Head of Product at Safaricom Kenya

Reporting to the Chief innovation Officer we are looking for a strong leader to head our product management team responsible for developing new solutions relevant to Safaricom’s customers.

Our ideal candidate is a creative leader with an understanding of our regional market, a passion and track record for building usable products and a solid understanding of the transformative potential of technology.

The role holder should have deep expertise in at least one particular industry, such as financial sector, agriculture, education or any other related field. We are looking for a hands-on product manager with at least 10-15 years of experience in entrepreneurial and corporate environments, who has successfully demonstrated the ability to develop innovative products.

They should be a collaborative person, who works well with engineering teams and have strong management skills. They should also be able to take products from conception to deployment and should be well versed in doing so in iterative and agile ways.

The role holder should have worked in international environments and are familiar with current trends in tech. They should set the bar for developing a high performance product management team and bring new products into both local and global markets.

Roles for the Head of Product Job

• Provide vision and strategy for Safaricom’s innovation roadmap from a product perspective;
• Own the creation, execution and successful delivery of the Innovation Product Strategy, which includes managing the full product lifecycle;
• Understand and analyze user needs, and conduct research on markets and competitors;
• Build and manage a product roadmap to support Safaricom’s goals and strategies;
• Initiate and prioritize projects within our engineering team, track product development and develop product launch plans;
• Engage closely with the head of engineering to help determine the best technical implementation methods and reasonable execution schedules;
• Work closely with engineering to define the roadmap for the product and take it forward
• Develop and coach a team of product managers.

Head of Product Job Requirements

• Experience developing Internet products and technologies;
• Market knowledge of industries relevant in emerging markets;
• Market knowledge in Internet-related industries;
• Excellent written and oral communication and interpersonal skills;
• Demonstrated managerial skills;
• BS/MS in Computer Science or related technical area or equivalent practical experience;
• 10-15 years of work experience including university, with at least 5 years of proven track record of leadership roles ideally in the entrepreneurial space;
• International experience;
• Distinct analytical and systematic thinking;
• Design methodology skills and Strong Project Management skills.