Senior Product Owner

The Senior Product Owner bridges the gap between product strategy and development. They must be a proactive participant in this role and responsible for the product backlog, organizing sprints, and are expected to answer questions from developers as needed. This role is critical for managing the product backlog and ensures the prioritization of user stories for upcoming sprints and is a liaison for the development team.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Work with Product Managers to understand and define the long-term product vision and strategy for auto finance offerings, aligning with company objectives and industry trends.
• Lead the development of multi-year product roadmaps, balancing innovation, technical debt, and stakeholder priorities.
• Oversee the product backlog for multiple agile teams or a product portfolio, prioritizing features and initiatives based on business value, risk, and dependencies.
• Drive backlog refinement at scale, ensuring clarity, feasibility, and alignment across teams.
• Serve as a key point of contact for senior leadership, external partners (e.g., dealership networks, credit bureaus), and cross-functional teams.
• Negotiate trade-offs and secure buy-in from executives and stakeholders on product direction and resource allocation.
• Mentor and guide junior Product Owners and team members, fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with Scrum Masters, architects, and developers to ensure seamless execution of complex, cross-team initiatives.
• Leverage deep knowledge of auto finance (e.g., lending, leasing, credit risk, servicing, dealership, collections, etc) to anticipate customer needs and market shifts.
• Incorporate advanced analytics, customer feedback, and competitive insights to refine product offerings.
• Define success metrics and ensure delivered solutions meet high standards for usability, performance, and compliance (e.g., CFPB regulations, GDPR if applicable).
• Oversee end-to-end validation, including coordination of large-scale user acceptance testing (UAT) and post-launch optimization.
• Identify opportunities to integrate emerging technologies (e.g., AI for credit scoring, blockchain for secure transactions) into the product ecosystem.
• Drive process enhancements within the agile framework to improve team efficiency and product outcomes.
• Coach and mentor less experienced product owners.

Qualifications and Competencies Required To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Required Experience:

• 5+ years’ experience in enabling digital processes, executing strategic roadmaps, and operating within an agile scrum environment.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer information systems, business, marketing, engineering, communications, or a related field.

Skills Required:

• Analytical and Design Skills: Synthesizes diverse information, generates creative solutions, and uses detailed design processes, leveraging both data and intuition.
• Problem-Solving and Technical Skills: Identifies and resolves problems with skillful analysis, shares expertise, and continuously builds knowledge.
• Communication and Interpersonal Skills: Exhibits clear oral and written communication, maintains confidentiality, and is open to new ideas.
• Leadership and Teamwork: Balances team and individual responsibilities, exhibits leadership, and actively participates in team dynamics.
• Adaptability and Quality Management: Manages change effectively, strives for quality improvement, and adapt