New Product Development Lead at Airtel Nigeria

Airtel Nigeria (Airtel Networks Limited) is a leading telecommunications services provider in Nigeria headquartered in Lagos, the commercial nerve-centre of Nigeria. The telco ranks amongst the top four mobile service providers in terms of subscribers with a customer base of more than 39.8 million. The company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce and enterprise services.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: New Product Development Lead

Location: Lagos
Job type: Full-time
Career level: Mid-Senior level

Job Purpose

• To lead the definition, delivery and in-life management of new products/ services for Airtel Business, the role holder manager will have full ownership of product management and development portfolio for all New Products (GSM/Non-GSM & and VAS).
• These portfolios will continually evolve as one initiative is delivered and a new one is identified and will form a core part of the individual’s objectives.

Key Accountabilities
New Product / Service Delivery:

• Commercial lead for the development of Airtel Business products and proposition from concept to launch, taking responsibility for conceptualization, scoping, implementation and operationalization.
• Develop new products and services within the distinct Airtel Business brand and ensure effective hand-over to the segment management team and relevant in-life product managers.
• Scoping of the technical and operational feasibility of bringing product proposition to market. Documentation of detailed business, process and functional requirements for product concepts to support product and proposition launches.
• Work with the IT and network teams to develop a working understanding of the technical deliverables required to meet the business needs and ensuring that any the proposed solution will be fit for purpose and commercially viable.
• Manage the trade-off between speed to market, cost and quality throughout the lifecycle of the project engaging stakeholders as required.
• Manage and maintain project budget, controlling and analyzing impacts of changes as the project proceeds through its life cycle.
• Working with appropriate Segment team and marketing communication teams to ensure appropriate ‘go to market plans’ are in place for all new product/proposition initiatives.

Product Management, proposition Development, Revenue and Margin Management:

• Lead all tariffs and pricing approvals
• Work with Airtel stakeholder community to develop competitively priced value proposition and packages which generates agreed margins for products and services.
• Ensure high level of customer and network experience for the segment.
• End-to-end management of existing SME products (GSM and Non-GSM) and value propositions to meet targets for profitability and revenues, as agreed with the Head, Product Management/ Development.

Business Analysis, Data analysis, Usage and Retention analysis and Intervention:

• Manage each in-life products and services on a profit and loss account basis, using financial performance data to make individual product investment and withdrawal decisions, proposing and implementing changes required to optimize performance through:
  • Customer incentives plans
  • Sales incentives plans
  • Upgrade
  • Cross Sells
• Analyze the daily, weekly and monthly reports, region wise and at pan OPCO level to understand the trend of customer demands and acceptability inclination.

Total Quality Management:

• Develop the standard for ensuring companywide operational readiness and go / no go decision gates for all product launches.
• Documentation of detailed business, process and functional requirements for product concepts to support product and proposition launches.
• Full integration of quality management processes and their effective deployment on a day-to-day basis.
• Use relevant metrics and measures to routinely monitor progress against targets and take appropriate managerial action to ensure targets are met or exceeded.
• Ensure that all product launches are supported by end-to-end definition of the customer journey from lead to cash to trouble resolution, in order to deliver optimal customer experience and first time right in all product launches.

Commercial Viability assessments:

• Work with Segment teams and all stake holders to develop financial appraisal model as a decision gate prior to product development kick off.

Market and Customer insight:

• Use market gap analysis and segmentation data on the Nigerian enterprise solutions market to identify opportunities for additional products and services. Present compelling business cases for new products, demonstrating return on investment.

Cross Functional Engagement and Support:

• Work with all relevant stakeholder in the definition, impact assessments and development of new products. Stake holders include but are not limited to IT, Networks, Legal and Regulatory, Marketing, Customer service, Supply chain, External vendors, HR, and regional sales teams.

Trade and Sales team information dissemination and Training:

• Carry out training needs analysis and deliver appropriate training to support every product launch.
• Effective interpretation and cascade of all new enterprise value propositions to the regional Enterprise sales team.

Effective Competitor analysis and Intelligence:

• Effectively liaise with all relevant stake holders in analyzing competitor’s activities as well as relevant market development and proposing pre-emptive counter measures which may be in the form of new product initiatives.

Team Management:

• Provide clarity of purpose to team members.
• Ensure effective prioritization of product development activities and alignment of such to the overall SBU and companywide objective.
• Coach, mentor and guide team members, ensuring high motivation and engagement.
• Put in place training and development plan for members of the team.

Requirements
Educational Level:

Must have:

• First Degree or its equivalent in Computer Science, Business Administration, Sales and Marketing or Business-related discipline
• Second Degree i.e., MBA or M.Sc. in a discipline related to any of the above is recommended.
• A professional qualification of Project Management, Business Analysis is desirable.
• Solid problem-solving and business acumen skills.
• Proven organizational development, performance management and employee relations skills.
• Must demonstrate interpersonal savvy with the ability to manoeuvre through complex situations effectively while building constructive relationships Ability to build partnerships in a matrix organizational environment along with providing coaching/counselling to all levels within the organization.

Major challenges:

• Driving exponential business growth across all regions.
• Limited IT capabilities of data management and segmentation of this segment
• Creating visibility of Airtel products and services.
• Effective delivery and timely communication of all schemes and product launches to existing and potential corporate accounts

Working Experience:
Must have:

• 8+ years of varied experience in Sales & Marketing with at least 4 years at middle management level handling independent businesses.
• An in-depth knowledge of enterprise systems is highly desirable.
• Relevant experience in Telecom industry is desirable.
• Product Management, Business Analysis and Planning, Product Development, Strategic Sales Management, Channel management, Key account management, Presentation, Business Case Development.
• Product Development
• Business Process Engineering and re-engineering
• Ability to use market research gap analysis to develop profitable products and services.
• Knowledge of the Nigerian enterprise solutions market.
• Ability to exercise "thought leadership" throughout Airtel and customer organizations.
• Analytical thinker who can plan/execute action to exploit business opportunities.
• Ability to present compelling business cases for investment in new products and services development.
• Utmost professional integrity.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.