Director - Structured Finance Product Owner/ Agile Product Lead - New York

Fitch Group • New York, NY

1d • $130,000 - $170,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

As one of the world’s top three credit ratings agencies, Fitch Ratings plays a critical role in global capital markets by providing supplementary credit analysis, ratings, research, and commentary to financial market participants. For over 100 years, Fitch Ratings has been creating value for global markets through its rigorous analysis and deep expertise, which have resulted in a variety of market leading tools, methodologies, indices, research, and analytical products. Fitch Ratings is part of Fitch Group, a global leader in financial information services with operations in more than 30 countries, which also includes Fitch Solutions. With dual headquarters in London and New York, Fitch Group is owned by Hearst.
At Fitch Ratings, credit analysts play a pivotal role in moving markets, as quality credit analysis is the lifeblood of our organization. With a legacy of over a century, our unique approach to credit ratings offers unmatched opportunities for professional growth. Embracing a “challenger mindset,” you'll join a team dedicated to innovating service to our clients. Our people-driven analysis thrives on collaboration across all levels and locations, surpassing traditional financial modeling. Lastly, as part of our global community, you'll find inspiration, challenge, and support, with ample opportunities for visibility and influence in the global financial marketplace.
Fitch Ratings is currently seeking a Director – Structured Finance Product Owner / Agile Product Lead based out of our New York office.
Ratings Workflow Solutions (RWS), part of the Ratings COO organization, is a cross-functional, agile team responsible for designing, implementing, and optimizing applications and workflows used by our Ratings staff. Our goal is to streamline processes, mitigate risks, and advance standardization and automation across Fitch’s ratings platforms and workflows. The team partners closely with analytical, business, and technology staff to ensure our systems support the needs of the Ratings organization and enable our staff to work effectively.
We’re looking for an experienced and dynamic Product Owner to lead an agile delivery team supporting Fitch’s Structured Finance credit analysts and their internal workflows. In this role, you’ll lead the squad, work closely with different groups to understand their needs, solve problems, and ensure we’re building solutions that advance our business objectives. You’ll work alongside analytical groups and technology teams to align priorities and deliver key outcomes. Strong leadership, communication, and organizational skills are important, and you should enjoy working with colleagues who have different levels of experience with Agile. A collaborative, customer-first mindset is essential.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree and 5+ years of product ownership experience
• Agile practitioner capabilities & experience working with or in Agile teams.
• Proven track record of delivering workflow and data-driven solutions with a customer-first mindset.
• See the business as a customer and translate requirements into technical solutions.
• Ability to create and maintain a backlog and roadmap, and to prioritize that backlog based on business value and technical feasibility.
• Track record of delivering results in a high-demand, matrixed organization.
• Strong interpersonal and organizational skills, demonstrating an ability to work well with teams and stakeholders.
• Proficiency in Jira, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word

Nice To Haves

• Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) certification
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to engage and influence stakeholders at all levels
• Demonstrated ability to oversee complex projects and excel in a high-demand, matrixed organization
• Prior experience in debt capital markets, financial services or consulting

Responsibilities

• Define overall strategy and direction of the applications covered based on understanding of organizational goals and analytical groups’ needs.
• Own the backlog, feature prioritization, roadmap, and the MVP in support of business objectives.
• Communicate and align with stakeholders to prioritize features and ensure a shared vision of sprint goals and backlogs.
• Lead the Agile squad to define and align sprint goals, ensuring "ready" user stories and supporting the squad to deliver on sprint commitments. Supports squad in identifying dependencies and other execution risks.
• Work closely with the squad to provide timely feedback and answers to their questions; ultimately accept or reject the product increments of the sprint.
• Oversee the overall squad’s quarterly delivery, ensuring that the squad meets their goals and deliver business value.
• Identify opportunities for process improvements and drive initiatives to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the Ratings business.
• Enhance and automate processes to improve data quality, standardize workflows, and integrate key systems.
• Analyze and break down complex workflows and system processes for both current (As-Is) and future (To-Be) states in support of automation and standardization.
• Oversee and guide user training, rollout, and change management processes.

Benefits

• Hybrid Work Environment: 3 days a week in office required based on your line of business and location
• A Culture of Learning & Mobility: Dedicated trainings, leadership development and mentorship programs designed to ensure that your time at Fitch will be a continuous learning opportunity
• Investing in Your Future: Retirement planning and tuition reimbursement programs that empower you to achieve your short and long-term goals
• Promoting Health & Wellbeing: Comprehensive healthcare offerings that enable physical, mental, financial, social, and occupational wellbeing
• Supportive Parenting Policies: Family-friendly policies, including a generous global parental leave plan, designed to help you balance career and family life effectively
• Inclusive Work Environment: A collaborative workplace where all voices are valued, with Employee Resource Groups that unite and empower our colleagues around the globe
• Dedication to Giving Back: Paid volunteer days, matched funding for donations and ample opportunities to volunteer in your community

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees