Faith Tembe
Senior Product Portfolio Manager
Paulshof
Summary
Experienced product portfolio manager with excellent operational and project management skills. Adept at effectively communicating with technology, executive, and business audiences. Over 7 years of experience in successfully growing new businesses from the ground up, focusing on innovation in the Sub-Saharan African markets. Skilled in collaborating with cross-functional teams to consistently deliver results and adapt to changing market conditions. Excels in product development, strategic planning, and demonstrates reliability and flexibility. Proven track record of analyzing market trends and effectively managing risk.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Product Portfolio Manager (Insurance)
FNB International
08.2023 - Current
- Driving product awareness and visibility.
- Channel expansion, business case development, and implementation.
- Budget planning and management across seven countries.
- Strategy planning and tracking.
- Stakeholder management (Sales, Marketing, Ops, Finance, Legal & Compliance, and External Partners).
- Identify opportunities to expand the range of products and services offered, as well as channel expansion.
- Negotiate with potential partners in order to obtain mutually beneficial, signed contracts.
- Responsible for market expansion, business case memos, and board approvals.
- Analyze new potential insurance corridors.
- Collaborated with C-level executives and stakeholders to develop long-term financial plans.
- Managed diverse portfolios, ensuring proper diversification and alignment with client objectives.
- Streamlined reporting procedures for greater efficiency in communicating portfolio updates to clients.
Senior Market Development Manager
Mukuru (Fintech)
10.2021 - 07.2023
- Partnered closely with product development (third-parties) teams to ensure alignment between marketing efforts and product features or improvements.
- Created engaging content for social media platforms to increase brand visibility and consumer engagement.
- Presented regular reports on market development activities, offering valuable insights for senior management decision-making processes.
- Contributed to the creation of annual budgets for market development initiatives, ensuring optimal allocation of resources for maximum ROI potential.
- Increased market share by identifying and targeting new customer segments through comprehensive market research.
- Launched successful pilot programs in new territories by developing tailored strategies based on local market needs.
- Conducted competitor analysis, enabling the company to stay ahead of emerging trends and maintain a competitive edge.
- Established strong relationships with key industry influencers, enhancing the company''s reputation within the sector.
- Established, initiated and optimized business development strategies based on company targets, product specifications, market data, and budget factors.
- Streamlined internal processes by implementing project management tools, reducing inefficiencies and improving overall productivity.
- Launched new products and managed the P&L performance.
- Negotiations with third parties on viable commercials.
Product Manager (Insurance)
First National Bank
12.2018 - 09.2021
- Managed full product lifecycle, from ideation through post-launch support, ensuring consistent quality control measures were in place.
- Coordinated project planning and execution with team members and team leads.
- Communicated effectively with team members to deliver updates on project milestones and deadlines.
- Optimized product performance with data-driven analysis and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Maintained positive vendor relations to build strong partnerships.
- Reviewed new opportunities to drive business strategy at planning sessions.
- Liaised with clients to better understand business needs and current market landscape.
- Launched successful products by conducting thorough market research and identifying customer needs.
- Analyzed metrics to measure product performance.
- Developed comprehensive go-to-market strategies, ensuring successful product launches and brand positioning.
- Directed planning and budgeting efforts.
- Developed comprehensive product roadmaps, setting clear vision and direction for development team.
- Drove innovation within product line, identifying and pursuing opportunities for new features and enhancements.
- Platform business case management.
- Channel and product management strategies.
Product Manager (Rest of Africa Retail Insurance)
First National Bank
03.2018 - 11.2019
- Systems Development
- Process Mapping
- Budget Planning
- Stakeholder Management & Partner Management
- Business Development (Revenue Negotiations)
- Operational Management
- Product and Industry Research
- Risk and Compliance Management
- Business Monthly Financial Reporting
- New Product Launches (Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland)
- Develop Business requirements and Assist with Product Design Specifications
- Develop and Management of Retail Insurance Strategy (Ghana, Lesotho)
- Campaign Planning and Alternative Channel Business Case Development
- Product Awareness
- Monitoring Product Progress and Life Cycle
- Stakeholder Management
- Partner Management
- Product and Industry Research
- Product Initiation and Business Development
- New Product Implementation
- Assist with product design specifications and business requirements
- Assist with project and program management responsibilities
- Assist with process mapping initiatives
- Product Awareness
- Monitoring Product Progress and Life Cycle
Programme Manager
Standard Bank Incubator
01.2017 - 02.2018
- Developed a new strategy to support youth owned SME's
- Types of programmes i managed include -accelerator programmes, hackathons and boot-camps
- Developed a women in technology business development strategy
- Coordinated the first women in technology conference for which housed over 200 women
- Stakeholder engagement
- Managed access to market opportunities for SME's in the incubator programmes.
- Arranged showcase/pitch events for SME's that have completed acceleration programmes, by inviting relevant stakeholders
- Business Development
- Incubator brand management.
- Contributed towards written publications for the Incubator
- Spoke at various conferences and events on behalf of the portfolio.
Innovation Lab/Open Innovation Coordinator
Standard Bank Group
02.2015 - 10.2015
- I worked directly with product teams.
- Understood each project's and team's needs with regard to their innovation journey.
- Facilitated design-thinking sessions.
- Designed the Innovation Lab Playbook.
- Worked collaboratively with lean coaches and design managers to provide innovation teams with access to the latest tools and materials.
- Worked with SBSA stakeholders to ensure a seamless transition of each innovation project to the main business.
- Engaged with external partners to bring them into our open innovation network.
- Worked collaboratively with teams within SBSA to connect them with relevant external partners.
- Process optimization.
- Improved the business confirmation, bank statement, and credit process using a defined methodology.
- Facilitated cross-departmental workshops to identify process improvements, leading to more efficient workflow and reduced bottlenecks.
- Strategy implementation.
- Contributing to designing solutions based on customer data collected.
- Ensuring compliance with all applicable legislative requirements.
- Applied project management approaches.
- Providing coaching support to employees.
Education
MASTERS IN MANAGEMENT - ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION
WITS BUSINESS SCHOOL
Johannesburg 01.2017 - 1 2018
BCOM HONOURS - INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG
01.2011 - 1 2013
BCOM - INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG
01.2011 - 1 2013
MATRIC - undefined
ENDENVALE HIGH SCHOOL
BUSINESS CERTIFICATE - CIMA
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRAINING COLLEGE
LEADING INNOVATION PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE - undefined
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Bachelor of Science - Post Graduate Diploma in Business Admistration
Gordon Institue of Business Science (GIBS)
Pretoria, South Africa02-2026
Skills
- Market research
- Consistent professionalism
- Problem-solving
- Team Player
- Result Oriented
- Leadership
- Marketing Brief Development
- Strategy Development
- Project Management
- Competitor & Gap Analysis
- Systems Development
- Budget Planning
- Stakeholder Management
- Partner Management
- Business Development
- Operational Management
- Product and Industry Research
- Business Monthly Financial Reporting
- Monitoring Product Progress and Life Cycle
- New Product Initiation & Implementation
Accomplishments
- Guest judge at the Girlcode annual Hackathon, 2017-01-01
- Guest judge at the National Public Service Hackathon, 2018-01-01
- Recognized as one of the top achievers in the department of Industrial Psychology and People Management, 2013-01-01
- Certificate from Golden Key International Honoring Society, 2013-01-01
- Nav-wellness made it to top 3 R&C innovators awards, 2023-01-01
Timeline
Senior Product Portfolio Manager (Insurance)
FNB International
08.2023 - Current
Senior Market Development Manager
Mukuru (Fintech)
10.2021 - 07.2023
Product Manager (Insurance)
First National Bank
12.2018 - 09.2021
Product Manager (Rest of Africa Retail Insurance)
First National Bank
03.2018 - 11.2019
Programme Manager
Standard Bank Incubator
01.2017 - 02.2018
MASTERS IN MANAGEMENT - ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION
WITS BUSINESS SCHOOL
01.2017 - 1 2018
Innovation Lab/Open Innovation Coordinator
Standard Bank Group
02.2015 - 10.2015
BCOM HONOURS - INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG
01.2011 - 1 2013
BCOM - INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG
01.2011 - 1 2013
MATRIC - undefined
ENDENVALE HIGH SCHOOL
BUSINESS CERTIFICATE - CIMA
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRAINING COLLEGE
LEADING INNOVATION PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE - undefined
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Bachelor of Science - Post Graduate Diploma in Business Admistration
Gordon Institue of Business Science (GIBS)
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