Senior Product Specialist

The Senior Product Specialist is responsible for designing the products and services,

engaging with the technology department in the definition of the business requirements and in shaping the technical and functional specifications for future development. As such, the Senior product Specialist, must have a strong knowledge of the processes and dynamics of the post trade, the relevance of these products for the clients, and the importance that these products have in the overall set of services.

KEY RESPONSIBILIES

Core Responsibilities

1) Product Management:

• Conduct exploratory market research and user research to validate product

hypotheses, and undertake competitor analysis

• Use (and where relevant engage customer / user advisory boards), user

segmentation, personas and problem statements to inform use-centric product

design, development and ongoing product improvement decision-making

• Identify, propose and validate solutions to capitalize on opportunities and propose

sustainable product strategy based on specific organization contexts

• Adopt tailored communication strategies to manage varying stakeholders,

requirements and product contexts

• Link business strategy to product development using roadmaps and product

portfolio management, and learn how to use road mapping tools

2) Product Design and Development

• Analyze and adopt Agile framework(s) including Scrum and MVP frameworks, and

create a product roadmap comprising user stories, epics and themes that supports

product strategy and iteration throughout the product design and development

phases

• Apply the basic principles of UI/UX design to create user-centric products that

align with the product vision

• Liaise / support internal and external IT development teams in line with product

roadmap

• Select and use various testing methods to validate product design decisions and

respond iteratively to user feedback

• Use prioritization techniques to make strategic product decisions and manage

constraints

3) Bringing Product to market

• Align / support product testing with key internal (Operations, Customer Services,

IT, …) and external stakeholders. To include preparation of outline test cases, test

documentation, testing support, …

• Prepare overview of the product launch and Go-to-Market strategy (GTM),

elements of GTM strategy, product positioning and messaging, and product-launch

planning2

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• 10+ years of experience in the post trade banking or infrastructure industry

Years & Nature of Experience

• Capability to engage commercially with senior external parties
• Understanding of the financial market trends and practices
• Deep knowledge of the product and services of the “settlement” market layer, as well as of

the market and product trends, which also include knowledge of digital technology and its

application to the post trade products and services.

• Digital Assets: Proven experience of design and implementation of digital assets products

and services. Knowledge of the various cryptographic languages and DLT/Blockchain.

• Understanding of applicable regulations such as CPMI IOSCO and CSDR in tis multiple versions (EU, UK, etc.)
• Track record of having implemented previously product and services, leading both IT

implementation (from RFP to supervision of IT platform implementation) both within

custodians or preferably within market infrastructures and namely CSDs.

• Good communication skills (conviction skills and sensitive communication style)
• Senior presentation skills
• Fluency (written and spoken) in English, Arabic a plus.

KEY INTERACTIONS

• Internal Company staff and management, IT department Commercial parties as appropriate
• Identify appropriate product metrics and success criteria to continuously improve the product, and promote product and organization success
• Align product development and delivery timeframes to other functional units (Operations, Customer Services, Communications & Marketing, …)
• Training and Education
• Prepare product material (including appropriate user documentation, customer / user

advisory board presentations) for internal and external use

• Prepare / provide internal training for product management team, Operations, Customers

Services, …

TECHNICAL

BSc / MSc / MBA qualification(s) Ideally in Computer Science / Information Technology / Information Systems /

Engineering, and Business Administration / Financial Management 10+ years practical experience

PM1, UX Design, … Product Management / Product Development experience & qualification(s)

10+ years practical experience

PMP, PRINCE2, CAPM, AgilePM, Scrum Alliance, …

Program / Project Management experience & qualifications (in particular a deep understanding of Agile methodologies)

MS-Office (Excel, Access VB, SQL) MS-Office competency / qualification(s)

BI, Python, R Data Analysis & Interpretation

10+ years practical experience Capital Markets / Financial Services expertise (in particular Post-Trade