Are you passionate about turning product vision into actionable work that delivers meaningful customer outcomes? Do you thrive in a collaborative Agile environment where you can partner with business stakeholders, technology teams, and customers to drive product success? Guardian is seeking a Product Owner I to support the development and delivery of innovative solutions by managing product backlogs, refining requirements, and ensuring alignment between business objectives and customer needs. In this role, you will work closely with a Sr Product Owner while building expertise in Agile product management practices.
You AreA collaborative and detail-oriented product professional who enjoys working with diverse stakeholders to transform ideas into valuable products. You are skilled at gathering requirements, prioritizing work, and maintaining clear documentation that enables Agile teams to deliver effectively. You are motivated by continuous improvement, customer-centric thinking, and the opportunity to influence product outcomes while developing your product management expertise.
You HaveRequired Qualifications- Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
- 4-6 years of experience in product management, business analysis, project management, or a related field
- Experience developing and managing product backlogs aligned to product vision and business objectives
- Experience gathering, documenting, and refining business and technical requirements
- Strong written documentation skills, including user stories and acceptance criteria
- Knowledge of Agile methodologies, Scrum frameworks, and Agile ceremonies
- Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
- Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams
- Experience working in an Agile software development environment
- Experience using Agile planning and product management tools
- Knowledge of product lifecycle management principles
- Demonstrated ability to identify process improvements and drive team efficiencies
- Develop and manage the product backlog, ensuring work is prioritized and aligned with product strategy and business goals
- Partner with cross-functional teams to gather, refine, and document requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria
- Maintain accurate and up-to-date product documentation, including meeting notes, feature requirements, and backlog items
- Monitor product development progress and help ensure features are sprint-ready and delivered according to established timelines
- Participate in Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, reviews, and retrospectives
- Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure products meet customer needs and business objectives
- Support the adoption of Agile product management best practices and contribute to continuous improvement initiatives
- Lead projects or project workstreams within larger initiatives as assigned
- Agile Facilitation
- Product Documentation
- Requirements Management
- Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
- Scrum (Agile)
The primary location for this hybrid position (3 days per week in office) is Pittsfield, MA. Additional locations under consideration include Bethlehem, PA, Holmdel, NJ, and New York City, NY.
TravelOccasional travel may be required for this position.
Salary Range:
$79,310.00 - $130,295.00The salary range reflected above is a good faith estimate of base pay for the primary location of the position. The salary for this position ultimately will be determined based on the education, experience, knowledge, and abilities of the successful candidate. In addition to salary, this role may also be eligible for annual, sales, or other incentive compensation.
Our Promise
At Guardian, you’ll have the support and flexibility to achieve your professional and personal goals. Through skill-building, leadership development and philanthropic opportunities, we provide opportunities to build communities and grow your career, surrounded by diverse colleagues with high ethical standards.
Inspire Well-Being
As part of Guardian’s Purpose – to inspire well-being – we are committed to offering contemporary, supportive, flexible, and inclusive benefits and resources to our colleagues. Explore our company benefits at www.guardianlife.com/careers/corporate/benefits. Benefits apply to full-time eligible employees. Interns are not eligible for most Company benefits.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Guardian is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, marital status, disability, military or veteran status, or any other classification protected by applicable law.
Accommodations
Guardian is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. Guardian also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified job applicants (and employees) to accommodate the individual's known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so would create an undue hardship. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact [email protected]. Please note: this resource is for accommodation requests only. For all other inquires related to your application and careers at Guardian, refer to the Guardian Careers site.
Visa Sponsorship
Guardian Life is not currently or in the foreseeable future sponsoring employment-based visas (e.g., such as an H-1B). In order to be a successful applicant, you must be legally authorized to work in the United States, without the need for employer sponsorship/support now or at any time in the future.
Notice Regarding Guardian’s Use of Artificial Intelligence in Recruitment
As part of Guardian’s job application process, Guardian may use artificial intelligence tools (“AI Tools") to automate the sorting and filtering of information provided by applicants as part of its preliminary screening. This preliminary screening may be used to help identify applicant materials and resumes relative to their indication that the applicant meets the requirements for the specific job for which they are applying, as specified in the listing posted on Guardian’s jobs website (Careers at Guardian at https://www.guardianlife.com/careers). At Guardian, we do not use AI Tools to substantially assist or replace human judgment or discretionary decision making in our hiring process. All hiring decisions will be made by Guardian colleagues.
Please be aware that if you apply for a specific position with Guardian, you will have the choice of opting out of Guardian’s use of AI Tools during the job application process. If you would like to request an alternative process that does not utilize AI Tools or would like to request a reasonable accommodation, within ten business days of your position application, you must email your request to [email protected], making sure to provide your name and job requisition identification number. Guardian will retain your applicant materials and resume and all information therefrom in accordance with Guardian’s document retention policy, a copy of which you may request via [email protected].
Additionally, at applicable times, Guardian will make public the most recent bias audit results for such AI tools, which may be found here.
Current Guardian Colleagues: Please apply through the internal Jobs Hub in Workday.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
- 4-6 years of experience in product management or a related field
- Proven ability to develop and manage product backlogs
- Experience documenting user stories and acceptance criteria
- Familiarity with Agile methodologies and participation in Agile ceremonies
- Agile Facilitation
- Requirements Management
- Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
- Scrum (Agile)
- Strong communication and stakeholder collaboration skills
Guardian Life Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Guardian Life and has not been reviewed or approved by Guardian Life.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Leave appears unusually expansive, including unlimited paid time off for most roles plus additional time for volunteering, bereavement, jury duty, and personal holidays. Paid parental leave is repeatedly positioned as a standout element of the overall package.
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage is described as broad, spanning medical, dental, vision, telemedicine, second opinions, and multiple supplemental insurance options. Mental-health support is also emphasized through dedicated services and platforms.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Lifestyle-oriented benefits extend beyond core insurance, including fitness membership and equipment reimbursement and access to caregiving support resources. These offerings reinforce a whole-person approach that can increase perceived total rewards value.
Guardian Life Insights
What We Do
Who we are Guardian makes a difference in the lives of people when they need us most. With over 160 years of stability and fiscal integrity, we are a trusted resource to generations of families and business owners, inspiring well-being and helping build financial confidence. Today, we stand behind 29 million consumers, helping them prepare and plan for a bright future for themselves and their families. We help business owners care for their employees. And we help people recover and thrive in times of unexpected loss. As a modern mutual insurance company, we believe in driving value beyond dividends. We invest in our colleagues and are building a progressive, innovative and inclusive culture. We uplift individuals and communities through thoughtful social and environmental programs. What we stand for In 1860, a community of immigrants joined together to insure and protect their businesses and families. They were guided by powerful ideals that we’ve continued to stand behind and evolved throughout the years: we do the right thing, we believe people count, we courageously shape the future together, and we go above and beyond for the people we serve. Guardian employees embrace and live by these values every day. They remind us to put people at the heart of all we do so that we can help protect what matters most to you. Want to help bring these values to life? Join us for a rewarding career and the opportunity to shape the future. Disclosures: Financial information concerning Guardian as of December 31, 2022, on a statutory basis: Admitted assets = $76.0 billion; liabilities = $67.2 billion (including $55.0 billion of reserves); and surplus = $8.8 billion. Dividends are not guaranteed. They are declared annually by Guardian’s Board of Directors. Guardian® is a registered trademark of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. © Copyright 2023 The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America 2023-156184 Exp. 5/25
