DescriptionThe Product Owner III is a member of the North America Underwriting Agile team, representing the voice of the customer and the organization through the delivery of business value. Works closely with stakeholders (business and technology), including executive leadership, to define and prioritize features and stories, ensuring alignment with customer needs and organizational goals. Understands customers' problems in detail and ensures the problems are clearly defined, prioritized and the squad/team is focused on the most valuable work for the organization.
The Product Owner III is the team member always communicating with stakeholders to ensure an aligned understanding of how the squad/team can provide the highest value for the customer through the lens of the organization. Collaborates with squads/teams, technologies, and architects across the organization to develop a deep understanding of the technologies and systems they support.
Responsibilities:
- Accountable for collaboratively creating product vision and alignment with strategic priorities with stakeholders
- Contributes to the development of the portfolio vision
- Communicates the vision as a product strategy to their squad/team and other squads/teams outside their portfolio & functional area as well as executive leadership
- With the squad, accountable for developing and achieving product level KPIs
- Manages product(s) with high degree of strategy, scope, and complexity
- Owns and maintains the product backlog and is accountable for its contents and prioritization
- Accountable for clear, actionable user stories
- Sets priorities and actively participates in squad/team quarterly planning
- Contributes to priorities for and actively participates in portfolio quarterly planning
- Sets expectations with stakeholders for delivery of new capabilities, features, and functionalities
- Participates in squad/team demos, retrospectives, and all other ceremonies
- Works daily with the agile working group clarifying business requirements, removing roadblocks, constantly communicating, and supporting alignment around product strategy
- Leads IT and business leadership to align development and business goals and priorities while working with stakeholders and squad/team to remove roadblocks to execution
- Monitors and maintains the product health
- Designs additional monitoring to support enhanced understanding of product health
- Proactively monitors impact of their product on others in the ecosystem
- Analyzes and reports on feasibility, cost of delay ramifications, economies, or other aspects of planned or potential changes to the product
- Drives alignment with stakeholders to understand the impact that their products' regulatory, compliance, and other industry constraints will have on other products in the portfolio
- Negotiates with internal and external squads/teams to set aligned priorities among squads/teams both within and outside the portfolio
Qualifications
- Advanced knowledge of Agile development methodologies as typically acquired through a Bachelors’ degree in relevant field (business, computer science, humanities etc
- 7 years in business, technology, or consulting with 5 to 7 years direct experience with agile teams
- Master's degree preferred
- High level of proven business expertise needed to set clear priorities for product and understand business value impacts
- Develops strong stakeholder relationships and influencing across multiple organizational boundaries
- Demonstrated experience leading varied audiences through the development of complex ideas, issues and designs
- Ability to lead varied audiences through census building
- Proven experience with Agile practices and expectations
- Comfortable with making decisions with some level of uncertainty
- Strong communication skills, both written and verbal
- Knowledge of insurance industry preferred
- Knowledge of relevant products and portfolio strongly preferred
- Strong experimental mindset to drive innovation amongst uncertainty and exploit market opportunities
