Senior Product Manager SLS SanlamConnect

What will you do?

We are looking for a Senior Product Manager (or Head of Product) for our Intermediary Platform.
This role reports into the SanlamConnect CIO and is accountable for shaping and evolving the core platform capabilities that support SanlamConnect intermediaries across Sanlam Risk and Savings (SRS) and Glacier:

The Senior Product Manager will:

⦁    Own and drive the product vision and strategy for SanlamConnect’s intermediary digital platform.
⦁    Translate intermediary and business needs into clear product direction, roadmaps and priorities.
⦁    Balance near‑term delivery of intermediary journeys and tools with longer‑term platform and capability evolution.
⦁    Partner closely with technology, data, design, security and business stakeholders to deliver resilient, compliant and scalable platform capabilities.
⦁    Drive adoption and effective use of shared platform capabilities across multiple teams and initiatives.

The role plays a critical part in improving intermediary experience, efficiency and effectiveness — reducing administrative burden, saving time, and enabling intermediaries to better support their clients in achieving their financial goals.

What will make you successful in this role?

As the Senior Product Manager for the intermediary platform, you will:

Product Vision & Strategy
⦁    Set and evolve the product vision and strategy for the intermediary digital platform, aligned to SanlamConnect’s strategic objectives.
⦁    Define and maintain a clear product roadmap that balances immediate intermediary needs with longer‑term platform sustainability and evolution.
⦁    Ensure strong alignment between business outcomes, intermediary experience and technology delivery.

Platform Backlog & Delivery
⦁    Own and prioritise the product backlog, ensuring capacity is focused on the highest‑value initiatives.
⦁    Translate business objectives and intermediary needs into clear epics, features and acceptance criteria.
⦁    Work closely with delivery teams to sequence work, manage dependencies and support effective execution.

Collaboration with Technology & Design
⦁    Partner closely with technology and design leads on the definition and evolution of platform capabilities, journeys and shared services.
⦁    Ensure product decisions appropriately balance functional requirements with non‑functional requirements such as scalability, resilience, security and performance.
⦁    Support solution shaping and design by providing clear product direction and decision‑making.

Adoption & Enablement
⦁    Drive adoption of platform capabilities by multiple teams across SanlamConnect, SRS and Glacier.
⦁    Define and evolve platform usage and engagement models that enable teams to deliver consistently and efficiently.
⦁    Ensure clear product documentation, guidance and artefacts are in place to support effective use of platform capabilities.

Governance, Risk & Compliance
⦁    Ensure product delivery meets regulatory, privacy and security requirements relevant to financial services.
⦁    Work with risk, compliance and security stakeholders to incorporate appropriate controls into platform capabilities.
⦁    Balance speed of delivery with operational stability and compliance obligations.

Evangelism & Stakeholder Engagement
⦁    Act as an advocate for the intermediary platform, clearly articulating its value to business, technology and executive stakeholders.
⦁    Communicate product vision, progress and trade‑offs clearly and transparently.
⦁    Build strong relationships across business units to ensure sustained alignment and trust.

Measurement & Outcomes
⦁    Define and track meaningful success metrics, including adoption, usage, time‑to‑market improvement, operational efficiency and reliability.
⦁    Use data and insights to inform prioritisation and continuous improvement of the platform.
⦁    Ensure product outcomes materially contribute to improving intermediary experience and efficiency.

Qualification and Experience

⦁    Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant field such as business, technology, engineering or information systems. 
⦁    Postgraduate qualification or formal product management training will be advantageous.
⦁    7+ years’ experience in product management, with a strong track record in digital platforms, shared services or complex, multi‑team environments. 
⦁    Experience defining and owning product vision, roadmaps and backlogs for platforms or enterprise‑scale digital products. 
⦁    Proven ability to balance short‑term delivery needs with longer‑term product and platform evolution. 
⦁    Experience working closely with engineering, design, data and security teams in agile delivery environments. 
⦁    Background in financial services, fintech or other regulated industries would be advantageous. 
⦁    Demonstrated success driving adoption of shared products or platforms across multiple teams or business areas. 
⦁    Comfortable engaging with senior stakeholders and executives, and making clear trade‑offs between business value, technical constraints and delivery risk.

Knowledge and Skills

⦁    Strong understanding of the full product lifecycle, from discovery and strategy through to delivery, adoption and continuous improvement. 
⦁    Solid grasp of modern digital platform concepts, including APIs, integration services, shared capabilities and reusable components. 
⦁    Experience prioritising and managing complex backlogs in agile environments (e.g. Jira, Confluence or similar tools). 
⦁    Ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear product direction and business outcomes. 
⦁    Strong analytical skills, with experience defining and using metrics to guide prioritisation and measure success. 
⦁    Excellent communication and facilitation skills, with the ability to align diverse stakeholder groups behind a common product direction. 
⦁    High degree of comfort operating in environments with ambiguity, change and competing priorities.

Core Competencies

• Being resilient - Contributing through others
• Collaborates - Contributing through others
• Cultivates innovation - Contributing through others
• Customer focus - Contributing through others
• Drives results - Contributing through others

Personal Attributes

• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence without direct authority.
• Commercially and technically astute, with a pragmatic approach to problem‑solving.
• Able to plan, align and drive outcomes through others.
• Resilient, adaptable and comfortable operating in complex organisational contexts.
• Collaborative in nature, with a focus on building strong cross‑functional relationships.
• Customer‑focused, with a deep interest in improving intermediary experience, efficiency and effectiveness.
• Driven to deliver measurable results and continuous improvement.

Turnaround time

The shortlisting process will only start once the application due date has been reached. The time taken to complete this process will depend on how far you progress and the availability of managers. 

Build a successful career with us

We’re all about building strong, lasting relationships with our employees. We know that you have hopes for your future – your career, your personal development and of achieving great things. We pride ourselves in helping  our employees to realise their worth. Through its five business clusters – Sanlam Fintech, Sanlam Life and Savings, Sanlam Investment Group, Sanlam Allianz, Santam, as well as MiWay and the Group Office – the group provides many opportunities for growth and development.

Our commitment to transformation

The Sanlam Group is committed to transformation and embracing diversity, and our employment equity plan and targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process. This commitment is what drives us to achieve a diverse workplace with employment equity as a key goal to create an inclusive workforce, representative of the demographics of our society as well as people with disabilities.