Senior IT Product Owner

Position Summary

The Product Owner III (PO III) serves as a liaison between our customers, business units and Tech to define and prioritize work for development teams by aligning features and user stories with business value. The product owner is the voice of the customer, stakeholder, and end user. The product owner works closely with developers and analysts to create executable stories and provides final approval that ensures delivered stories meet user acceptance criteria. This individual is responsible for building and maintaining a prioritized Product Backlog, based on stakeholder feedback. They are also responsible for participating in the development and execution of the product roadmap. Product Owners will participate in all scrum ceremonies.

The Product Owner III is a trusted partner and has a strong relationship with all stakeholders. A PO III serves as a mentor to others.  They should be an active participant in the Product Owner Community of Practice meetings and capable of leading the meetings.  A PO III is expected to be a champion of Agile within the organization.  Typically, a PO III will be able to independently support multiple teams and multiple projects.

About this Role

The Digital Experience team at Clayton is on an exciting mission to revolutionize the way consumers engage with online shopping, purchasing, and ownership experiences for all Clayton products. As we navigate the forefront of digital innovation in the home buying sector, we’re looking for creative and forward-thinking Product Owners to help us craft and enhance engaging digital journeys.

In this role, you will leverage your expertise to develop and implement strategies that guide our customers through each phase of the home buying journey, from initial discovery to the final stages of ownership. Working alongside a skilled team of technologists, analysts, designers, and developers, you will use your knowledge and creativity to contribute to our collective goal of transforming home buying into a connected, immersive digital experience.

Primary Responsibilities

• Collaborate with prospective users and clients to understand their needs and translate them into product requirements.
• Define the product vision and strategy.
• Develop, own, and execute the product roadmap.
• Translates product roadmap features into well-defined product requirements that include user stories, features, and acceptance criteria.
• Work with cross-functional teams and various stakeholders.
• Manage the product backlog and prioritize it based on changing requirements.
• Participate in Scrum meetings and product sprints.
• Monitor and evaluate product progress throughout each stage of the process.
• Utilize optimization techniques to improve or refine the product based on feedback received after products or features are released to production.
• Risk Management – Identify, understand, and address risks.
• Translate stakeholder requirements into technical specifications that can be used for development and break down technical complexities so that they can be easily understood by business units and end users.

Primary Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent technical or business experience
• Minimum 2 years’ experience with Agile development methodologies or 2 years’ experience as a Product Owner
• Experience in Agile product ownership, software development, Scrum, and phases of the project life cycle.
• Standard industry certifications such as CSPO or PSPO, preferred.
• Experience in project management, group facilitation, data gathering, or phases of software life cycle (requirements gathering, design, development, deployment, training, or measuring effectiveness)
• Experience in JIRA and Agile methodology preferred, not required.

Desired Skills

• Strong analytical, problem solving, and project management skills.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills and the ability to interact with a diverse group of team members, including Executives, Managers, IT professionals, and Subject Matter Experts.
• Knowledge of the assigned product or product line.
• Strong ability to work effectively within time constraints, changing priorities, and independently.
• Proactive, self-starter with excellent project management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple complex tasks effectively.
• Proficiency in web analytics tools like Google Analytics, Segment, and/or Google Data Studio
• Experience defining and building net new products in a startup-like environment

Behavioral Competencies

• Collaboration and Teamwork
• Business Acumen
• Relationship Building
• Composure and Resiliency
• Planning and Priority Setting
• Service Focus
• Communicating
• Deliberate Decision Making
• Interpersonal Dynamics
• Coaching and Developing Others

Business Unit - B00023