Associate Agile Product Owner - BA08BE

We're determined to make a difference and are proud to be an insurance company that goes well beyond coverages and policies. Working here means having every opportunity to achieve your goals - and to help others accomplish theirs, too. Join our team as we help shape the future.

The Hartford's Group Benefits organization is looking to transform how we execute policy administration activities both now and into the future. The primary objective is to improve customer experience through implementation, ongoing service, and speed to market, while providing flexibility and scalability to execute on the broader Group Benefits (GB) Strategic Roadmap. The Employer Experience Value Stream is seeking an Associate Agile Product Owners to support the multi-year transformation effort.

The Associate Agile Product Owner (AAPO) is a critical role that sets the priorities for 1-2 agile teams, represents the voice of the customer, and links execution to the business vision. The candidate works across various business teams and product value streams. The AAPO is primarily an individual contributor role as part of the Employer Experience value stream, responsible for delivering business value across various functional areas, such as product, implementation, billing, and member management.

The Associate Agile Product Owner works daily with the Agile Product Manager, business leaders, subject matter experts, and our technical teams. This position is a great opportunity to work with an excellent team and be part of a multi-year transformational effort while learning new skills and applying existing experience and knowledge.

To be successful in this role, the individual needs to have a high level of self-motivation, curiosity, and ownership. Passion for customer experience and bias for data-driven insight to guide decisions and actions are crucial. This role requires a high performing individual who is a thought leader, able to balance multiple responsibilities and collaborate with multiple stakeholders. The role will report to the Agile Product Manager for the Agile Release Train.

Learn more about the role of an Agile Product Owner

WORK ARRANGEMENTS: This role can have a Hybrid or Remote work arrangement. Candidates who live near one of our office locations (Hartford, CT, Charlotte, NC, Lake Mary, FL, Naperville, IL) will have the expectation of working in an office 3 days a week (Tuesday through Thursday). Candidates who do not live near an office will have a remote work arrangement, with the expectation of coming into an office as business needs arise.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead product execution for 1-2 agile team(s)
• Engage with business and technology stakeholders to identify product enhancement opportunities and implications
• Develops and maintains a deep understanding of "voice of the customer," "voice of the business," and industry/competitor trends
• Provide perspective on portfolio / value stream vision and roadmap
• Articulate the product vision, roadmap, and voice of customer to the agile team(s)
• Guide the agile team(s) in determining sprint goals aligned to the product vision and roadmap, linking execution activities to business intent
• Aids Agile Product Manager in feature road mapping, and breaking down epics into features
• Manage the team's product backlog, breaking down features into stories, defining acceptance criteria, and prioritizing to maximize business value.
• Accountable for the health and readiness of the team backlog
• Ensure the agile team(s) understand the items in the backlog and their business value
• Accept completed stories that meet the "definition of done" and quality expectations
• Validate that the solution and functionality meet the product vision; incorporate feedback from sprint demos
• Partner with the Scrum Master, agile teams, Architects, APMs, Tech Leads, and business stakeholders to ensure solutions will deliver the business vision
• Drive business readiness and change management activities
• Monitor and share execution progress including risks and impediments
• Analyze delivery metrics to identify key trends and opportunities for continuous improvement within the agile team(s)

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree preferred
• Experience in the insurance industry required, knowledge of Group Benefits Life & Voluntary Product, a plus
• Familiarity with agile methodologies and frameworks such as Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Scrum, Kanban, XP, etc.
• Experience with agile lifecycle management tools (e.g., Rally, JIRA)
• Experience with Excel, PowerPoint, and MS Teams
• Strong collaboration and influence skills, including ability to manage multiple stakeholders
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to understand audiences and tailor messages
• Familiarity with analyzing data to identify insights and create hypotheses for testing
• Clear preference for working collaboratively in a team environment are essential
• Self-motivated individual with ability to handle multiple high priority demands, manage expectations and achieve objectives
• Experience with ADKAR or other change management frameworks preferred
• 10%-25% Travel required
• INTERNET: For full-time, occasional, part-time, or remote positions: (1) high speed broadband internet service is required, we do not recommend or support DSL, wireless, Wi-Fi, Hotspots, Fiber without a modem and Satellite; (2) Internet provider supplied modem/router/gateway is hardwired to the Hartford issued computer with an ethernet cable; and (3) minimum upload/download speeds of 10Mbps/100Mbps will be required. To confirm whether your Internet system has sufficient speeds, please visit http://www.speedtest.net from your personal computer.

Compensation

The listed annualized base pay range is primarily based on analysis of similar positions in the external market. Actual base pay could vary and may be above or below the listed range based on factors including but not limited to performance, proficiency and demonstration of competencies required for the role. The base pay is just one component of The Hartford's total compensation package for employees. Other rewards may include short-term or annual bonuses, long-term incentives, and on-the-spot recognition. The annualized base pay range for this role is:

$84,640 - $126,960

Equal Opportunity Employer/Females/Minorities/Veterans/Disability/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity or Expression/Religion/Age

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