Product Owner Specialist

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Purpose

The Product Owner Specialist is responsible for ensuring the successful execution of individual goals, plans, and initiatives in support of the team's business strategies and objectives. They must ensure all activities are in compliance with governing regulations, internal policies, and procedures.

The Product Owner Specialist is responsible for continuous and early delivery of business value. They work with end users, stakeholders, the agile team, and business Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to produce high-quality features that will change the way customers interact with the Bank.

In collaboration with the agile team, the Product Owner Specialist will be engaged throughout the different phases of the product lifecycle and will actively evolve the product roadmap. They will represent the voice of the customer and help to prioritize the backlog. Moreover, the incumbent will be expected to enable peers and tirelessly advocate for the vision and customer experience they've been entrusted with.

Accountabilities

1. Champions a customer-focused culture to deepen client relationships and leverage broader Bank relationships, systems, and knowledge.
2. Supports the Global Product Owner to help define a product's release and iteration backlog based on the product's overall vision and input from business SMEs, customer experience, and the agile team.
3. Understands and articulates the product's vision, including its objectives, value proposition, and key risks associated with opportunities/ideas.
4. Collaborates with SMEs to assess how features will impact the end-user and how to effectively manage them.
5. Develops product roadmap and high-level backlog, further decomposed into releases that deliver significant value to the end user.
6. Prioritizes (and continuously reprioritizes) delivery based on the calculated benefits/value of identified features/epics.
7. Acts as primary reviewer and approver of finished development work during iteration demos/reviews based on established acceptance criteria.
8. Actively collaborates and engages with the agile team.
9. Regularly attends planning sessions, stand-ups, retrospectives, iteration reviews, and other team meetings in order to verify that the output of the team is consistently delivering business value and aligned with the agreed-upon commitments.
10. Shields the team from interruptions and outside interference by acting as a conduit between the business and the team.
11. Assists with the development of user stories and supporting documentation with applicable acceptance criteria.
12. Decomposes larger objectives or journeys ('epics') into features and user stories that can be understood and committed to by members of the team.
13. Participates in iteration planning discussions to reduce ambiguity around user stories and ensure clarity, optimize functionality, and define features that align with product vision.
14. Supports the team by being available to provide definitions required to complete detailed user stories.
15. Advocates for the highest attainable levels of quality and for approaches that will minimize the impact of technical debt on the product and organization.
16. Utilizes SMEs - including team members - to assist in the validation of epics and user stories as well as other activities such as user experience testing.

Dimensions

The Product Owner Specialist is expected to be fully committed to driving the development of new products while engaging business and technology teams in delivering solutions that are customer-focused and realize true business value. The incumbent will actively work to ensure a valuable product that takes into account the interests of multiple stakeholders. This requires a strong aptitude to adapt to rapidly changing business priorities while building relationships and being able to balance multiple interests effectively.

Education

Bachelor's Degree in business, finance, economics, or another relevant field. Master's/MBA considered an asset.

Experience

4-5 years of progressive work experience in new product development (preferably in a financial services environment), prior experience in a project environment, and familiarity with project life cycle management. Experience working in an agile environment is considered an asset.

Functional Skills

1. Ability to execute highly complex or specialized projects; adapts precedent and may make significant departures from traditional approaches to develop solutions.
2. Demonstrated ability to manage stakeholder relationships, work with diverse business interests to create consensus and confidence.
3. Ability to prioritize based on calculated business value, using a customer-centric view that can be explained and justified by economic calculations.
4. Demonstrated ability to facilitate the effective breakdown of epics into user stories, to attain high levels of velocity within corporate constraints, to plan and execute for each iteration.
5. Is a true team player who values the perspectives and opinions of others while leading with humility and confidence.
6. Takes accountability for results and exhibits a 'can do' attitude.
7. Able to work in a flattened team, using reason and persuasion rather than authority to drive effectiveness.
8. Demonstrates a high level of emotional intelligence (self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation, and social skills).
9. Has an appetite to continuously evolve and improve, to tackle difficult problems and seek/give constant constructive feedback.
10. Embraces change and sees it as an essential driver to solve complex issues.
11. Demonstrates flexibility and can move forward without having all of the answers.
12. Consistently seeks to understand, meet, and deliver on customers' expectations.
13. Excellent oral and written communication skills (English/Spanish) and proven ability to influence management and teams.
14. Cross-cultural skills and an ability to interact effectively with teams in different geographies.
15. Act as a role model in representing the business and the 'voice' of the customer.
16. Has a consistent track record of building productive relationships with actors from across several different groups within an organization.
17. An acute attention to detail while demonstrating the ability to thrive in high-pressure, deadline-driven situations.
18. The ideal candidate must be capable of demonstrating critical thinking skills and creative problem-solving.
19. Flexible and open, able to work in a highly collaborative and continually changing business environment.
20. Maintains current knowledge of industry trends as well as a passion for continued learning and acquisition of new skills.

Location(s): Colombia : Bogota : Bogota

Scotiabank is a business unit within ScotiaGBS, a Scotiabank Group company located in Bogota, Colombia. The ScotiaTech hub was created to support different technology systems and processes of the Bank. We offer an inclusive, positive work environment, and competitive benefits.

At Scotiabank, we value the unique skills and experiences each individual brings and are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible environment for everyone. Candidates must apply directly online to be considered for this role. We thank all applicants for their interest in a career at Scotiabank; however, only those candidates who are selected for an interview will be contacted.