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Datafin is looking for a Product Owner for a global logistics operation, based in Cape Town and working remotely. This is a senior, permanent role for someone who will be the single point of accountability for an IT product across its entire lifecycle, from inception through operation to retirement. The full advertised title is Product Owner (Remote); the short title above drops the Remote marker only to keep the headline short, and the remote nature of the role is stated here.
No salary is stated in the advert, which lists the pay as R Undisclosed, so no salary figure is shown on this page. The listing was posted on 29 October 2026 and expires in 19 days.
About the company and the work
Datafin Recruitment was established in 1999 and describes itself as one of South Africa’s leading recruitment companies. It is owned and managed by two sisters, Lindy and Bev Sollinger, and focuses on the Tech, Digital and Online, Data, Finance and HR industries.
The client is a global logistics operation. In its operating model, the Product Owner acts as the mini-CEO of the product: owning its profit and loss, strategic direction and roadmap, stakeholder relationships, service and vendor performance, and security posture on a continuous basis. The advert stresses that this is an ownership and accountability role, not a coordination or reporting role, and that it demands a customer-centric, commercially astute leader who pairs genuine thought leadership with strong technical depth, able to shape demand, challenge decisions with evidence, and own architecture and technical trade-offs rather than delegate them.
Role details and duties
The advert lists the following areas of responsibility:
- Financial and investment accountability.
- Product strategy and lifecycle ownership.
- Business stakeholder leadership.
- Service, vendor and operational performance.
- Security, risk and compliance.
- Customer and market insight and thought leadership.
- Technical and architecture ownership.
- Operating model, artefacts and governance.
The successful candidate is expected to thrive in a fast-paced, global logistics environment and to balance strategic thinking with disciplined, hands-on execution.
Requirements
The advert sets out required skills and capabilities rather than a single qualification list:
- Ownership and accountability: taking single-point accountability for a product and driving it forward independently, without micromanagement.
- Strong technical expertise: deep understanding of IT systems, technical architecture, integrations and data, able to own technical and architecture decisions and hold engineering and vendors to a high bar; a hands-on technical or engineering background is strongly preferred.
- Thought leadership: shaping strategy and influencing at leadership level, bringing original, evidence-based points of view on product, market and technology direction.
- Financial and commercial acumen: confident with profit and loss and total cost of ownership, unit economics, budget variance, and contract and vendor commercials.
- Analytical and evidence-based judgement: interpreting data, defining metrics, and making decisions on evidence rather than opinion or activity.
- Stakeholder leadership and influence: managing relationships across clients, leadership and delivery teams as a trusted advisor, negotiating and resolving conflict constructively.
- Delivery and Agile fluency: applying Agile and Scrum and disciplined backlog, capacity and demand management within a product operating model.
- Security and risk awareness: understanding security, compliance (POPIA and GDPR) and risk ownership as a core product responsibility.
- Communication and language: fluent written and spoken English; additional languages are an advantage given the global footprint.
The preferred experience and qualifications listed are: a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering or equivalent, with a Product Management Certification (for example Pragmatic or SAFe PO/PM) advantageous; five or more years in IT product ownership, technical product management or a senior technical or solution role, ideally with profit-and-loss or total-cost-of-ownership accountability for a product or platform; demonstrable technical depth in architecture, cloud, integration or software delivery, and evidence of thought leadership in a relevant technology or industry domain; IT experience in the logistics and/or warehousing industry; strong knowledge of the IT market, trends, technologies and best practices, with excellent presentation and interpersonal skills across diverse, global teams; and willingness to complete a Pluralsight Role IQ baseline for the IT Product Manager role and follow a targeted learning path, consistent with the company’s capability-development framework.
Where to find and apply safely
Apply through the original CareerJunction listing using the Apply button on this page, which takes you to the source advert. Apply only through that original listing, and never pay anyone to apply or to be considered for a job. This site only shares the vacancy; the advertiser manages applications and selection.
Practical tips
This advert rewards evidence of ownership, so build your application around products you have owned end to end: the profit-and-loss or cost picture, the roadmap you set, the stakeholders and vendors you managed, and the security and compliance decisions you owned. Give numbers where you can, such as budget variance you managed or metrics you defined, and show how you used data to challenge a decision. Mention your Agile and Scrum practice, your technical depth in architecture, cloud, integration or delivery, and any logistics or warehousing IT experience, since the advert names those. If you hold a product management certification, say so, and be ready to discuss the Pluralsight baseline assessment the advert mentions.
How the process works
Applications go through the original listing, where the advertiser screens candidates against the capabilities and preferred experience above. Expect discussion of products you have owned, trade-offs you have made, and how you led stakeholders and delivery teams without direct authority. Shortlisted candidates may be asked to present a product story, from strategy and roadmap through to service performance and security decisions.
Important information
Please note the advert describes a remote role listed under Cape Town: confirm the remote working arrangement, any time-zone expectations and the work base with the advertiser before applying, since this page is an informational summary only. Also confirm the role, contract type and terms on the original advert.
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