Product Owner

M&T Bank•Buffalo, NY

About The Position

The Product Owner II serves as the owner of a large product or set of products, representing the voice of customers and stakeholders to ensure the product delivers customer value while aligning with business strategy. The role defines product vision and roadmap, prioritizes the product backlog, anticipates client needs, and serves as the primary communicator between product stakeholders and teams while evaluating progress at each iteration. The Product Owner II also contributes to strategic direction by defining and articulating opportunities and working closely with key stakeholders, senior leadership, and a dedicated agile team. This is an individual-contributor position with no direct management responsibility. The jobholder manages activities through influence, accountability, and ownership in an agile environment. The role may act on behalf of the Senior Product Owner during an absence.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and at least 6 years of business, analytical, technical, and/or product experience; or, in lieu of a degree, a combined minimum of 10 years of higher education and/or work experience, including at least 6 years of business, analytical, technical, and/or product experience.

Nice To Haves

Prior experience prioritizing competing priorities in a quickly changing landscape.
Experience seeking multiple opinions while making independent decisions and influencing positive outcomes.
Understanding of Design Thinking principles.
Knowledge of product design and development best practices.
Knowledge of Agile and Lean principles and practices.
Experience partnering with user experience teams on product design.
Experience developing or managing digital capabilities.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.
Subject matter expertise specific to the assigned product.

Responsibilities

Build and own the vision and roadmap for a large product or set of products, align them with overall strategic intent, and communicate them to the team and stakeholders.
Prioritize product backlogs based on product vision and strategy.
Represent the voice of the customer within the team, convey story details, and make autonomous decisions to move delivery forward in alignment with product vision and strategy.
Write user stories and groom the backlog in partnership with the team.
Specify acceptance criteria for user stories in support of moving the team to Acceptance Test-Driven Development (ATDD).
Work with the delivery team to create information radiators and other communication tools to show progress to internal teams and stakeholders.
Participate in all team activities and ceremonies.
Influence business partners across the organization, including senior-level partners, and advocate for customer benefit irrespective of hierarchy or divisions.
Understand and engage with customers; focus on outcomes over outputs and use design-thinking methods and analytics to inform product design.
Collaborate across teams and with other Product Owners to align customer journeys and dependent backlogs.
Understand and adhere to company risk and regulatory standards, policies, and controls in accordance with the Company’s Risk Appetite.
Identify risk-related issues that need escalation to management.
Promote an environment that supports belonging and reflects the M&T Bank brand.
Maintain M&T internal control standards, including timely implementation of internal and external audit points and applicable issues raised by external regulators.
Complete other related duties as assigned.