Technical Product Manager

JOB IDENTIFICATION 

Job Title 

Technical Product Manager

Level

Manager

Branch

HQ

Department 

Simu Department

Reports to

Head of Growth - dotted to Group Head of Technical Product 

Country 

Tanzania

Direct Reports

Yes

The Company:

Watu is an Asset FinTech revolutionising access to mass-market mobility and connectivity across Africa by bridging the gap between people and accessibility to flexible financing.

Our vision is to provide asset financing services for mobility assets (motorcycles, three-wheelers, and vehicles) and smartphones to ambitious individuals who believe that, when provided with the right tools, they can fulfill their dreams as entrepreneurs and prosper in life while supporting the needs of their families and community. We, therefore, have a commitment to Empower Entrepreneurs by providing the means needed to move and improve in their lives.

We have so far provided over 3 million loans across 8 countries and positively impacted the lives of more than 8 million people. We are also actively promoting financial literacy and independence, adoption of digital payments and increased regulatory and safety compliances.

How will your role contribute to company’s success:

The Product Manager will be responsible for leading the end-to-end design and execution of Watu SIMU’s product strategy, customer experience and aftersales optimizing customer and device onboarding, maximizing user experience and payment flows, overseeing asset protection and fraud detection efforts, driving workflow automation and developing post-sale support. You will achieve this through data-driven decision making, experimentation and collaboration with cross functional leads as well as through the leadership of your own team of Product Support and Aftersales professionals.You will constantly look at ways to make our products and customer experience better by coordinating with internal teams and external partners including OEMs, MNOs, Wallet Providers, Credit Reference Bureaus, repair partners,  device seller partners, and their agents to ensure seamless product delivery.

Responsibilities:

1. MDM/MIS Platforms Management

• Establish, maintain and enforce policies for device enrolment, firmware updates, unlocking, and deactivation across all stakeholder channels.
• Design, test and launch automation initiatives for the on-boarding process. 
• Liaise with OEMs and MDM providers to address platform bugs, integration issues, and feature customisation.
• Monitor MDM system usage, device lock status, and audit trails to ensure compliance with internal SLAs and customer protection standards.

2. Asset Security 

• Lead penetration testing and counter fraud experiments (eg MDM bypass, payment diversion, device tampering etc) and liaise with OEMs and MDM providers to address platform/OS security loopholes
• Collaborate with Data & Risk to design & execute detection workflows
• Coordinate with group technical team and Samsung on new security updates and ensure information flow seamless to the teams and dealers

3. Aftersales Operations

• Oversee Tier 1–3 customer support processes for device unlocks, returns, replacements, and SLA compliance.
• Manage escalation channels and the performance of After Sales Support Officers and other teams that deliver SIMU Customer Support.
• Drive standardisation and process excellence across branches and third party collection points via audit loops, error dashboards, and compliance incentives.

4. Technical Partnerships

• Serve as the for in-country facing stakeholders including MNOs, CRBs, policy regulators, technical integration teams, and retail partners.
• Offer technical support to champion co-marketing and partnerships initiatives with third-party players
• Liaise on long-term interoperability and feature alignment with key ecosystem players.

5. Knox Management

• Manage and oversee Knox platforms
• Championing Knox pre-installation for all Simu devices. 
• Engaging partners MNOs on whitelisting the Knox URLs

        6. Asset Security & Data Governance

• Ensure all device-locking workflows and data architectures strictly comply with the Tanzania Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) 2022 and TCRA security guidelines. You will be responsible for the technical integrity of the asset-protection ecosystem, designing secure, automated repayment frameworks that balance effective device control with local consumer protection standards

        7.  Cross-Functional Support

• The TPL acts as the central technical liaison to all business units that support the SIMU business, ensuring seamless coordination and alignment across the organization.
• Perform any other duties as assigned by the management.

KPI/OKR Guidelines:

1. To drive aftersales - service centres and collection points
2. Drive knox pre-installations
3. More fraud pattern alerts are active and embedded into customer life cycle management workflows (e.g flash detection, IMEI scrubbing, etc)
4. All courier workflows and field handovers are standardised and monitored via SLA dashboards
5. You are the go to product voice for internal teams and external partners regarding SIMU Aftersales.

Knowledge, Skills and Qualifications:

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, software engineering or any other related technical field
• 5+ years’ experience in technical product management, operations, or customer lifecycle management within fintech/BNPL, MNOs etc.

Skills:

Technical Skills:

• Hands-on experience localising product experiences across markets,
• Ability to translate operational friction into product and automation opportunities,
• Proficiency in SQL, Google Cloud/Workspace (Apps Script), and workflow design,
• Strong stakeholder communication — across tech, support, marketing, and external partners,
• High bias for execution, field visibility, and data-backed decisions,
• Familiarity with API integrations in the finance and telco ecosystem.

• Experience with Customer & Operations Analytics Analytics and ML modelling for credit risk or fraud detection
• Familiarity with API integrations 
• Knowledge of asset recovery workflows and device-level security

Behavioural skills:

• Excellent leadership and management skills, excellent communication abilities, and technical proficiency in the security field.
• High analytical mind for evaluating complex situations, identifying potential threats, and a commitment to ethical judgment and conflict resolution.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work harmoniously in an organisation with diverse business operations.
• May require working in various conditions, including outdoor areas and on ground.
• Must be prepared to handle physically demanding tasks and emergencies.
• Comprehension of  the business and market dynamics

People & Leadership Skills

• Must adhere to the company code of conduct
• Embraces, leads, and embeds change
• Must actively demonstrate the values of Watu
• Must lead, attend, and participate in team meetings
• Motivates, coaches, and develops others
• Clear Communication, problem solving and active listening skills
• Strong Ethics and Standards

WHAT WE OFFER:

• Be a part of an international, dynamic and driven team that has set their aspirations high and work hard to achieve those
• Opportunities to learn and grow together with us
• Competitive compensation package 
• Health benefits

Do you see yourself being part of the WATU team? Then please apply with your CV and a cover letter, we are looking forward to working with you!
 

**Please be cautious, this vacancy does not require individuals to pay for job opportunities**