FRFS Product Owner

Company

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Federal Reserve Financial Services (FRFS) delivers a suite of payments services to financial institutions via FedLine® Solutions, Fedwire® Funds and Securities, the National Settlement Service (NSS), FedCash®1, FedACH®, Check Services, and the FedNow® Service. FRFS operates as a fully integrated organization with groups dedicated to operations, technology, product and industry engagement, enterprise services, and one focused on the ongoing growth and development of the FedNow instant payment service. Our strategy defines our future direction, seeking to offer a fully integrated product suite that provides speed, resilience, and choice in meeting the payments needs of financial institutions across the United States. Through our Enterprise structure, we strive to meet the needs of the marketplace for new products and services with speed and agility, seek to provide a robust and unified customer experience, and work to create career growth opportunities for FRFS staff.

We seek leaders to set the vision, strategy, values, and priorities that enable FRFS to achieve its mission. Our leaders must demonstrate a strategic, action-oriented mindset focused on intellectual curiosity, agility, accountability, and the ability to drive innovation through experimentation. To achieve our vision for a people-focused organization with a strong collaborative and innovative culture, we expect our leaders to champion an inclusive environment and demonstrate our values in how we work and interact with each other and our broader community.

Important Information

• Open to US Citizens, Green Card holders or Permanent Residents with at least 3 years of residency.

• No F-1 or H-1B sponsorship is available. Candidates must have valid work authorization, without an end date.

• This is a hybrid role and requires a minimum on-site requirement.

About the Role

Product Owners (POs) are organizationally aligned with business lines supporting Product Management and are members of the technology solution delivery teams. Product owners focus on business-based product delivery associated with Federal Reserve System technology service products and solutions. Engaged from strategic business planning to tactical product delivery. Responsibilities involve implementation of product and service solutions through business engagement, knowledge of business needs and perspectives, active decision-making, and technology delivery knowledge. Relationship management will extend to stakeholders and customers throughout the Federal Reserve System, as well as internally with senior leadership, information technology teams, and other internal/external partners.

Key Activities

• Work with business sponsors/stakeholders and IT staff to implement and manage the product life cycle. Specifically: o Responsible for ownership and prioritization of the technology solution delivery teams’ backlog(s).

• Ensures that business requirements and technical documentation are aligned with the business inputs by writing and/or approving business rules, user stories, integration dependencies, etc.

• Plays a significant role in quality control as the only team member empowered to accept stories as done.

• Advocates for business needs by applying a deep understanding of business processes, goals, and problems.

• Ensures product vision is communicated to the technology delivery teams.

• Accountable for attesting that the delivered outputs align with business requirements.

• Performs most work independently with general supervision and direction from the product manager, sponsor, and/or stakeholder.

• Consults with management in decision-making.

• Assignments are typically of lower priority, involving low to moderately complex work and analysis.

• Typically manage one product.

• Establish credibility and trust within the team and with business stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Relevant bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, or equivalent combination of directly related education and/or experience.

• Typically requires three years of experience in a combination of technology product management, or software development, and business line industry knowledge.

• Knowledge of applicable software development life cycle methodologies (e.g. Agile SCRUM).

• CSPO certification is preferred.

• Intermediate understanding of technology delivery and product management.

• Intermediate understanding of the business line industry.

• Demonstrated leadership skills, including in a matri