Software Project Manager - Durban Verfied

Salary Negotiable Durban, Kwazulu-Natal Durban, Kwazulu-Natal more than 14 days ago 29-04-2016 9:36:56 AM
27-05-2016 9:36:56 AM
Description
The purpose of this role is to manage one or more software products at our clients Durban division. The role is focussed on servicing business applications that have been developed by our client. The primary responsibilities will be developing the functional and technology roadmaps for the product(s) to ensure that the company is responding to market trends as well as customer requirements. Other responsibilities include the collecting of customer and prospective customer requirements, conducting market research, product pricing and positioning, marketing initiatives and sales enablement. The Product Manager requires a blend of software expertise, product vision and market knowledge.
Role Requirements
• Product Revenue Growth
o Grow the revenue derived from our software products
o Identify new sectors or territories for selling existing products
o Guide product development to meet new customer requirements
o New licensing and service models to grow annuity revenue
o Where relevant, establish new sales channels via partners
o Accountable for meeting product revenue targets
o Product revenue growth strategy
o Assist the sales team by perform product demonstrations, presentations and meeting with customers
o Maintain and develop new licensing and service models
o Contribute to tender responses and Request for Information (RFI) processes
o Positioning product in relation to competitors
o Analyse and develop potential partner relationships for the product line
• Product Custodianship
o Ensure that product has a sustainable development roadmap
o Maximise the economic life of our software products
o Identify opportunities for new or extended products to meet customer requirements
o Manage complete product lifecycle
o Define current and future product roadmaps that align to the strategic goals of making use of the company Product Management Framework
o Collaborate with numerous stakeholders (most notably customers, sales, marketing and development) in defining the product priorities within the product roadmap, which consists of a balance of new capabilities, enhancements to existing features, and defect fixes
o Provide detailed guidance during development to ensure the built product is in line with the product vision
o Balance the demands for supporting existing customers with the need to develop new features
o Identify opportunities to extend, improve and simplify the products and associated processes (change control, deployment etc.)
o Initiate and translate product roadmap into manageable, prioritised product backlog
o Communication of roadmap, backlog of change requests and problems, release plan, release notes
o Developing business cases for capital investment in product development
• Product Marketing
o Ensure that product has a sound “go to market” strategy
o Greater sales effectiveness
o Collaborate with marketing team to increase lead generation
o Greater awareness of competitive landscape
o Ensure that product marketing material is current and fit for purpose
o Product release plans, and product launches and tactical marketing activities
o Sales enablement (sales training and value propositions)
o Deliver papers at conferences and workshops
o Custodianship of online product profile
• Governance and Administration
o Predicable financial performance
o Reduce business risk through effective contracts
o Improved revenue forecasting
o Preparation of product line revenue budgets
o Ensure that products and services are backed up with valid contracts
Education & Qualification
• Relevant Bachelor degree
Relevant Experience
• At least 6 years of experience in the software industry, with a minimum of 3 years’ experience in managing or developing software products
• Managing product roadmaps
• Preparing budget proposals and building business cases
• Building relationships with senior customer decision makers
• Participation in marketing and sales activities
Attributes
• Strong collaboration skills
• Resilient and maintains a positive outlook
• Communication and presentation skills
• Innovative
• Problem solving
• Data literate
• Organised planner
• Integrity and authenticity
• Influencing
• Willing and able to travel when required
Skills
• Demonstrated ability to translate business problems into product features
• Is a natural consensus builder across all levels of a company.
• Exceptional communication skills, written, verbal and presentation.
• Strong analytical skills
• Ability to present formal and informal business case to management
• The ability to correlate different opinions and input from a variety of sources and make informed technical decisions
• Leadership and conflict resolution skills
• Strong problem solving skills
• Ability to travel nationally and internationally
Knowledge
• Thorough understanding of the complete software development lifecycle
• Broad knowledge of manufacturing industry (specific knowledge of the sugar industry would be advantageous)
• Familiar with the economics of new customer acquisition vs. customer retention
• Broad experience of technology platforms used for business applications
• Familiar with common project management practices (PMBOK or similar