Taurai Saurombe
Product Owner
Johannesburg
Summary
Senior Product Owner adept at deconstructing and planning stories in order to promote improvements to product design and implementation. Excellent relationship-building, organizational, and project management skills with a focus on overcoming technical challenges and implementing successful resolutions.
Overview
13
13
years of professional experience
8
8
Certifications
Work History
Sub Product Owner/Business Analyst
BMW
8 2022 - 3 2024
- The purpose of the project was to develop an in-house system to replace a vendor application used in the tracking of Warehouse Management and Courier companies used in the end-to-end BMW spare parts warehousing and logistics in Europe
- The application interfaces with SAP to track the Logistics done plus performance versus contracted KPIs to determine monthly billing plus Bonus/ Malus amounts
- Leading development team and providing weekly projects updates to delivery manager and business head
- Requirements elicitation from the European business team and User Story creation for developers
- Tracking team progress and performance
- Keeping track of AWS security vulnerabilities and resolution
- Running Agile ceremonies
- Setting application strategic direction.
- Managed backlog prioritization, ensuring alignment with business goals and stakeholder expectations
- Implemented Agile methodologies to increase team productivity and enhance overall project outcomes
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to develop high-quality products that met customer needs
- Enhanced product usability by conducting user research and incorporating feedback into development
- Translated technical requirements into user stories, bridging gap between development teams and non-technical stakeholders
- Improved team velocity by implementing and refining Scrum methodologies
- Prioritized bug fixes and enhancements based on user impact, maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction
- Drove operational efficiency by automating routine tasks, freeing up staff to focus on more complex issues
- Generated ad-hoc reports to evaluate specific business requirements
- Provided technical support for troubleshooting analytics and reporting issues
Senior Product Manager
Absa CIB
01.2021 - 07.2022
- Enhancement of the strategic Host channel to replace legacy systems Pan Africa which were costly to run and maintain because of licensing and expensive process to introduce new requirements
- Improving the client onboarding experience and duration
- Managing and prioritizing the product backlog for the channel
- Agile Methodology used
- Running the delivery of business requirements on the Host channel and managing the BAU processes to address issues and implement continuous improvement
- Monitoring market trends and suggesting new functionality to keep Absa competitive in the Host space
- Aligning PI deliverables to the company's overall strategy and goals.
Product Owner
Absa CIB
02.2019 - 12.2020
- Development of a new strategic Host channel to replace legacy Barclay's systems which had to be decommissioned as part of the Absa - Barclays separation agreement with an in-house system whilst at the same time addressing some issues with the Barclays system
- Agile Methodology used
- Managing and prioritizing the product backlog for the channel
- Developing User Stories for the business requirements and ensuring the acceptance criteria were met on the developed features
- Eliciting market and customers' needs and serving as a liaison between product and development team and guiding development team to deliver on business requirements.
Lead Business Analyst
Absa RBB
11.2015 - 10.2018
- Authenticated Collections Programme - Implementation DebiCheck Debit orders in Absa RBB (Home Loans, Personal Loans, and Card)
- "Wagile" Methodology used
- EStatements Programme - Migrate as many clients as possible from physical mail statements to emailed statements
- Agile Methodology used
- Liaising amongst stakeholders to elicit, analyse, communicate and validate requirements for changes to business processes, procedures and information systems
- Acting as lead to other business analysts in the program and consulting with other business analysts on cross-boundary requirements and reviewing their work
- Actively participating in the life of the project throughout all phases and mentoring Business Analysts
- Advocating for the business whilst working closely with a variety of internal and external business partners.
Product Development Manager
Standard Bank
04.2015 - 10.2015
- RoA Essentials Implementation- This was a project to upgrade the functionality of the main internet banking platform used by CIB Corporate clients across Africa to add enhanced functionality and introduce Direct Debits to increase revenue
- Finacle Implementation - This was a project to replace old BankMaster core banking systems in Standard Bank's African subsidiaries with a cloud based Finacle core banking system in line with the bank's strategy
- Performing impact analysis for CIB TPS products and peripheral systems on core banking system implementations to ensure business continuity of CIB TPS products on the Finacle Core Banking System implementations across Standard Bank subsidiaries in Africa
- Performed As-Is analysis of current system and product landscape per country
- Provided business focused support and oversight to ensure that solutions were successfully implemented across Africa with minimum disruption to clients and the bank and
- Writing Business Requirements Specifications for changes required and then reviewing of technical solution documents to make sure they met the business requirements.
Senior Business Analyst
Nedbank
04.2012 - 03.2015
- Rest of Africa Core Banking Implementation Project -This project was to replace Teminos T24 core banking system with Oracle FlexCube core banking system
- Imperial Bank Migration Project - After the acquiring of Imperial Bank by Nedbank, this project was to migrate Imperial Bank clients, data and system functions onto Nedbank systems
- Business requirements elicitation, analysis, documentation and management
- Tracking delivery of requirements by the tech team and the prioritisation of requirements
- Initiating identified Continuous Improvement processes to cater for changing organisational needs
- Determining the business solution (system and manual processes) based on the requirements in conjunction with business and other project counter-parts
- Solution analysis and validation
- Completing certain functional testing- to determine compliance with the requirements and ensuring process alignment.
Senior Software Business Analyst
AllLife
09.2011 - 04.2012
- Running day to day maintenance and production support on an in-house ERP system and implementing new functionality on the Magnum CRM system to enforcement of business rules
- Developing AllLife's IT services portfolio as the business needs evolved, including participating in strategic decision making around the IT function, and playing a role in implementing and managing necessary development cycle and process changes
- Requirements elicitation, analysis and documentation
- Documentation of functional specifications, Test Plans and Manual Test Scripts.
Business Analyst
Standard Bank
03.2011 - 08.2011
- Implementation of a new Target Operating Model to use ITIL principles in all of Standard Bank group's internal service management and also implement a tool called Remedy designed to support ITIL principles
- Waterfall Methodology Used
- Documenting business processes (process mapping "as-is" and "to-be" processes) and standard operating procedures that support the agreed operating model
- Documenting job descriptions that are aligned to the operating model and business processes
- Documenting process training material that will assist in the implementation of the new and existing business.
BAO Business Analyst
IBM
01.2010 - 02.2011
- This project was for the Department of Health to roll out electronic health records for every South African citizen
- The project entailed designing the referral process and the content of the electronic health records
- Developing information models for business component requirements for each project phase
- Facilitating workshops for System functional and non-functional requirements elicitation and documentation
- Developing flowcharts and process maps
- Developing business cases for new system capabilities.
Education
Honours in Computer Science and Information Systems -
Rhodes University
Post Grad Diploma in Enterprise Management - undefined
Rhodes University
Skills
Agile Methodologies
JIRA
Requirements Management
Requirements Elicitation
Backlog Management
Confluence
User Experience (UX) Design
Basic Coding Skills: Java, Python, SQL
Process Mapping
Application Integration
Testing Fundamentals
Agile Methodology
User Story Creation
Product Backlog Management
Stakeholder relationship management
Wireframing and Prototyping
Business Analysis
Product Lifecycle Management
Product Metrics Tracking
Problem Identification
Software Development Fundamentals
User Acceptance Testing
Certification
CSPO, Scrum Alliance, 2022
Demographics
Male, Black
Personal Information
Date of Birth: 03/25/83
Languages
English
Timeline
Senior Product Manager
Absa CIB
01.2021 - 07.2022
Product Owner
Absa CIB
02.2019 - 12.2020
Lead Business Analyst
Absa RBB
11.2015 - 10.2018
Product Development Manager
Standard Bank
04.2015 - 10.2015
Senior Business Analyst
Nedbank
04.2012 - 03.2015
Senior Software Business Analyst
AllLife
09.2011 - 04.2012
Business Analyst
Standard Bank
03.2011 - 08.2011
BAO Business Analyst
IBM
01.2010 - 02.2011
Sub Product Owner/Business Analyst
BMW
8 2022 - 3 2024
Honours in Computer Science and Information Systems -
Rhodes University
Post Grad Diploma in Enterprise Management - undefined
Rhodes University
CSPO, Scrum Alliance, 2022
PMP, PMI, 2021
Agile Fundamentals, Absa
Agile Product Owner, Absa
Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP), IIBA, 2013
IBM Certified Solution Designer - Object Oriented Analysis and Design, IBM
Project Management Orientation, IBM
IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management Server Technical Professional v1, IBM
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