Product Manager: Colocation

Role Purpose

Africa Data Centres owns and operates data centres across Africa. Our primary product is colocation services to enterprises, carrier and cloud service providers and hyperscale customers. We are looking for a product manager to manage and develop the colocation products of white space capacity, rack & cage hardware, energy and our remote hands services.

The main function of this position is to be a business owner for the assigned Product(s), to architect, define and execute the product business strategy, in order to generate, grow and sustain ADC revenues & profitability. Through effective cross-functional collaboration and project management with all key decision stakeholders, internal and external, this Product Manager will meet the needs, values and expectation of the customer. This Product Manager will lead the overall end-to-end management (Product conception, design, commercial marketing, product marketing, product management and development & operations) of new and existing products & services and the management of the relationships with the various stakeholders and service providers for colocation.

Role Description

In conjunction with ADC Direct, and Indirect Channel partners achieve the revenue targets set out by the company for all Products and Services that fall within the assigned Product Portfolio. Manage and account for customer churn, apply corrective action where necessary, by driving a churn mitigation strategy through effective collaboration with the relevant stakeholders, in order to retain existing customers and mitigate price erosion on renewals. Custodian for assigned Products related revenue assurance, through ongoing analysis of discrepancies in process, systems and commercials, followed by implementation of effective correction plan. In conjunction with the relevant stakeholders.

Maintain Product Margin within prescribed business case commercials, timeously update and maintain product profit and loss (P&L). Conduct Product awareness and training through Direct and Indirect Channel Partners, so as to drive revenue growth in line with the set company strategy and objectives. Compile, interrogate and maintain a monthly up to date budget, sales and revenue report, for executive awareness and decision making. Participate in strategic customer interactions, in order to identify and fulfil deal closure, upselling, co-creation of solutions, to win business and drive revenue growth. Design and build proposed price model, business case and support initiatives to launch new price books for network and peering services.

Develops and execute annual product strategy for the network and peering ecosystem. Definition & development of the company’s network and peering products and ecosystem. Define, develop, coordinate & drive all product development, product integration & go-to-market strategy for product set. Responsible and accountable for developing and implementing the specific product and service’s sales & support documentation (Product brief, service schedule, battle card, cheat sheet, business rules, elevator pitch and proposal template), costing and pricing models

Responsible and accountable for profitability, gross margin, sales and revenue targets for the product and associated service.Set and drive sales targets for relevant products & associated services,

Responsible and accountable for developing all aspects of the product or service from cradle to grave. Responsible and accountable for product definition, market needs analysis, viability and product fit. Responsible and accountable for all new product plans, announcements, launches and withdrawals & manage the process of commercializing all new or enhanced products working through ADC marketing. Develop and maintain tender and bid management documentation for product and associated service. Keep abreast of all regulatory, technology and market requirements in the assigned Product(s). Drive and manage partner and vendor relationships. Provide information and insight on how price points will impact the market

Build and maintain relationship with all stakeholders that can impact product performance (Internal & external). Maintain product and technical knowledge by attending educational workshops, seminars and establishing personal networks. Identify and attend online courses. Collaboration: Collaborate with cross-functional business units and external stakeholders. Provide ongoing business support to cross functional team members. Mentoring and coaching of Account Managers and Pre-Sales Engineers, amongst other internal peers. Presentations of topics relevant to your area of expertise or new disruptive technologies. Provide Subject Matter Expert support to the wider ADC Group on topics relevant to colocation. Identification, analysis and evaluation of optimal partner relations to achieve ADC Product Strategy. Perform Ambassadorial functions for the company at various business events and exhibitions. Drive Partner integration and collaboration for respective products across the organisation.Work with internal and external customers to identify customer needs, POCs, case studies, complex and customer specific solutions to contribute to the improvement of our product offering. Proactively create and provide sustainable customer relations that minimise attrition.

Qualifications

• Matric: Essential
• Bachelor’s Degree/Diploma NQF 6/7: Essential
• Honours Degree: Desirable
• Certified Data Centre Design Professional: Desirable
• 3 to 5 Experience in a Colocation Data Centre: Essential
• 3 to 5 Experience in Product lifecycle (either technical, business analysis, project management, segment management, commercial, other): Strongly Desirable
• 3-5 Experience in Data Centre/Cloud industry: Essential
• 1 to 3 Experience engaging at executive leadership level: Desirable
• 1 to 3 years' Experience in commercial interpretation or creating a business case: Desirable
• 1 to 3 years' Experience in sales and business development: Essential
• 1 to 3 years' Experience in electrical and mechanical engineering for critical systems: Desirable