We are currently looking for a Vice President for Product Portfolio Management & Strategy in our Consulting & Professional Services (C&PS) business unit to support the business in achieving its strategic objectives. 

We have expanded our geographic footprint with a number of acquisitions and we are focused on our execution framework which includes five themes: transformation, profitable growth, client experience, operational effectiveness and a winning culture. We need employees who share our commitment to delivering exceptional client experience and who bring skills and expertise to strategic areas of our business.

What we will expect you to do:

As a VP Product Portfolio Management & Strategy, your key function will be to own and drive the strategy for the consulting and professional services portfolio and automation platform, to ensure market and client relevance, scalability, and adoption, managing the entire portfolio lifecycle from inception to retirement.

You will operate at a global level, provide support for regional geographies and the overall business strategy in the development, implementation and enablement of the global product/ portfolio strategy and go-to-market. In this capacity we need you to deliver on the following:

Develop and execute strategy

• Conduct continuous research to grow your market knowledge and develop market insights into consulting and professional services portfolio best practices, as well as formulate the global product strategies for product offerings in the portfolio. 
• Lead and oversee the development of the product strategy and plans within the consulting and professional services portfolio of products across Dimension Data’s  Business and Services Units and in alignment with the SI Services Product Management Head.
• Cascade the global product strategies for the consulting and professional services offerings into the regions and business divisions and take responsibility for the strategic planning and tactical activities required for product growth and management. 

Define market opportunities

• Act as market expert within our company with respect to the consulting and professional services portfolio. 
• Perform client, competitor and market analysis and identify opportunities to define the product vision and opportunities for new product development or enhancements to existing products.
  
  

Develop go-to-market strategy and planning

• Identify key areas (regional, industry segment, client segment etc.) of the sales channel which will enable Dimension Data’s growth in SI Consulting and Professional Services.
• Carry the SI Services Consulting and Professional Services revenue and gross profit target and drive the targets assigned to regional services, sales and client engagement teams. 
• Create, monitor and review the go-to-market plan in close collaboration with the Group Practice Leads, regional Sales, Marketing and Services leaders. 
• Ensure the go-to-market KPIs and execution plans are met and develop action plans to correct as necessary.
• Manage the SI Services Consulting and Professional Services revenue and gross profit target and get corresponding targets assigned to regional services, sales and client engagement teams. 

Manage platform automation, operations, and reporting

• Gather and manage the collective requirements and roadmap for the consulting platform improvements to achieve the business objectives.
• Ensure the automation of the delivery and reporting of all assessments and relevant offerings on the global platform and act as the interface with Group IT and all supporting entities to action and implement changes and enhancements. 
• Oversee the platform development team to ensure that development and operational standards are implemented and supported to achieve business objectives. 
• Working with the marketing dividion, maintain offering and platform marketing, delivery and support material and facilitate training with the regional stakeholders to ensure the proper adoption of the assessments, offerings, platform, operational and benchmark reporting and analytics. 
• Ensure the commercialisation of the offerings and associated IP within the business, and that the operations supports the business objectives
• Communicate the value of the recurring platform releases to the internal stakeholders, the client, and relevant third parties.

Contribute to product concept feasibility investigation

• Determine the feasibility of the concept for development and investigate new product concepts and provide input in expertise, feedback and design ideas. 
• Ensure that the Group Practice leads and business provide the appropriate product specifications for new products of product enhancements.

Manage and monitor product lifecycle 

• Oversee the definition, monitoring and management of the lifecycle roadmap for each product in their portfolio, including the platform, and ensure that current features and benefits are appropriately aligned to the product definition, market requirements and evolving client needs. 
• Oversee other practice and product managers to ensure product evolution, product enhancements, the introduction of new product features and functions and the retirement of certain products to ensure product relevance and competitiveness.
• Oversee the development and manage the scope and trade-offs where new products are introduced or changes are made to exiting products.

Ensure employee competence 

• Ensure that the relevant internal stakeholders are educated on new or enhanced product offerings to enable sales and delivery optimization and client satisfaction. 
• Ensure that all relevant employees are trained on the platform and product offering features, benefits and use.

Monitor product performance 

• Monitor product/ portfolio and platform performance to ensure ongoing client and market relevance through engagement sessions with clients and market research.
• Evaluate the operational metrics for consulting and professional portfolio sales and platform adoption, and make appropriate adjustments if necessary.
• Monitor the success of SI Services consulting and professional services GTM and product management strategies with clients on global and regional level and initiate enhancement of activities in order to close gaps and achieve improvement as needed.
• Identify and implement tactical measures to enhance and improve strategic programs where needed.

Contribute to portfolio pricing strategies

• Contribute to product pricing strategies, understand the full input costs and market factors influencing the pricing, and determine optimal pricing.
• Develop and maintain product pricing models, contribute to concepts about promotional techniques, and develop and maintain sales and distribution channels as appropriate.

People management

• You will act as a people manager by partnering with the organisation to attract the right consulting talent and ensure that your team is staffed according to requirements and that all team members are fully utilised.
• Ensure that employees reporting into them are engaged and understand their career opportunities, by taking responsibility for the development and training of their team members.

Here's what we are looking for in candidates for this job:

Key abilities required:

• Knowledge and understanding of IT industry environment and business needs 
• Broad understanding of the vast range of ICT consulting and professional services product offers
• Proven expert in managing multiple stakeholders at all levels of the organisation, but specifically at senior management level
• Ability to demonstrate high level of political and business awareness; acutely aware of organisational sensitivities
• Ability to interpret service concerns and identify issues in a form that relates to business and commercial considerations and can be dealt with by senior management
• Strong business and commercial orientation with a supporting interest in technology
• Highly developed technical capability across a broad range services
• Knowledgeable of the role of consulting and packaged assessments in the go-to-market and client engagement 
• Interpersonal skills with the ability to develop strong client relationships
• Strong presentation and communications skills and comfortable with communicating solutions to clients at a business and technical level
• Proven skills in persuasion and influencing management, staff, suppliers, clients and vendors
• Ability to successfully negotiate and influence to achieve objectives
• Ability to think strategically with an understanding of the operations of a Consulting services business
• Ability to establish and manage performance metrics 
• Prudent decision making and sound negotiation skills
• A strong client service orientation.

Key requirements:

• At least 10 years' experience in portfolio & product management within a large scale (preferably multi- national) technology services environment across a range of services 
• At least 5 years’ experience in sales, marketing, and go-to-market execution within a consulting and professional services firm.
• Proven experience in ensuring business requirements are supported by appropriate business and operational systems
• Proven experience in driving alignment to a common vision and working across multiple stakeholders to achieve results
• Experience in global roles, driving results in multiple local markets advantageous
• MSc or MBA or equivalent education
• Extensive experience in consulting services and assessments including product management and operational automation of supporting processes and tools

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