Digital Product Owner

The Hartford•Charlotte, NC

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Hartford is seeking an Digital Product Owner (APO) to lead the backlog for multiple digital capabilities within the Digital Enablement Value Stream. This strategic role is responsible for maximizing business value through the onboarding and adoption of advanced capabilities, with a strong focus on augmenting digital experiences & insights, scrum team efficiencies (development and testing), and reducing manual processes. The Digital Product Owner is a vital role that is responsible for creating and maximizing the value of numerous capabilities through strategic and tactical decisions. The Digital Product Owner sets the priorities for the agile team, represents the voice of the customer and links execution to the business vision. The Digital Product Owner works daily with the Agile Product Manager (APM), business leaders, subject matter experts and agile development teams to align product roadmap to strategic goals. This position is a great opportunity to work with a high performing team while learning new skills, applying existing experience and knowledge and delivering business value to stakeholders across the enterprise. While many aspects of this role are similar to the standard Digital Product Owner role, this particular role is unique for a few reasons. This role directly manages multiple products/backlogs and significant vendor relationships. Implementation is primarily through product integration and requires strong influencing and project management skillsets. This role requires a high performing individual who is a thought leader, able to balance multiple responsibilities and collaborate with multiple stakeholders across the enterprise. The ideal candidate will have prior experience as an APO and excellent ability to context shift. This role has an opportunity to expand accountabilities over time into more strategic planning.

Requirements

3+ years as an Agile Product Owner role in digital or technology.
Ability to connect the dots between business and technical domains
Proficiency in agile methodologies and frameworks (SAFe, Scrum, Kanban, XP).
Experience with agile lifecycle management tools (e.g., Rally).
Strong relationship management, collaboration, negotiation, and influencing skills.
Strong leadership and critical thinking skills.
Experience with ADKAR or other change management frameworks.
Understanding of digital processes, systems, IT infrastructure, and flow.
Competency in project management skills.

Nice To Haves

Preferred experience with working in a shared service and with procurement
Strong strategic thinking at an enterprise level strongly desired
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Knowledgeable about co-pilot and other AI tools and solutions.

Responsibilities

Lead product execution for multiple product capabilities leveraged across the enterprise
Develop and maintain a deep understanding of the “voice of the customer,” “voice of the business,” and industry/competitor trends, especially as they relate to AI adoption and digital transformation.
Provide perspective on portfolio vision and roadmap, balancing MVP delivery with long-term strategy.
Articulate product vision, roadmap, and customer needs to agile teams, emphasizing consistency of standards to maximize ROI
Guide teams in determining sprint goals aligned to product vision and roadmap
Aid Agile Product Manager in feature road mapping and breaking down epics into features
Manage and prioritize the product backlog, ensuring readiness and maximizing business value from features and enhancements.
Lead, coach, and mentor agile team members; foster an inclusive, collaborative environment that encourages experimentation with emerging technologies.
Obtain input and agreement from subject matter experts and stakeholders throughout the product lifecycle
Validate solutions and functionality against product vision; incorporate feedback from sprint demos
Partner with Scrum Master, architects, APMs, RTEs, Tech Leads, Delivery Leads, and business stakeholders to deliver right-sized solutions.
Drive business readiness and change management activities, preparing teams and stakeholders for capability adoption and transformation.
Monitor and share execution progress, including risks and impediments
Analyze delivery metrics for continuous improvement
Be an active participant in all ART ceremonies & activities, championing AI and digital innovation.