Product Owner Lead - Director

Guggenheim Investments•Chicago, IL

6d•Onsite

About The Position

A Data and Application Product Owner is responsible for defining, prioritizing, and managing the development and delivery of data-driven and application-based products within the organization. This role acts as the primary liaison between business stakeholders, technical teams, and end users to ensure that products meet business objectives and deliver value. Key responsibilities include gathering and prioritizing requirements, maintaining a product backlog, setting the product vision and roadmap, and ensuring successful product releases. The Product Owner collaborates closely with cross-functional teams, including data engineers, software developers, analysts, and business leaders, to translate business needs into actionable technical solutions. Success in this role requires strong communication, analytical, and project management skills, as well as a solid understanding of data management, application development, and agile methodologies. This role is based in our Chicago office, full-time.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in information technology, Computer Science, Business Administration, or a related field
10+ years of experience in data management, data governance, or product ownership within asset management, private markets, or financial services
Minimum 4 Years experience in technology role (i.e. Business Analyst, Developer, Product Owner) in an IT environment
Minimum 2 years of experience of business writing which includes business requirements documents, system requirements documents, use case specifications, and functional specifications
Experience in supporting or coordinating multiple projects or programs
Excellent analytical, problem-solving, communication, and interpersonal skills
Willingness to take on tasks as needed to support the team and business.

Nice To Haves

Ability to write SQL queries or create sophisticated Excel macros & pivot tables
Proficiency in tools like SQL, Excel, and workflow documentation software
Proven interpersonal, data analysis, diplomatic, management and prioritization skills

Responsibilities

Champion efforts to attain product vision and objectives
Develop and document business requirements with input from the business and other key stakeholders
Facilitate and drive alignment among key stakeholders
Understand how the business strategy relates to product strategy and execution
Develop and market a product vision and strategy
Possess a strong business background and technical savvy in order to interpret requirements from business stakeholders to technical teams
Empowered to make critical decisions regarding functionality and priority in sprint cycles.
Signs off to "accept" each user story during sprint.
Responsible for collecting a wide range of important data points required to conceive and deliver products
Establish and maintain relationships with key business and technology stakeholders
Work with key stakeholders to make frequent and dynamic prioritization decisions in an agile environment
Continually monitor and refine the product by regularly collaborating with product delivery teams
Create and manage product roadmaps based on business outcomes.
Communicate the product vision and how it will be realized over time.
Continuously verify that the product fulfills that vision as measured by business value and outcomes.
Maintain a full product life cycle perspective and manage product backlogs to balance short-term achievements with long-term goals.
Plan iterations for development teams to deliver in a regular agile sprint cycle
Foster an environment of constant learning and continuous improvement
Adapt to an agile framework that is best suited for the business and delivery teams
Constantly evaluate development team throughput and velocity
Mentor other product owners and provide direction on more complex features.
May include management of other product owners and business analysts
Comprehensive knowledge of the Guggenheim business functions and how applications will be used by Guggenheim customers (not required for new hires—acquired knowledge)
Must have experience in one or more of the following: system architecture, service architecture, technology systems and platforms, cloud technologies, C#, SharePoint, SQL server, writing queries, JavaScript, content management systems, data models or database engineering, scripting, Windows, HTML, etc.
Solid knowledge of the financial services industry
Review the current and/or new business problem and identify systems requirements
Document system requirements and business processes; review documentation for others
Prepare communications and/or presentations on system enhancements and/or fixes for business users
Works effectively as part of a team