Sr Product Owner

University of Massachusetts - Worcester, MA

Full-time

Worcester, MA

Educational Services

About the position

The Sr. Product Owner at UMass Medical School plays a pivotal role in the development and delivery of information technology products. Reporting to the Manager of the Scrum Practice, the Sr. Product Owner is the key stakeholder responsible for ensuring that the products align with customer requirements and the strategic goals of the Medical School. This position requires a deep understanding of the scrum framework and the ability to visualize and deliver effective solutions that meet the needs of various stakeholders. The Sr. Product Owner will work closely with engineering teams to translate customer needs into actionable user stories and will be responsible for managing the product backlog throughout the development process. In this role, the Sr. Product Owner will lead the scrum teams in developing and adapting the scrum framework, facilitating communication and collaboration among team members, and ensuring that all parties are aligned on project objectives and deliverables. The Sr. Product Owner will also be responsible for educating team members and stakeholders on scrum best practices, managing the release plan for the product, and actively engaging with other product owners and scrum masters to develop a comprehensive strategy for IT product development. The overall goal of the Sr. Product Owner is to ensure that the products delivered not only meet customer expectations but also provide significant business value. This includes making tough decisions during sprint planning, motivating the scrum team, and advocating for the product's value at the team level. The Sr. Product Owner will also conduct post-live retrospectives to assess the success of product releases and identify areas for improvement, ensuring a continuous feedback loop that enhances future product development efforts.

Responsibilities

• Visualize and deliver information systems solutions in alignment with the Medical School's strategic and tactical business plans.
• Develop, adapt, and facilitate the scrum framework including backlog management through all sprints of product release phases.
• Lead and communicate the release plan for the product.
• Educate scrum teams, other product owners, clients, and support staff on scrum best practices.
• Work directly with the Best Practice leader to create and manage the Scrum Framework for the entire scrum staff.
• Engage with other product owners and scrum masters to develop a comprehensive strategy around the development of IT products and services.
• Lead the acquisition of related software, products, and services as needed by clients.
• Collaborate with Core Team Lead, Product Managers, Service, Support, and key technical resources to identify stories for the backlog.
• Order and manage the backlog of user stories and product defects to ensure meaningful and attainable work for the development teams.
• Plan, coordinate, and document product-related development activities for large-scale and highly visible projects.
• Facilitate communication regarding sprint and release deliveries, budget, costs, issues, and related information.
• Make decisions during sprint planning to maximize business value.
• Develop and maintain effective relationships with the product's steering committee, sponsors, customers, functional managers, and project teams.
• Communicate product objectives, scope, and expected deliverables to all appropriate parties.
• Motivate the scrum team with clear, elevating goals and drive to a sustainable maximum velocity.
• Engage with development to commit backlog items to sprint deliverables and negotiate on what gets included in each iteration.
• Support post-live retrospectives to review delivery outcomes and identify areas for improvement.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or information management technology, or equivalent experience.
• 6 years of Information Technology experience.
• 4 years of experience working as the primary product owner for agile/scrum teams.
• Flexibility to partner and negotiate with various personality types at all levels within and outside the organization.
• Ability to build effective leadership skills and motivate teams to achieve results.
• Strong organizational skills to handle multiple products and customers concurrently.
• Ability to delegate effectively and deliver on commitments.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills to interact with IT staff, clients, executive leadership, and vendors.
• Demonstrated knowledge of current scrum tracking tools such as Team Foundation Services and other supporting tools.
• Ability to lead scrum teams, sprint planning meetings, and client review sessions.
• Product-level understanding of user needs, market trends, and competition.
• Possess a positive attitude and creativity in generating solutions.
• Passionate understanding of customer needs related to product development.
• Ability to travel to off-site locations.

Nice-to-haves

• Scrum Product Owner certification.
• Experience implementing 3rd party business applications.
• Experience managing large enterprise projects.
• Experience in higher education.
• Experience in health and medical services automation.