Manager, Lifestyle Products at MTN Nigeria

MTN Nigeria - The leader in telecommunications in Nigeria, and a part of a diverse community in Africa and the Middle East, our brand is instantly recognisable. It is through our compelling brand that we are able to attract the right talents who we carefully nurture by continuously improving our employment offerings even beyond reward and recognition.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Manager, Lifestyle Products

Location: Lagos

Job Description

• To position MTN Nigeria at the forefront of technological innovation within the telecom’s sector, through the development and support of MTN-branded, and 3rd Party content, portals and services that will attract and retain customers, grow ARPU and create new revenue streams
• To manage the Lifestyle product and service lifecycle (from inception to launch to winding down products that no longer meet consumer needs), which includes enhancements of existing products and services.
• The Manager Lifestyle supports the Senior Manger to analyse market data and customer insights to identify profitable opportunities, make decisions, develop the roadmap and collaborate with strategic partners to deliver world class Lifestyle solutions that capture market share, drive optimal customer engagement and increase revenue.
• Define and align the Lifestyle Products strategy and business plan to the overall Digital Product Development strategy and plan;
• Execute the Lifestyle Products strategy and plans to optimize revenue and customer experience through valuable platforms and content;
• Keep abreast of local and global best practice, identify trends and highlight areas in the business that need further development to create a competitive advantage for Lifestyle Products and MTN Nigeria Digital; and
• Act as a product champion with the company, sharing the product vision effectively to senior stakeholders and driving agreement on product requirements and directions.
• Stay abreast of technology waves and customer insights related to content, multimedia and portal services
• Translate customer insights into innovative concepts that achieve business objectives while providing value to customer segments
• Integrate product development requirement with technical capacity such Portals and devices
• Balance and negotiate stakeholder requirements
• Champion new portals product concepts, as well as existing key products and services across the organization
• Own and maintain all platform and portal product and service business rules
• Support all business units with regard to product development and support
• Understand and propose direction for multimedia portal and services investments
• Work and drive to optimise mobile device, content and applications value chain
• Objectively and transparently identify and select 3rd Party Value Added Service Providers (VASPs) to work as MTN partners in providing innovative, essential and enabling MTN-branded content to maximizes stickiness to the MTN network. Ensures that process is fair and transparent, and in line with MTN’s ethics.
• Ensure that MTN provides the best content to its customers.
• Drive the 3rd Party VASP selection, sign-on and continuous engagement process with regard to content
• Managing alliances with various Mobile Content & Application Providers for deploying their content through MTN’s distribution channels, and on all platforms like SDP / Play /SMS / IVRS/ WAP/WEB/USSD etc.
• Assist the Senior Manager Content & Data in effectively providing guidance to the business concerning optimal revenue-share and commercial models that ensure that value is maximized across the content value chain.
• Ensure that MTN is the best partner for the best VASPs Work with management and other key contributors and stakeholders to manage the translation of the Digital Product Development strategy into a Lifestyle innovation strategy, roadmap and product portfolio mix, and communicate these effectively with the team;
• Manage and enforce all subscription business rules on HSDP, Play, charging and other VAS platforms. From access channels to product fulfilment.
• Manage the Lifestyle product lifecycle from concept to developing detailed product specification to completing a smooth launch and monitoring and optimising future iterations to drive optimal customer engagement and revenue from Lifestyle platforms (i.e. coordinate post-launch activities to validate that the product works);
• Work with internal and external partners across disciplines and platforms to identify, evaluate, prioritise and execute opportunities in line with the product roadmap, developing new and improving existing Lifestyle features/systems as customer needs change;
• Increase Lifestyle performance and grow the portfolio and its contribution to the overall revenue of MTN Digital, ensuring that MTN maintains its position as a world class leader in Lifestyle products and services;
• Collaborate with Solutions Delivery team to create strategies and plans by which technology will be developed or adapted to meet market needs and leverage opportunities;
• Ensure products meet and exceed the highest processing standards including cost, revenue, security, technical precision and scalability.
• Establish A/B tests, oversee successful execution of test plans and work with IT to ensure that all test environments are properly configured and available for each project;
• Monitor and analyse new Lifestyle related technology trends and innovations, make recommendations to management on their potential applications to the business and use data analytics to inform product development decisions;
• Ensure trends and patterns pertaining to customer requests and needs are identified and used to continually improve all aspects of product and service delivery (including systems, processes and procedures) and ensure customer needs and requirements are satisfied; and
• Drive best practice, continuous improvement and innovation of products, services, processes and procedures within the Lifestyle portfolio and across MTN Digital to ensure competitiveness.
• Manage Lifestyle applications and ensure content is collected, organised and displayed on the SDP, MTN Play or any other platforms in a way that it is relevant, up to date at all times and easily accessed by customers;
• Drive research on various platforms and document competitive social, monetization and game features and ensure that optimal content is sourced for various target markets;
• Oversee and ensure the establishment of systems and practices in order to comply with best practices, legislation or other regulations and guidelines around Lifestyle content;
• Lead the establishment and maintenance of Lifestyle quality/process standards that will enhance the customer experience and cost efficiency; and
• Manage the Lifestyle hierarchy, usability, and users’ requirements and needs.

Job Condition    

• Frequent national travel
• Long work hours

Experience & Training

• A first Degree or post-graduate Diploma in Marketing, Accounting, Business Administration or a related discipline.
• A first degree or post-graduate diploma in Engineering and/or Design.
• Training and certification in Project Management is desirable
• At least 7 years work experience of which includes:
  • 3 years in Product Development and Management experience in a Telecommunications-related environment
  • 2 years’ experience in advanced Project Management
  • 1 year in co-coordinating a number of external agencies and suppliers
• 1 year experience in dealing with senior stakeholders within an established organization Training:
  • Leadership Development Programmes
  • Product & Services Innovation
  • Product & Services Support
  • Portals, content, data and messaging
  • Project Management
  • Time Management
  • Telecommunications Mini MBA

Minimum qualification

• BA, BEd, BSc, BTech, HND or BEng.

Application Closing Date