Product Owner

The Product Owner (PO) serves as a member of the APD Project Management Team(s) and is responsible for many facets of the teams’ workload including collaboration, intake, business value and prioritization.  The PO is accountable for working with business stakeholders to define acceptance criteria and ensuring the criteria is met once the story is completed.  The PO works closely with leadership and the Project Management team to maximize the value of the work being performed in any given sprint.

The PO function understands and represents the “voice of the customer” internally by communicating and working closely with technology teams to help create solution documents, sizing efforts and prioritization of projects on the roadmap.  The PO serves as a single point of contact with internal and external resources; collaborating across multiple functional areas to enhance distributor and customer experience and to ensure operational alignment, scale and readiness for distribution.

Work Experience, Education, Certification / Training Required:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required. Master’s degree, PMP, CSPO, and P certifications preferred
• Demonstrated professional level abilities in process management, effective tool usage, evangelizing product technologies and related application capabilities
• Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly, negotiate, listen, mitigate conflict, build alliances and achieve results
• Minimum 2+ years demonstrated experience in project management or support roles in customer facing environments requiring complex relationship management
• Minimum 2+ years working with integrated project teams using varied delivery methodologies
• Certifications in industry-related or discipline-related organizations are desirable and may substitute for some work and/or technical experience. (Organization could include Scrum Alliance, LOMA, SILA, American College, PMI, IIBA, IIST)

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

• Ability to build relationships and establish credibility quickly with key stakeholders internally and externally
• Sound understanding of software development life cycle and successful management of multiple full lifecycle projects is required, Agile experience is highly preferred.
• Meaningful experience and expertise working with front and back office processes and technologies, integrating business and technology, and managing demand and prioritization is required
• Experience/in-depth knowledge of business requirements analysis.
• Leadership and negotiation skills, with driving desire and high propensity to learn quickly and develop oneself
• Ability to communicate clearly, negotiate, listen, mitigate conflict, build alliances and achieve desired results using strong interpersonal and diplomacy skills
• Ability to work independently, with some management direction, and within a team environment
• Skilled at asking questions and professionally challenging to uncover important facts and information
• Has the courage to make decisions, but also has the wisdom to know when a decision needs to be escalated
• Builds consensus among diverse groups of stakeholders; highly skilled at facilitating resolution across functions and departments
• Has the confidence to engage and work productively with business leaders
• Strong team orientation and willingness to work to earn trust of the team
• Other related skills and/or abilities may be required to perform this job.
• Able to travel 4 to 5 times a year.

Protective’s targeted salary range for this position is $82,500 to $95,000. Actual salaries may vary depending on factors, including but not limited to, job location, skills, and experience. The range listed is just one component of Protective’s total compensation package for employees.

This position also offers additional incentive opportunities through an annual incentive based on individual and Company performance.