Let's Write Africa's Story Together!
Old Mutual is a firm believer in the African opportunity and our diverse talent reflects this.
Job Description
To own and steward Corporate market-linked investment solutions, with end-to-end accountability for product management, technical marketing, development, investment alignment, governance, and commercial performance. The role is accountable for scaling commercially sustainable market-linked solutions, supporting growth and retention, driving margin optimisation, and ensuring products remain competitive, well-governed, profitable, and aligned to client outcomes.
Role context
This role sits within Old Mutual Corporate Investment Solutions as the Linked Product Manager, a revenue-generating product leadership role focused on market-linked solutions. It operates across product ownership, investment proposition, commercial execution, performance monitoring, pricing, product enhancement, client engagement support, and technical marketing narrative.The Product Head is the single point of accountability for the linked product set, supported by a Senior Product Specialist who executes analytics, reporting, monthly packs, MDDs, competitor analysis, and BAU activities, allowing this role to focus on commercial direction, product decisions, governance, stakeholder influence, and market-linked proposition development.
Key accountabilities
1. Product ownership & lifecycle management
- Accountable for Corporate market-linked investment products, from existing product strategy and design, specification and build, launch through to execution, enhancement, business casing, pricing, and rationalisation through to ongoing product BAU.
- Ensure products remain fit‑for‑purpose, market‑relevant, and commercially viable across market cycles.
- Scale commercially sustainable market-linked solutions by identifying opportunities to improve client utility, proposition relevance, and sustainable AUM growth.
- Own product specifications, pricing frameworks, enhancements, scorecard metrics, and product monitoring in line with governance standards and commercial priorities.
2. Investment alignment & proposition integrity
- Act as the custodian of the market-linked investment proposition, ensuring product features, mandates, benchmarks, performance objectives, risk exposures, and portfolio construction are coherent with the underlying investment philosophy.
- Translate market-linked investment strategy into clear, defensible product design choices, ensuring consistency between product positioning, mandate design, risk exposure, and delivered outcomes.
- Partner with investment teams and asset managers to ensure mandates, benchmarks, risk budgets, asset allocation parameters, and performance objectives remain aligned to client needs.
- Expand market-linked utility through proposition development.
3. Governance, risk & regulatory oversight
- Ensure market-linked investment products operate within robust governance, supporting committee oversight, mandate compliance, regulatory requirements, and audit defensibility.
- Own governance inputs to relevant investment, product, and risk committees, ensuring product and mandate decisions are well‑documented and outcome‑focused.
- Ensure that product changes, disclosures, and communications remain aligned to regulatory standards and internal risk policies.
4. Commercial performance & value delivery
- Be accountable for commercial outcomes, including profitability, net flows, retention, revenue integrity, sustainable growth, and delivery against scorecard metrics.
- Identify and implement opportunities for commercial optimisation, including margin compression actions, manager fee reductions, cost efficiency, and product synergies.
- Support growth and retention teams through client engagements, bespoke collateral, credible product positioning, and technical marketing content that links investment outcomes to client needs.
- Clearly able to link product outcomes with required financial metrics on an ongoing basis.
- Provide monthly reporting on progress against scorecard metrics, supported by product analytics, client analytics, cash-flow insights, and competitor intelligence.
5. Stakeholder engagement & leadership
- Act as the primary interface between investment, product, distribution, risk, finance, and operations for the product area.
- Influence senior stakeholders through clear positioning, evidence‑based recommendations, and balanced trade‑off decisions.
- Provide leadership and direction to supporting product specialist, ensuring scalable delivery and strong control.
Key deliverables
- Approved and maintained market-linked product specifications, mandate frameworks, benchmarks, pricing frameworks, product scorecards, and technical marketing narratives.
- Governance‑ready submissions for investment, product, mandate, and oversight committees.
- Clear, client-defensible product positioning, bespoke client collateral, monthly packs, MDD inputs, and support for growth and retention engagements.
- Implemented commercial optimisation initiatives, including margin compression actions and manager fee reductions where appropriate.
- Quarterly competitor analysis and product analytics that inform positioning, pricing, retention, and enhancement decisions.
- Evidence of sustained product relevance, competitive market-linked performance, profitability, and client outcome alignment.
Skills, qualifications & experience
Essential
- 8–12+ years’ experience in investments, product management, actuarial, or portfolio strategy roles within financial services.
- Strong understanding of market-linked investment products, multi-manager solutions, mandates, benchmarks, asset allocation, unit pricing processes, performance reporting, and risk frameworks.
- Proven experience operating in a high‑governance, committee‑driven environment.
- Experience supporting growth and retention activity through client engagements, technical marketing, product analytics, monthly packs, MDDs, and competitor analysis.
- Ability to balance investment integrity, regulatory discipline, and commercial outcomes.
- Leveraging AI to efficiently deliver outputs is a strong advantage.
Qualifications
- Actuarial (FASSA/FIA), CFA, CA(SA), MBA, or equivalent quantitative finance qualification.
Behavioural competencies
- Judgement & accountability – makes defensible decisions under uncertainty.
- Commercial mindset – links product design to profitability and retention.
- Strategic influence – aligns diverse stakeholders without formal authority.
- Execution focus – ensures strategy translates into delivered outcomes.
- Client outcome orientation – prioritises long‑term, fair value delivery.
na
Skills
Action Planning, Adaptive Thinking, Business Case Development, Business Requirements Analysis, Change Management, Commercial Acumen, Current State Assessment, Data Compilation, Employee Engagement Strategies, Executing Plans, Identifying Customer Needs, Knowledge Management, Oral Communications, Presenting Solutions
Competencies
Balances Stakeholders
Business Insight
Cultivates Innovation
Drives Engagement
Ensures Accountability
Financial Acumen
Interpersonal Savvy
Manages Complexity
Education
NQF Level 9 – Masters
Closing Date
11 October 2026 , 23:59
The appointment will be made from the designated group in line with the Employment Equity Plan of Old Mutual South Africa and the specific business unit in question.
The Old Mutual Story!