Senior Technical Product Manager - Esoko

Esoko solves fundamental flaws linked to paper-based data collection systems. Our solution combines mobile and web-based tools for data collection and analysis, with field deployment and management, to gain insights into targeted individuals and communities. Our services include customized software development for digital surveys, to collect biometric and spatial data; web-enabled reporting dashboards; field agent recruitment, training and management; and verification and payment solution for social protection and agricultural programs.

Job Description

Overall objectives in the technology group

The technology group at Esoko has a primary objective to build and deploy Africa’s most powerful generic data digitization system integrated with channels for critical service delivery through a well-designed, robust, feature-rich, easy-to-use and scalable application. It is also the group’s objective to build a company and work environment that demonstrates African leadership in software innovation and contributes to a positive image of the emerging knowledge economy in certain key countries.

Roles available 

The team has mastered the tools employed in the development process and would benefit only from individuals who possess in-depth knowledge in product development process as well as mobile and web software development and are able to impart such knowledge and assist in building capacity. The role requires a person with interests in the following:

• Product management and using the agile methodology
• Scalability and Security 
• Product design and specification (especially on handhelds) including writing user stories for all sprint cycles
• Product Testing

Typical engagement and your role

• Build maintain and drive product road maps across Esoko product lines that is consistent with customer needs and business goals
• Develop user stories that captures customer pain points and product vision and goals for all sprint cycles. Ensure product backlog is consistent and up to date with product and business goals
• Work with engineering team to develop the product. Actively participate in stand ups, sprint planning and sprint retrospective meetings. Work with engineering manager to streamline and constantly review processes for best outcomes
• Conceptualize and describe products, features and user stories for the development team
• Constantly collecting key insights on user behaviour, pain points, and market trends to support data-based decision making
• Track and measure product goals/metrics and keep all stake holders updated with the performance of all Esoko products
• Attend customer meetings and present the range of Esoko products to potential clients. Serve as an excellent advocate/evangel for Esoko product lines
• Ensure all product documentations such as business case documents, competitor analysis documents, user manual, product articles, market assessment documents and user stories are up to constantly update
• Drive product knowledge across the company by organising trainings and workshops for Esoko staff
• Mentor and manage other product managers on the team
• Support CTO in driving product and technology vision and implementing strategy
• Support the sales and marketing teams to engage clients, describe    solutions to complex client issues and translate same to the developer team and monitor the development process to ensure it conforms to the client requirements
• Evangelize the priorities and vision within the entire company and with key customers through effective and powerful communication
• Act is the nexus between business, development and design
• Play a vital role in driving sound, data-driven business decisions on product such as pricing or go-to-market strategies
• Work closely with the business teams to improve our approach to translating customer feedback into product enhancements or new product development
• Establish and manage to well-defined and documented KPIs for the team 
• In collaboration with others, drive the development of our strategy on data and analytics
• Improve overall quality, documentation and process management, including specifications, UI/UX, user testing and stakeholder management
• Maintain comprehensive, up-to-date market and competitor analysis and communicate
• Represent the company’s vision, strategy and results effectively at high-profile events

Profile of the product and engineering process 

The product development process goes though documentation product features as user stories into a a product backlog. The product team with consultation with relevant stake holders prioritizes the stories into a road map which drives product development/engineering. The development process is an agile/scrum process involving bi-weekly sprints. The product manager and engineering team plan for every two weeks in a sprint planning session, this is then followed by daily stand ups and a sprint retrospective at the end of cycle. All features the have been developed in the sprint is deployed to customers

Profile of the Teams & Skills

The team is made up of 41 of the best software engineers and business development folks from Ghana, France and the broader West Africa. We are growing rapidly. These are young, energetic, knowledgeable and highly motivated individuals, equipped with diverse skill sets, covering the following areas; PHP, Java, SQL, SMPP, HTML, AJAX, JavaScript (Nodejs and Reactjs) distributed web & mobile applications, PostgreSQL, Elastic Search, Redis, Asterisk J2ME, Android, Apache among others.

The team structure:

• Web Developers:  Building the web application mostly in Reactjs
• API Developers: Building the backend services supporting both android and web applications and third parties
• Quality Assurance:  Responsible for testing and tracking bugs and application performance
• Mobile Developers: Responsible for building mobile applications. Android and IOS
• Systems: Responsible for networks and server infrastructure
• Product: Responsible for defining the requirements and specifications and tracking usability 

Required Skills or Experience

About you

• About 6-8 years of total experience, with at least 5 years at a senior level in solution design or product management in a SaaS or product company
• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field required; Master’s degree strongly preferred
• Highly detail-oriented
• Obsessed with user experience and customer satisfaction
• Highly quantitative – you are a data-driven decision maker
• Intellectually curious and an original thinker
• Process driven – the ends don’t always justify the means for you
• Empathetic leader – your EQ is as high as your IQ
• Passionate about working in a business with strong social impact
• Passionate about innovative technology
• Experience managing product teams in Africa strongly desired
• Have a consultative approach to problem-solving for clients
• Able to inspire and advocate internally and externally
• Proven ability to lead product and engineering teams based on mutual trust, credibility, and respect