Head of Product

Position Overview

SFTxis is looking for a Head of Product, reporting directly to the CTO/CPO of SFTx, to lead product strategy, product execution and product team leadership for the new Sanlam app, which forms part of Sanlam Group’s Digital Engagement Ecosystem.

This is a critical leadership role responsible for shaping and delivering a unified Sanlam digital experience and cross-product engagement channel for customers. The app will play a central role in how customers discover, access, engage with and receive value from Sanlam’s broader ecosystem of products and services. The role will own the product vision, strategy, roadmap and execution direction for the app, ensuring that it delivers clear customer value, meaningful business impact and a high-quality experience within a regulated financial services environment.

The Head of Product will lead a multidisciplinary product function for the app, with Product Managers and Product Marketers reporting directly into the role. The role will partner with Product UX Design, UX Content, UX Research, Engineering and Data Science as part of the app’s cross-functional product and delivery model, while team members remain accountable to their own competency leadership.

This is both a product leadership role and a people leadership role. You will be expected to set direction, build team capability, establish strong product operating practices and create alignment across a complex stakeholder landscape spanning multiple business units and functions across the Sanlam Group. The role also requires a strong level of technical fluency in the mobile app and digital ecosystem space.

While this is not an engineering role, the successful candidate must be able to engage credibly on platform, architecture, integration and delivery trade-offs at a high level, and to understand how those trade-offs affect customer experience, speed, scalability, reliability, security and long-term product quality.

Commercial ownership in this role is shared with business owners across the Group. Success will depend on strong partnership, influence and joint decision-making across customer, product, technology and business stakeholders.

As Head of Product for the Sanlam app, you will:

Define and own the vision, strategy, and roadmap for the new Sanlam app.

Shape the app into a unified Sanlam experience and cross-product digital engagement channel
, aligned to customer needs and Group priorities.

Translate customer needs, business priorities, and market opportunities into a clear and actionable product direction
.

Lead the end-to-end product lifecycle
, including discovery, prioritisation, delivery, launch, optimisation, and scaling.

Build and lead a high-performing, multidisciplinary product team
, including Product Managers, UX Designers, Product Marketers, UX Writers, and UX Researchers.

Provide line management, coaching, performance management, and development support for direct reports.

Establish strong product operating rhythms, decision-making practices, and cross-functional ways of working for the app team.

Partner closely with engineering, design, data, and delivery teams to ensure effective execution and a high-quality customer experience.

Work with Data Science as a core cross-functional capability to support product insight, experimentation, personalisation, and decision-making.

Drive product discovery using customer research, behavioural data, analytics, market insights, and business context to identify high-value opportunities and validate ideas.

Set clear product goals and success metrics, ensuring roadmap priorities are aligned to measurable customer and business outcomes.

Own and monitor product performance across key metrics such as adoption, activation, engagement, retention, customer satisfaction, and cross-sell contribution.

Lead prioritisation across product initiatives
, balancing customer value, commercial impact, technical feasibility, operational readiness, and regulatory considerations.

Work closely with business stakeholders across the Sanlam Group to align product priorities, manage dependencies, and ensure the app delivers shared value across the ecosystem.

Ens…