M-Pesa Merchant & Agents Product Owner

Job Description

Role purpose:
The M-Pesa Merchants & Agents Product Owner is responsible for driving the commercial growth and strategic execution of the merchant and agent ecosystem. This role focuses on expanding the base, increasing revenue, and delivering high-impact features that enhance user experience. By collaborating closely with developers, account managers, marketing, and finance, the Product Owner ensures alignment with commercial objectives and delivers measurable results against key KPIs.

Key accountabilities and decision ownership:

• Identify and validate commercial opportunities for merchant and agent portfolio.
• Developing and implementing commercial strategies to drive the penetration of merchant and agent network.
• Design and plan agile product delivery of merchant and agent products following well known agile software delivery methodologies.
• Ensuring a seamless and intuitive user experience across digital products and services.
• Design and drive commercial campaigns to grow the portfolios.
• Ensure that merchant and agent are offered the best experience in their daily basis products.
• Collaborating with cross-functional teams including designers, developers, marketers, and project managers.

Core competencies, knowledge and experience:

• Commercially astute and strategically oriented – solid understanding of market, competitor, customer & business. Solid understanding of the merchant and agent portfolios; able to identify opportunities to grow the base of merchant and agent and define and implement these opportunities into reality.
• Strong Communication Skills – ability to ensure active communication with internal and external stakeholders.
• Customer Centricity – solid understanding of techniques necessary to correctly align the product offering to the customers needs.
• Strong Analytical skills – able to assess reports, identify issues, root cause, and recommend solutions. Expert spreadsheet skills a distinct advantage.
• Inspirational Leadership – develop and maintain a great working environment throughout all levels of the M-Pesa organization.
• Presentation and communication skills – written and oral (Portuguese & English).

Must have technical / professional qualifications:

• University degree in Commercial or Information Technology related areas.
• A minimum of 2 years relevant experience managing merchants or agents.
• SAFe Agile Certification will be an advantage.
• Knowledge and experience using Jira tool.
• Knowledge and experience in the financial services will be an advantage.
• Knowledge and experience of product development and lifecycle.
• Strong planning and networking skills.
• Ability to draft user requirement documents and business cases.

Key performance indicators:

• Timely delivery of agreed commercial roadmap.
• OKRs (active base, volume, value and revenue)
• Merchants & Agents retention metrics