Associate Product Owner

World Bank Group

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Associate Product Owner works across the ITS Country Engagement unit’s portfolio of country engagement and operational solutions, geospatial platforms and services, and AI-enabled solutions for regional operations. The role translates business priorities into product roadmaps and requirements, manages priorities and dependencies across initiatives, and partners with cross-functional teams to deliver solutions that address operational needs and provide measurable business value. The Product Owner supports digital products and capabilities serving Country Management Units, Regions, Global Practices, and operational teams across the World Bank Group. Working across ITSCE, the role provides a portfolio-wide perspective to align priorities, manage dependencies, identify opportunities for reuse, and help ensure investments deliver business value. It connects business needs with product strategy and execution by working with business stakeholders, operational teams, architects, engineers, and delivery partners. Across multiple product areas, the role maintains visibility across products, data, workflows, and shared capabilities so solutions evolve in a coordinated, scalable, and user-centered manner. It promotes consistency across the portfolio, reduces duplication, strengthens alignment among initiatives, and supports informed prioritization and investment decisions.

Requirements

Master’s degree in business, a STEM field, computer science, or a related field, with at least five years of relevant experience; or a bachelor’s degree with at least seven years of relevant product ownership experience.
Demonstrated product ownership experience in ITSOE, including working across products, business areas, and technology teams to deliver integrated solutions and business value.
Experience managing product design, innovation, and lifecycle using Agile processes, with a focus on maximizing business value.
Ability to collaborate with business stakeholders to identify and shape demand, strategize opportunities, and drive IT product development and delivery across multiple business and product areas.
Ability to conduct advanced-level research and analyses and oversee complex products, platforms, initiatives, or processes with limited supervision.
Ability to work across multiple stakeholders, priorities, and workstreams, balancing competing demands and managing dependencies across teams.
Ability to provide knowledge-based guidance, coaching, and training to more junior staff and serve as a technical resource for other professionals.
Ability to identify opportunities for alignment, simplification, integration, and reuse across products, processes, data, and technology capabilities.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including proficiency in creating concise reports and presentations.
Strong presentation and collaboration skills, with a proven record of leading meetings and influencing stakeholders in multicultural environments.
Passion for innovation and staying up to date with technological trends.
Ability to learn quickly and adapt to changing priorities.
Personal ownership, accountability, and organization to meet deadlines and achieve agreed-upon results.

Nice To Haves

Recommended certification in SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager and/or SAFe DevOps Practitioner.
Experience working in fragile, conflict-affected, and violent (FCV) contexts.

Responsibilities

Own and drive priorities, roadmaps, and delivery plans across assigned ITSCE products and capabilities, and contribute to cross-unit initiatives and priorities across ITSOE.
Partner with business stakeholders to understand priorities, confirm requirements, identify opportunities, and ensure products deliver measurable business value.
Manage and prioritize product backlogs across multiple initiatives, balancing business demand, strategic priorities, delivery capacity, dependencies, and risks.
Maintain visibility across products, business processes, data assets, and technology capabilities to identify overlaps, dependencies, integration opportunities, and areas for simplification within ITSCE and across related ITSOE products and capabilities.
Define product requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, and success measures in collaboration with business and technical teams.
Coordinate department-level delivery across engineering, architecture, data, security, and user experience teams to ensure timely, high-quality execution.
Drive roadmap planning and release prioritization, ensuring alignment with business objectives and portfolio priorities in coordination with other teams.
Support unit-level planning and governance by providing recommendations on priorities, trade-offs, dependencies, risks, and investment decisions.
Work with peers across ITSOE units to identify and advance opportunities for integration, reuse, and alignment across products, platforms, data, and workflows.
Facilitate stakeholder engagement, communications, demonstrations, and feedback sessions throughout the product lifecycle.
Identify opportunities to improve operational effectiveness through process simplification, automation, shared capabilities, and better use of technology.