Job Description

Join the team behind South Africa's fastest-growing on-demand shopping platform.

Checkers Sixty60 is redefining how customers shop for everyday essentials, and we're looking for a passionate

Product Owner

to help shape the future of our

website experience

. In this role, you'll own the end-to-end web journey -- from browsing and discovery, through checkout and payment, to order tracking and customer support. You'll work closely with

cross-functional teams

to deliver seamless, intuitive, and high-performance customer experiences at scale. This is an opportunity to

make a real impact

on a platform used by millions, while working with a brand known for innovation, speed, and customer obsession. If you thrive in a fast-paced, product-led environment and love turning customer needs into great digital experiences, this role is for you.

Role Purpose

The

Product Owner III

is a member of the agile team, responsible for defining user stories and prioritizing the team backlog to streamline the execution of program priorities while maintaining the conceptual and technical integrity of the features or components for the team. The role

owns multiple products of varying to high complexities,

impact and visibility products and engages and collaborates with product management to execute the product vision, strategy, and roadmap.

Role Description

Takes the lead in the solution design of new features and works with business stakeholders to create the optimal user experience and assess the impact on the backend. Facilitates workshops and leads the requirements gathering process, including creating wireframes and engaging stakeholders for input and sign-off. Ensures UI alignment with wireframes and feature requirements, guiding designers and actively participating in demo sessions to substantiate design decisions based on backend knowledge. Documents the impact of the user experience on data models, business logic and microservices in detail, including context diagrams, system/data flows, and high-level system integration requirements. Review integration and architecture specifications and provides input to ensure they address all requirements. Acts as a subject matter expert and guides product development, coaching and supporting junior and senior product owners in their development. Provide input into the refinement of the program backlog, ensuring the team is familiar with the features being brought into PI planning, collaborating with program management in the refinement of the backlog and keeping them informed of progress in achieving team PI objectives. Continuously refine and sequence the product backlog: Gather the requirements for the product and capture them in the form of a product backlog, consisting of user stories with acceptance criteria. Ensure all user stories are written and that each user story has acceptance criteria. Provide visible, transparent, and clear direction, ensuring the development team is clear on priorities: Provide clear solution direction to the agile team

(or multiple agile teams)

Apply economic decision making. Sequence user stories based on team PI objectives. Balance PI objectives with local team requirements. Ensure team backlog readiness for next iteration. Include the team in backlog refinement. Participate in ART level events: ART sync, Product Owner Scrum of Scrums, Inspect and Adapt, PI Planning, daily stand-ups, and system demos. Help create a release plan and track progress towards the release of a product. Drive mobile digital omnichannel customer engagement based on customer preference and omnichannel strategies. Ensure a consistent and delightful customer experience across all digital touchpoints of the Shoprite customer journey. Customers being any end-user i.e. consumers, operational users, etc. Provide strategic input to customer experience improvements that help drive customer acquisition, customer retention, and conversion. Test new features in the staging environment (user acceptance testing) in collaboration with business stakeholders, to provide business sign-off on the feature Actively promote and advocate product features and customer-first product design incl. high levels of customer empathy. Adhere to and improve customer service levels across businesses and service. Provide integrated reporting and feedback.

Engage at a senior level with respect to customer centric product concepts and best practices.

Serve as a lead subject matter expert to guide product development.

Coach and support junior and mid-level product owners in their development

.

Qualifications and general experience

Degree in Business, IT, Engineering, Marketing, or another relevant field - (essential). Certified Product Owner / certified SAFe Product Owner - (essential).

+6 years' experience in a Lead or Senior Product Owner role

, with experience working in an agile team and proven success launching

new and complex

product features and translating business strategy and analysis into successful consumer products - (essential).

Extensive

experience collaborating across multi-disciplinary teams to deliver complex projects - (essential).

InDepth

understanding and experience with analytics and big data - (essential).

Strong

commercial experience in digital led business development environments - (essential).

Extensive

Customer user and loyalty experience - (essential).

Solid Knowledge

of legal compliance (POPIA, Electronic Information Act, etc.) - (essential). General marketing or retail experience - (essential). Ecommerce experience - (essential) Exposure to the African digital market and customers - (desired).

Specific experience: Web for Commerce

+5 years' previous experience managing the design, build out and backlog management of a responsive website with Ecommerce capabilities. Having experience in the Ecommerce industry will give you a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing ecommerce businesses. Previous experience working with payment gateways and integration into the checkout flow. Experience with user experience (UX) design. Ecommerce websites need to be user-friendly and easy to navigate. Having experience with UX design will assist in creating a website that is enjoyable and efficient for users. Experience with customer service. Ecommerce businesses need to provide excellent customer service. Having experience with customer service will help you understand the needs of your customers and resolve their issues quickly and efficiently. Understand the needs of the customer. Always think about the customer and create products and features that meet their online purchasing needs. Use data and customer feedback to inform decisions and look for ways to improve the customer experience at every opportunity. In addition to these specific experiences, any experience that demonstrates your ability to manage projects, work cross-functionally, and think strategically will be beneficial in this role.

Independent

,

motivated self-starter

with a

focus and determination to persevere

in a challenging, fast paced environment to achieve high-quality results.

Excellent problem-solver

and

analytical thinker

with the ability to focus on what is most important, balance technical constraints, maximise product value and deliver a differentiated product. Considers new solutions to increase product value while verifying

the business value delivered by the product and how it aligns with the strategy.

Excellent product focus and expertise

with

end-to-end product optimisation

- Translates market and customer feedback into strategic requirements, driving product delivery through an agile release process while leading execution across development and product management. Brings top-quality expertise to manage product requirements, deliver product optimisation and introduce new tools and practices.

Customer focused

- Passionate about creating value for customers. Translates customer needs into meaningful experiences, taking a proactive approach to anticipating future customer needs.

Business acumen

- Understands company-wide KPI tree; understands company business models, goals and strategies and how they impact on commercial viability and profitability.

Key competencies and work ethic

Collaborative partner

- Effectively leverages the collective intelligence of the team; reaches objectively good negotiation results while maintaining collaborative relationships. Models the company values.

Stakeholder engagement skills

- Anticipates and aligns stakeholder needs across business areas. Communicates and aligns the vision and strategy across product and technology teams; engages with stakeholders on the product development process and product management mindset.

Leadership and influencing skills

- Empower and inspires others to deliver their best; identifies conflicts or roadblocks quickly and resolves them independently; creates an atmosphere of enthusiasm and commitment; coaches and supports junior and mid-level product owners in their development.

Communication skills

-

Strong communication and moderation skills; writes thought-leadership communications; comfortable preparing and giving presentations to large, senior audiences. Is

curious and adaptable

, finds agile and rapid ways of implementing innovative solutions fast. High degree of comfort with ongoing technological and organisational change.

Our Group and all its operating companies is committed to creating, embracing, and preserving a diverse workplace that values the unique talents, perspectives, backgrounds, and abilities that enrich our organisation. A place where everyone matters and feels included.

We are committed to Employment Equity when recruiting internally and externally.

Please take note that by responding to this application and providing your personal information, you confirm your express and informed consent for Shoprite Checkers (Pty) Ltd and all its subsidiaries and affiliates companies to process your personal information for the Company to consider your application for this position. All Personal Information which you provide to the Company will be used and/or retained only for the purposes for which it is collected, whereafter it will be permanently destroyed. Your information is only retained if it is required by law or where you have given consent to us to retain such information for an extended period.

If you don't hear from us within 14 days, please consider your application unsuccessful. Any personal information collected as part of your application will be destroyed, securely, in accordance with South African legislation.