Executive Head: Enterprise Products - Vodafone

The Executive Head of Enterprise Products will be at the vanguard of the company's transition from traditional telecommunications products to cutting-edge ICT value propositions across 8 diverse African markets. This group role emphasizes the formulation and oversight of a long-term product/solution vision (3-5 years), collaborating with operating companies across different regions for execution.

Balancing expertise in fixed and cloud technologies with an understanding of Africa's unique market dynamics is paramount, as well as sustaining and growing core telco revenue lines that are still essential for the group. Equally critical is the establishment and nurturing of strategic partnerships and alliances to design, develop, and market products and services with unparalleled scale and capillarity.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Innovative Leadership Role: You will lead the company's product transition from traditional telecommunications to cutting-edge ICT across diverse African markets. You will shape the future of the company's product and solution vision over the next 3-5 years
• Strategic Influence: You will influence and motivate markets to develop solutions, build compelling business cases, and unlock budgets. This role showcases your strategic impact
• Technological Mastery: You need to stay updated on mobile and fixed technology evolution, and integrate cloud solutions, cybersecurity, software-defined networking, IoT, and managed services. This role will attract candidates passionate about technology and innovation
• Collaborative Environment: You will work closely with operating companies in various regions to align and execute the product vision. This role appeals to candidates who enjoy teamwork and cross-functional collaboration
• Leadership and Development: You will lead a small but high-impact team of specialists, fostering a culture of innovation, continuous learning, and customer focus. This role attracts candidates who are strong leaders and team players
• Performance and Impact: You will establish and review metrics that measure the success of the product and partnership vision across regions. This role appeals to candidates who are results-driven and enjoy measuring their impact

Key Accountabilities and Decision Ownership:

• Long-term Enterprise Product Vision & Regional Collaboration: Co-create a 3-5 year product vision and work closely with operating companies in various regions to align and execute this vision, ensuring tailored strategies based on unique local needs, while still maintaining a shared group vision.
• Building Value Cases: Each market has many priorities, and helping them develop compelling business and value cases for product and platform deployment will happen often. There are often missing skills gaps and the candidate should not be afraid of rolling up their sleeves to get the job done.
• Technological Leadership & Mastery: Stay updated on mobile and fixed technology evolution (like FWA and LEO satellite), and ensure the integration of cloud solutions, cybersecurity, software-defined networking, IoT, and managed services into the product roadmap in a value-enhancing way to the operating companies.
• Stakeholder Management & Team Leadership: Engage a diverse array of stakeholders across different cultures, emphasizing teamwork, knowledge sharing, and close collaboration with local teams, while cultivating a culture of innovation, fostering expertise, and facilitating continuous learning programs with relentless focus on the customer.
• Performance Management: Establish and review metrics that measure the success of the product and partnership vision across regions, ensuring alignment with the group's overarching objectives.

The ideal candidate for this role will have:

• Matric – Essential
• Bachelor’s/Master’s degree - Essential
• An MBA or other master’s level post-graduate studies – Advantageous
• A minimum of 8-10 years proven track record in Telecommunications, ICT, consulting or product management with a minimum of 5 years’ management/supervisory experience - Essential

Core Competencies, Knowledge, and Experience:

• Thorough understanding of new product development methodologies, processes, and best practices, including but not limited to product lifecycle management and the ability to develop value cases to support the product development roadmap in multiple territories.
• Good understanding of fundamentals of product propositions including but not limited to demand creation, segmentation, market mix, positioning, targeting, and customer value management.
• Good general management capabilities with high proficiency in PPT, Word, and Excel, and experience leading high-impact teams.
• Good understanding of key products, and those of the hyperscalers and adjacent digital technology companies.
• A natural networker, adept at establishing and cultivating relationships that align with the company's vision and objectives.
• Experience in operating in group and operating company environments within technology and communication companies would be beneficial.
• Strong technical and commercial understanding and experience of mobile, fixed, and platform-based products and services.
• Knowledge of the commercial application of APIs in enterprise use cases