Business Program Manager

Role Overview

We are looking for a Business Program Manager – Retail Digital Transformation & GenAI who can translate complex business challenges into scalable technology solutions. The ideal candidate will have strong knowledge of the retail domain, preferably within the Fashion and Lifestyle sector, along with experience in digital transformation and technology-led product development.

You will own the product vision and requirements, analyse existing business processes, identify gaps, and work with cross-functional teams to develop and roll out effective solutions. You will also use Generative AI tools to improve product discovery, requirement analysis, prototyping, and overall execution.

Responsibilities

• We need retail domain knowledge, exposure to digital transformation, F&L sector knowledge and experience if possible
• Strong hands on Gen AI tools and Tech exposure and understanding
• Able to handle Stakeholder Management & clear communications.
• Able to stretch and handle pressure, knows when to push back etc
• Own the product vision and requirements, breakdown the business process, analyse the gaps and also create requirements
• Rollout product, testing, UAT, enabling business
• Identify unarticulated scenarios and gaps in business approach, etc

Program Planning & Strategy:

• Develop and execute comprehensive adoption strategies for new systems and processes, aligned with business goals.
• Create detailed program plans, timelines, and resource allocations to ensure successful implementation.

Agile/ Lean Program Management :

• End to end right from Requirements phase till rollout and adoption phase and scaling the adoption phase
• Plan & execute the project right from ideation to requirement gathering to iterative development with user interface/demo to UAT /rollout planning & execution to adoption plan & execution and scaling the adoption
• Hands-on understanding on the business function and the solution (sub-platforms) and its technology implementation
• Plan the development operations where needed, bring in infra team where needed, build in test cases, etc
• Able to handle and manage RAIDS - dependencies, and callout clear assumptions and Risks and issues with resolutions
• Proactive in identifying these risks and issues and resolve them with both business and Product/tech teams
• Repeated issues should be root cause analysed and sought for proactive resolutions

Business Process Understanding:

• Leverage strong business acumen to dissect and understand brand-specific processes, models, and capabilities.
• Collaborate with Product & engineering/Tech teams to translate business requirements into actionable features and enhancements.
• Work with them for iterative development, user interface clarifications & user demo regularly to gather early feedback, regular governance, etc
• Plan the rollout with them and business team, with less disruption to business

Stakeholder Engagement:

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including Product, Operations, and IT, to understand their needs and expectations.
• Build strong relationships with stakeholders to foster a culture of change and commitment to adoption.
• Build and maintain relationships with stakeholders to influence business decisions, acting as a Subject Matter Expert (SME).(if not completely, but as partial)
• Manage communication across business interfaces, effectively addressing any obstacles for the product team.

Adoption, Change Management:

• Lead change management efforts by assessing the impact of new initiatives on the organization and developing strategies to address concerns.
• Monitor adoption rates and user feedback to identify areas for improvement.
• Ensure platform readiness for existing and new brands, including data setup and training content development.
• Track functional usage metrics and support for third-party integrations as necessary.

Enhancements & New Requirements:

• Conduct analysis of user feedback to drive enhancements for existing features and oversee new development efforts.
• Manage user feedback prioritization, ensuring early involvement in feature enhancements and development from the pilot/UAT stage.
• Act as a liaison between the business and product teams to minimize surprises/noises.
• Lead requirement gathering for new brands, including feature development, SDLC tracking, and business rollout plans.

Adoption and ensuring Business value creation & value add - Measurement:

• Establish metrics to measure the success of adoption initiatives, including user engagement, satisfaction, and operational efficiency.
• Analyze data to provide insights and reports to senior leadership on program effectiveness and areas for enhancement.
• End-to-End Adoption Management - right from planning an adoption of a feature to a new solution and drive the adoption successfully and scale it. Lead all adoption activities for new categories or brands, ensuring alignment with overall business objectives.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive project plans, including prerequisite preparations, checklists, and data uploads.

Continuous Improvement:

• Gather feedback from users and stakeholders to inform future enhancements and optimize adoption strategies.
• Stay current with industry trends and best practices to drive innovation in adoption methodologies.

Collaboration with each Sub-Platform Program Managers:

• Work closely with sub-platform owners to coordinate brand-specific adoption efforts, ensuring all necessary preparations are completed.
• Monitor and manage adoption tracking activities, ensuring accountability and timely execution across brands.

Data Management & Analytics:

• Confirm data accuracy and readiness for brand adoption, collaborating with analytics teams to derive insights and track performance metrics.
• Utilize analytics to assess adoption progress and identify areas for improvement.

Oversee Training & Support:

• Design and oversee training programs tailored to different user groups to facilitate effective onboarding.
• Provide ongoing support and resources to teams to ensure smooth transition and engagement with new tools.

Retail domain and business acumen - developed this over a period of building /driving solutions for various retail industry problems

Experience with legacy modernization, tech adoption, and program management for transformation efforts.

Proven experience in program management, with a focus on adoption and change management initiatives for the above said programs

Proven track record in driving + problem solving : Product development, Custom solution, Product Implementation, legacy modernisation, adoption and transformation initiatives.

Experience in building products /custom solutions, platforms for Retail industry problems in any sector - grocery, fashion & lifestyle, B2C, etc

Experience in past in BA roles or Product owner /mgmt roles, Engineering roles - to ensure problem solving skills and consulting mindset

Experience in technology implementation, Legacy modernisation, digital transformation, or business process improvement, Digital platform development in a fast-paced environment.

Experience in leveraging /monetising data for delivery excellence, program governance (in SDLC- Agile, Lean, kanban methods)

Also wear hat of product manager to use insights for delivering business value and realising value by validating product goals set to the business outcomes (KPIs)