develop the Rainmaker product team across the following portfolio areas, aligning priorities, accountability and delivery:
• • Digital Media: onsite and offsite inventory, banners and sponsored placements
  • EPOS Media: point-of-sale media, gamification and rewards
  • In-store Media: print, screens, digital out-of-home, sampling, activations and radio
  • Retail Media Platform: CRM, campaign management, audience activation and reporting

• Guide Product Managers and Product Owners through discovery, planning, forecasting, delivery, launch and ongoing lifecycle management of retail media products; monitor product profitability and advertiser value.
• Translate opportunities and epics into prioritised features and detailed product specifications for engineering and design, including functional requirements, success measures and acceptance criteria.
• Manage feature execution and rollout across relevant customer-facing apps, web and retail media platforms, covering design, documentation, implementation, testing, launch and success metric monitoring.
• Work proactively with engineering and QA to clarify requirements through team meetings and functional clarification sessions; ensure requirements are met during solution design and after implementation.
• Establish plans and processes to maximise value from retail media tooling and integrations for ad serving, campaign management, targeting and reporting.

• Identify and consult stakeholders for each portfolio area and roadmap; understand advertiser, customer and internal stakeholder pain points and objectives.
• Collaborate across product, UX, engineering, analytics, growth, sales, finance and business teams to design, implement and launch retail media capabilities.
• Engage subject matter experts to analyse trade-offs, resolve priority conflicts and secure stakeholder buy-in for requirements.
• Obtain stakeholder sign-off on specifications and provide clear project status communications, integrated reporting and feedback.
• Engage executive leadership on customer-centric product concepts, commercial outcomes and portfolio decisions.

• Determine, monitor and analyse quantitative and qualitative data to identify retail media optimisation opportunities and features that drive growth.
• Build and maintain reporting to measure project success, advertiser outcomes, customer satisfaction, commercial performance and campaign effectiveness; use insights to guide continuous improvement.
• Own the accuracy of in-app events and relevant customer data points so that analytics, audience targeting and conversion tracking are reliable.
• Apply conversion rate optimisation and funnel analysis to improve acquisition, retention and conversion while balancing advertising outcomes with the customer experience.
• Use analytics, ad serving and reporting/targeting tools to extract actionable insights and improve product decisions, measurement transparency and attribution.
• Work with UX/UI to validate solutions to customer and advertiser challenges; communicate requirements clearly and ensure designs are practical, data-driven and implementable across relevant app and web experiences.
• Sign off design solutions, including copy, for owned products and finalise the customer experience with design resources, informed by relevant best practices and trends.

• Align the portfolio with Rainmaker’s strategy and OKRs; maintain portfolio governance, prioritisation and a transparent operating rhythm across channel and platform teams.
• Establish scalable intake, capacity planning, delivery mechanisms and operating artefacts; manage cross-product dependencies and access to specialist resources for planned and unplanned work.
• Contribute product and retail media expertise across business and technology teams to improve product-market fit, advertiser adoption and commercial value.

• Participate in ART-level events, including ART syncs, inspect and adapt, PI planning, system demos and continuous exploration reviews. Coordinate dependencies, release readiness and rollout communications across the retail media portfolio.

• Understand customer and advertiser needs, journeys and pain points; use segmentation, personas and discovery interviews to prioritise validated problems and test solutions with UX.

• Apply strong analytical and critical thinking to qualitative and quantitative data. Ensure reliable event tracking and customer data; use campaign, product and funnel insights to inform targeting, conversion tracking and portfolio decisions.

• Demonstrate deep understanding of retail media, eCommerce and the mobile app ecosystem, including ad serving, campaign management, audience activation, advertiser value, acquisition, retention and conversion. Understand competing propositions and relevant market and technology trends.

• Understand software development and retail media technology stacks, databases, APIs and IP technologies, together with advertising platform and analytics integrations. Evaluate technical trade-offs with engineering, architecture and subject matter experts.

• Understand Rainmaker’s strategic objectives, business model and commercial drivers, and connect product outcomes to revenue growth, advertiser adoption and satisfaction, campaign effectiveness and customer experience.

• Anticipate operational challenges in campaign and product delivery; establish processes that maximise advertising tool value and performance, support reliable reporting, launch readiness and ongoing platform operations.

• Collaborate effectively across departments, executives and cross-functional teams; use collective expertise and sound negotiation to resolve competing priorities.

• Identify and consult relevant stakeholders; understand their objectives and pain points, secure buy-in and specification sign-off, and maintain clear status communications.

• Communicate and align product vision, strategy and roadmap across business, product and technology teams; present trade-offs and recommendations succinctly to secure alignment.

• Empower, coach and develop the product team; resolve conflicts and delivery blockers. Demonstrate ownership, resourcefulness, an accountable solutions-oriented attitude and willingness to engage directly with complex problems.

• Present ideas succinctly in writing and verbally; produce clear specifications, facilitate functional clarification sessions and communicate effectively with engineering, design and senior business audiences.

• Own end-to-end retail media product strategy and continuous exploration; maintain a prioritised roadmap and backlog, challenge opportunity assessments and balance competing priorities in a fast-paced environment. Apply structured thinking, attention to detail, commercial acumen and business analysis.

• Retail media, performance marketing or retail experience; exposure to the African digital market and customers.
• Experience with retail media and advertising tools such as Google Ad Manager, DV360, Google Ads, Meta Ads, Advendio and Insider, or equivalent platforms.
• Degree in Business, IT, Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, Marketing or another relevant field.
• 8+ years’ experience in a lead product management role, with proven success launching complex features and translating strategy into delivered products; relevant experience in Retail Media technology, eCommerce or mobile applications.
• Experience as a Product Manager and Product Owner and leading an agile team, with a proven ability to formulate detailed roadmaps and execute them.
• Experience collaborating with engineering, UX/design and business stakeholders to deliver complex cross-functional product initiatives.
• Strong commercial acumen and business analysis skills in digitally led business development, with an understanding of retail media and advertiser outcomes.
• Experience analysing data and making data-driven product decisions; strong understanding of conversion rate optimisation, funnel analysis and customer acquisition and retention.
• Understanding of the mobile app development cycle, software development processes, technology stacks, databases, APIs and advertising/analytics integrations.
• Customer, user and loyalty experience; knowledge of applicable legal compliance, including POPIA and requirements relevant to customer data and advertising.
• Strong project management and communication skills, structured thinking and attention to detail; ability to manage competing priorities and deliver in a fast-paced environment.

• Certified Product Owner / certified SAFe Product Owner.
• Experience with analytics and reporting tools such as Firebase, Google Analytics, Amplitude and Looker; SQL or Google BigQuery (GBQ) experience.
• Experience with wireframing and design tools such as Invision, Balsamiq and Sketch, or equivalent tools.
• Proficiency with MS Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word), Google Suite, JIRA and Slack, and an appetite to learn new applications.