Summer Intern - Strategy

OCC•Chicago, IL

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

OCC is looking for interns who are eager to learn, humble enough to ask questions, and ready to think critically about complex problems. The OCC Internship Program equips students with the real-world skills needed to transition successfully into a career in financial services. As an intern, you will contribute to meaningful projects, applying your skills and knowledge to real challenges facing the business. Your time with us is a real opportunity to make a genuine impact on the future of OCC! OCC's Summer Internship Program is a 12-week opportunity running either May through August or June through September, and is open to undergraduate and graduate students who are actively enrolled at a college or university. Interns work up to 40 hours per week in a hybrid work environment, and overtime is not permitted. The Strategy team sits within OCC's Product Management organization and is responsible for defining, prioritizing, and delivering enhancements to OCC's clearing platforms. We operate as an Agile Scrum team, managing our backlog and sprint execution in Jira and maintaining our documentation, roadmaps, and requirements in Confluence. The team partners closely with Engineering, Risk, Operations, and QA to translate business needs into well-defined user stories and to ensure what we build aligns with both regulatory requirements and market participant needs. Beyond day-to-day delivery, the team also contributes to longer-term product strategy — evaluating industry trends, competitive positioning, and emerging needs in the derivatives clearing space to inform our roadmap. The intern would contribute directly to both tracks of this work: supporting active sprint execution (backlog grooming, story writing, ceremony participation) alongside our Product Owners, while also assisting with research and analysis that feeds into product strategy discussions. This gives the intern visibility into both the tactical "how we build" and the strategic "why we build it" sides of product ownership.

Requirements

Rising senior or second-year graduate student, graduating December 2027 or May/August 2028.
Strong interest in product management, financial technology, or capital markets
Familiarity with Agile/Scrum methodology (coursework, certification, or prior experience acceptable)
Basic understanding of or willingness to quickly learn Jira and Confluence
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Detail-oriented with an ability to manage multiple priorities

Nice To Haves

Prior internship or coursework experience in product management, business analysis, or software development
Exposure to financial markets, derivatives, clearing, or post-trade processing (a plus, not required)
Experience with data analysis tools (Excel, SQL, Tableau) is a plus
Interest in product strategy, market research, or competitive analysis

Responsibilities

Support the creation and refinement of user stories, acceptance criteria, and backlog items in Jira
Assist in maintaining product documentation, roadmaps, and meeting notes in Confluence
Participate in Agile ceremonies (sprint planning, daily stand-ups, backlog refinement, sprint reviews, retrospectives)
Help prioritize the product backlog in partnership with Product Owners based on business value and stakeholder input
Conduct research and gather requirements from internal stakeholders (Operations, Risk, Technology)
Support competitive analysis, market research, and other inputs to product strategy initiatives
Track sprint progress, help identify blockers, and support reporting on team velocity and delivery metrics
Collaborate with cross-functional teams (engineering, QA, design) to ensure alignment on product goals
Assist in creating presentations or summaries for leadership on product updates and strategic recommendations