Senior Product Project Manager

Department: Product

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Cape Town - Foreshore

Reporting To: VP, Portfolio Management

We are seeking a Product Project Manager who will play a critical dual role within our Practice Management product portfolio. First, you will people-manage and coach a Product Owner responsible for our BAU (Business-As-Usual) products. Their focus will primarily be on stability, maintenance, and incremental improvements rather than large-scale innovation. You will guide the Product Owner, help translate product strategy into actionable plans, and ensure consistent execution across their portfolio.

Second, you will provide project management leadership across the entire Practice Management product portfolio, including initiatives beyond the BAU scope. This includes supporting PI (Program Increment) planning, managing cross-functional initiatives, driving process consistency, delivering reporting, and ensuring execution predictability across teams.

This is a strategic, highly collaborative role that blends people leadership, product alignment, and disciplined project management to keep our product ecosystem moving in sync.

People Leadership & Product Alignment (BAU Portfolio)

• Manage, coach, and mentor the Product Owner responsible for BAU products, ensuring clarity of expectations, performance, and growth.
• Translate the overall product and portfolio strategy into actionable plans for the Product Owner and their product suite.
• Provide guidance on backlog prioritization, requirements quality, stakeholder communication, and BAU product health.
• Ensure the BAU product portfolio follows consistent processes, reporting rhythms, and escalation management.
• Review BAU metrics, stability indicators, and maintenance priorities to drive predictable, high-quality delivery.

Project & Portfolio Management (Practice Management Portfolio)

• Partner with the product leadership team to facilitate PI planning, preparation, alignment, and rollout across the product portfolio.
• Work closely with product managers, product owners, engineering leads, and cross-functional partners to ensure projects and initiatives are effectively planned and sequenced within the PI structure.
• Provide project management for cross-portfolio initiatives (tracking timelines, risks, deliverables, dependencies, and communication).
• Lead or assist with ad hoc projects requiring structured project management support.
• Support recurring product operations activities such as:
  • Portfolio-level reporting
  • Roadmap updates
  • Status tracking and stakeholder communication
  • Meeting orchestration (scrum-of-scrums, program syncs, etc.)
• Drive consistency and standardization in product operations practices across the Practice Management group.
• Identify and elevate risks or delivery challenges early and partner with teams to develop mitigation plans.

Required

• 7+ years of experience in product operations, project management, program management, or related roles.
• At least 2 years of people management experience (mentoring or direct reports).
• Strong understanding of Agile frameworks, including PI planning, scrum, and cross-team coordination.
• Demonstrated ability to translate high-level strategy into clear execution plans and milestones.
• Experience supporting or working within a product management or software development environment.
• Strong organizational, communication, and facilitation skills (comfortable leading meetings and managing stakeholders at all levels).
• Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent projects with clear structure, reporting, and accountability.
• Proficiency in tools such as Jira, Confluence, or similar project and portfolio management platforms.

Preferred

• Experience supporting BAU or maintenance-focused product delivery environments.
• Background in SaaS, enterprise software, or legal practice management products.
• Familiarity with Scaled Agile (SAFe) or other PI-driven delivery models.
• Strong analytical ability to interpret product KPIs, velocity trends, and delivery metrics.
• PMP, Agile, or SAFe certification (nice to have, not required).

At Dye & Durham we strive to be visionaries! As a leader in our field, we ensure our employees are ready for the next challenge in their journey with us by offering internal and external training opportunities. We offer competitive salaries and a whole host of benefits including healthcare, pension, company discounts, wellness programs, and paid days off to move house or volunteer for your favourite charity.

Please note, if this role is based in South Africa, all applicants must have the legal right to live and work in South Africa. Proof will be required during the recruitment process.

Do you share our DNA?

• We ask how tomorrow can be better than today
• We are passionate about solving our customer's challenges
• Our ideas break boundaries
• We value different perspectives and encourage dialogue
• We take ownership and celebrate together