IT Product Owner - Sales Operations and Renewals

Job Description:

JOB SUMMARY: 

This position is responsible for ensuring alignment of the continuous improvement of business application solutions with business goals and priorities for one or more IT Products.  

IT Products support the needs of Vertex internal business processes and the users through integrated business application solutions.   

The individual in this position will focus on the IT Products that serve the Sales Operations, Renewals and Customer Success business areas. These include the solutions that support the opportunity to order value stream, customer retention, and renewals.  The IT Product Owner will work as part of an agile team to define and implement solutions leveraging SaaS applications such as Salesforce Sales Cloud, Docusign CLM, Gainsight and Workday, and integration between these applications to create end-to-end solutions. 

The individual in this position is responsible for delivering high quality solutions that meet Vertex needs in their area of responsibility from the point of intake and requirements development through transition to support upon implementation, relying on their deep expertise in business processes, best practices, and IT Products.   

This individual collaborates with cross-functional teams of IT Product Managers, IT Product Owners, Enterprise and Solution Architects, Compliance, development and support teams, and various stakeholders to accomplish objectives.   

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES: 

Product Discovery, Development and Lifecycle Methodology: 

• Develops understanding of the business processes supported by the team’s products. 

• Develops, refines, owns, and prioritizes product backlog items considering value and risk. 

• Ensures the product vision is well-defined. 

• Defines product requirements, user stories, design specifications and acceptance criteria, and to effectively manage the product backlog. 

• Works with development team to review requirements, provide clarification and guidance during implementation. 

• Provides transparency into product roadmaps and release plans. 

• Manages change to the product and assists with assessing impacts to value, releases, budget, and schedules from evolving scope. 

• Defines test plans and scenarios and collaborates across IT and the business to define and execute test plans to ensure product quality. 

• Supports production implementation of new products and features, including participation in knowledge transfer to the support team. 

• Adopts agile methods and tools within the SAFe agile framework as implemented within Vertex. 

• Participates in Agile ceremonies as appropriate. 

Stakeholder Collaboration and Adoption: 

• Engages with key stakeholders to gather and prioritize needs. 

• Maintains open communication and fosters strong relationships with business stakeholders and IT colleagues to support effective collaboration in service to Vertex objectives and priorities. 

• Drive the adoption of new products and features by supporting user training and change management efforts. 

Optimize Product Performance: 

• Continuously monitors and evaluates performance and stability of our business application solutions, in partnership with the Operations and Support team, to identify areas of improvement. 

• Regularly analyzes user feedback, usage data, and support and performance trends to identify opportunities and recommendations for product enhancement and optimization. 

• In partnership with Enterprise Architecture, ensures that the business application portfolio for their product area is fit for purpose and rationalized to eliminate redundant or unneeded applications and functionality, to attain greater efficiency, reduce cost and unnecessary technical complexity. 

Optimize IT Performance: 

• Provides input on or develops delivery processes, and procedures in coordination with other leaders to deliver improved service and greater cost efficiency. 

• Provides input to forecasting, planning, and budgeting processes for their area of responsibility. 

• Participates in other projects or duties as assigned.  

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES: 

• Demonstrates business acumen, understanding of business processes, and knowledge of IT processes and standards. 

• Understands how to support Vertex business strategy through appropriately prioritizing, planning, and delivering on business