Job Description

Closing Date 2025/11/30
Reference Number MMH250801-3
Job Title Product Owner (Bellville)
Position Type Permanent
Role Family Operations
Cluster Metropolitan Life
Remote Opportunity Some of the time
Location - Country South Africa
Location - Province Western Cape
Location - Town / City Bellville
Introduction
Metropolitan is one of the oldest financial services brands in South Africa. With a 125-year legacy of serving the communities in which it operates, Metropolitan represents true empowerment in serving Africa's people through affordable financial solutions that create financial growth and security. Metropolitan operates in South Africa, but the brand is also present in 7 African countries including, Namibia, Botswana, Kenya, Ghana and Lesotho. Metropolitan provides financial wellness solutions that meet the needs of low-income clients, including funeral insurance, health, savings, hospital cash-back cover, retirement solutions and life insurance. www.metropolitan.co.za
Disclaimer As an applicant, please verify the legitimacy of this job advert on our company career page.
Role Purpose
As a product owner, this role is responsible for the design, development, financial modelling and ongoing management of competitive behavioural remuneration models that drive specific client, employee and shareholder outcomes. This extends to all the Metropolitan distribution channels and includes our independent intermediary channel (brokers) as well. Set, prioritise and evaluate the work generated by development teams, ensuring the delivery of high-quality products meeting all necessary requirements, features and functionality.
Requirements

• Financial qualification (e.g. degree in Accounting/Actuarial Scienece/Financial Management)
• Exposure to Financial Services industry
• Minimum of 3 yrs work experience in Financial Management
• Leadership experience
• Knowledge of financial planning and risk management
• Knowledge of financial modelling or insurance product pricing models

Duties & Responsibilities
Internal process:

• Take ownership of the full product life cycle of the end to end commission and remuneration models and system implementations. Understand impacts of changes to these systems on both the delivery capability as well as the end consumers.
• Explain, train, guide and support the relevant support areas in the business, specifically the distribution channels.
• Support the capability Head and the delivery team by being able to translate the remuneration strategy and proposed enhancements into road maps, to outline the vision and direction of the capability.
• Elicit capability requirements from business, distil, prioritise and translate them into user stories with acceptance criteria in line with business expectations.
• Participate in the team ceremonies, including sprint planning, sprint reviews, retrospectives, and play an active role in mitigating impediments impacting successful completion of release or sprint goals.
• Work with Business and System Analysts to ensure prototyping/scenario planning takes place, and user stories and user journeys support the client and business outcomes.
• Assist with the development of financial models to test the adequacy, impact and financial viability of the remuneration models.
• Engage with Product Owners to maintain ratio of priced for remuneration and commission against what is actually paid, as well as ensuring that regulatory maximums are not breached.
• Create appropriate operational workflows to support the proposition in order to meet business needs.
• Assist with release plans and delivery expectation dates of new functionalities within agreed timelines.
• Be a knowledgeable leader with regards to the commission and behavioural remuneration keeping abreast with market, practices and client trends.
• Present back to relevant stakeholders and forums on proposals that impact on capability strategy, design, pricing, and the income or costs associated with the delivery of the proposals.

Client Services:

• Provide authoritative expertise and advice to clients and stakeholders.
• Build and maintain relationships with clients and internal and external stakeholders.
• Deliver on service level agreements made with internal and external stakeholders in order to ensure that client expectations are managed.
• Participate and contribute to a culture which builds rewarding relationships, facilitates feedback and provides exceptional client service.

People:

• Develop and maintain productive and collaborative working relationships with peers and stakeholders.
• Positively influence and participate in change initiatives.
• Continuously develop own expertise in terms of professional, industry and legislation knowledge.
• Contribute to continuous innovation through the development, sharing and implementation of new ideas.

Finance:

• Identify opportunities to enhance cost effectiveness and increase operational efficiency.
• Provide input into the risk identification processes and communicate recommendations in the appropriate forum.
• Actively participate in the external and internal audit processes as and when required.
• Support the Finance team with the annual target and monthly production schedules.

Competencies

• Strong analytical analysis
• Extracting insights from data analyses
• High degree of self-motivation and can work independent of supervision
• Self-managing
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Naturally inquisitive mind-set, with a strong innovative tendency
• Strong problem-solving skills
• Ability to function in a multi-disciplinary team environment including Marketing, Product & Solutions, IT and Client Insights

Policy
We are committed to Employment Equity, diversity and inclusion when recruiting internally and externally. All appointments are made in alignment to our Employment Equity goals and we encourage people with disabilities to apply.

Skills Required