Associate Product Owner - Observability/Monitoring (Open to hiring at the Product Owner level)

Company Description

Why Wellmark: We are a mutual insurance company owned by our policy holders across Iowa and South Dakota, and we’ve built our reputation on over 80 years’ worth of trust. We are not motivated by profits. We are motivated by the well-being of our friends, family, and neighbors–our members. If you’re passionate about joining an organization working hard to put its members first, to provide best-in-class service, and one that is committed to sustainability and innovation, consider applying today!   

Why Wellmark Technology? Wellmark is building innovative, modern solutions using cutting edge technology. We are driving organizational transformation and business strategy by empowering our technology team to innovate new and elegant solutions to enhance the customer experience. Together, we are leaning into the future, owning the outcome, and driving organizational change to transform how we work. 

Job Description

This opportunity is focused on supporting the observability agile team and is a crucial part of the enterprise technology product team (ART). This is a team focused on sustaining highly available, enterprise-grade core technology platforms.  These teams will also be responsible for crafting strategic roadmaps and frameworks that other product teams can adopt and build upon.  With sustainability and reliability as foundational principles, the teams will remain agile and forward-looking, continuously anticipating and responding to evolving customer needs. This includes complex systems and functionality that ensure all value streams are able to run effectively and efficiently. Success in this role will require strong cross-functional collaboration and strategic partnerships. The Product Owner will work closely with various agile teams and will need to effectively collaborate, build consensus, and drive initiatives with key support teams across multiple departments. The Product Owner develops and conveys the product’s vision to the agile team, outlining and prioritizing work based on business value realization metrics. The ideal candidate will prioritize high-value work and align with our program's performance objectives to maximize impact and efficiency.  

Wellmark is in a period of change. We are rolling out formal product teams throughout the organization. This is a brand-new position, and you will help continue the foundational work or defining this product. Our change journey toward adopting agile principles, a product-focused mindset, and a culture of iterative progress will empower our employees to improve the impact on the healthcare industry. 

Job Leveling Note: This role can be filled at an Associate Product Owner or Product Owner level depending on work experience, skills, and demonstrated ability.  We invite you to apply whether you have the minimum experience required described below or if you have much more experience! 

Qualifications

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Previous experience running point for an RFP process including creating and analyzing 
• Prior experience with application monitoring or observability 
• Experience developing and driving OKR's
• Prior experience supporting cross-functional teams (either formal or informal). Ability to coach and mentor others through guidance or feedback. 
• Executive presence and comfortability influencing and gaining consensus among executive stakeholders.  
• Product development, product management, or similar experience that reflects general knowledge of the product development lifecycle (including measurement and management), strategic planning, and ability to collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams to create innovative, data-driven solutions. Understanding of customer (client and member) needs and ability to translate these into competitive products and services. 
• Prior experience in a Product Owner role (either formal or informal) operating within a SAFe organization, including demonstrated experience with agile and/or lean product management competencies of value measurement, optimization, and eliminating waste. Experience using agile requirements management tools (e.g., Jira or Azure DevOps). 
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to articulate complex information or solutions to stakeholders. Exposure to negotiation skills and techniques. 
• Ability to identify issues or inconsistencies; obtains relevant information, relates and compares data from different sources and identifies alternative solutions. 
• Demonstrated critical thinking, problem solving/troubleshooting and continuous process improvement skills. 
• Analytical problem-solving skills and attention to detail; ability to identify and approach complex problems from different angles and apply technical knowledge to policies/procedures.