In the frame of expanding its position as the global partner for SMEs, Sage is globalising its functions. One of the key areas is to envision and build the market’s best cloud and mobile products. To be successful in that mission, we are looking for product managers who have the vision, creativity, drive and determination to define, design and deliver the products that Sage needs to win in the market.
The Product Manager – APIs and Integration Cloud – is responsible for defining and delivering of best-in-market product. Our mission is to win in the market with the world’s best products, marketing and channels. The competition is fierce, the customer demands more in functionality, usability and compliance – it’s Sage’s role to deliver products that delight customers to the point where they become customers for life. Ultimately, the product manager is responsible for the product’s P&L.
APIs and Integration Cloud is a suits of products: Sage One APIs and API Integration Platform. Sage One APIs aims to open the small business accounting product to provide the integration opportunities for internal and external developers. Currently, Sage One APIs are available in 8 countries. The adoption is rapidly increasing and there is a need to develop and lead the product. Sage Integration Cloud enables our technology partners to easily build and manage integrations with Sage Cloud products. The new API integration platform will drastically reduce development efforts and enable one to many product integration possibilities.
The Product Manager – APIs and Integration Cloud will work alone but critically with the other product managers, product marketing managers, accountants, customers, partners, industry bodies, thought leaders, UX designers and developers to create designs, workflows and functionality that will win in the market. This role is the opportunity for a driven individual to enable products to beat the competition and build the future.
We must achieve the highest NPS and recommendation of all vendors in the market. We must delight customers with apps they don’t know they need yet.
Key Responsibilities
- Define and articulate product vision and strategy
- Define, articulate and manage product requirements
- Lead product governance on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis. This is a crucial part of the role which ensures that the program of work associated with APIs and Integration Cloud is executed in order to achieve the KPIs set for the product: P&L, NPS, growth by region and by channel, and so forth.
- Deliver the product – be accountable for the delivery of the product from requirement to usage and in-life management
- Align product strategy with other Sage product and ensure adherence to corporate strategy
- Act as high availability product owner, with total knowledge of the what and the why
- Communicate product requirements and rationale with all stakeholders in particular R&D/technology, product marketing, marketing, country leaders, channel managers, finance, FP&A, country commercial leads, executives
- Be the voice and the mission of the product inside and outside Sage, outside to include analysts, customers and partners/accountants, and conference/industry event communications where detailed product knowledge is required (vs marketing content, which is owned by product marketing/marketing); provide very close liaison with in-country product management (Product Evangelists)
- Create, maintain and communicate product roadmaps on a monthly basis; perform and document change management in lock step with process
- Adopt rigor in all activity including use of tools, processes and methodologies such as JIRA, Agile
- Balance competitive advantage, customer need and pure innovation
- Potentially – lead a team of product evangelists
Qualifications and Experience Required
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required
- Significant experience in a similar role
- Strong technical background, preferably in API space. Should know how to code (desirable but not must)
- Strong grasp of product management in the software industry
- Experience of agile/lean product management principles
- Passion for technology including Cloud, Social, Mobile and Analytics in B2B and B2C
- A prior history of working well with internal and external stakeholders including executives, peers, customers, and partners
- Running product governance
- A unique blend of business and technical savvy; a big-picture vision, and the drive to make that vision a reality.
Essential Skills
- Listening, probing and interpreting needs of various stakeholders; stakeholder management
- Combining discipline, entrepreneurship, collaboration and deep knowledge of the product and market
- Must know all product management related skills (use story building, personas, rough sketching, driving the execution, requirement management, product testing and verification)
- Agile methodology practices. Product Road-mapping and roadmap management and tools
- Defining the product feature KPIs, measure engagement and feature success rate.
- Customer/partner listening and engagement
- Presenting product to an audience, in meetings, to stakeholders, 1-1
- Multi-touch communication (From QA to analysts to the sr. management to customers)
- Ability to work in a multi-cultural, global environment
- Digital and social engagement
- Creativity and believing in the art of the possible, balanced with the discipline to execute in a matrix organization