What are the responsibilities and job description for the Product Owner position at Delta Dental of New Jersey?
About Us
Delta Dental of New Jersey and Delta Dental of Connecticut are proud to be leaders in the dental insurance industry, offering a wide range of plans to meet the needs of individuals and employers alike. As New Jersey’s largest dental coverage provider, we are committed to delivering high-quality, cost-effective solutions designed to meet the diverse needs of our customers and our team is growing.
In Connecticut, Delta Dental of Connecticut, Inc. provides fully insured dental coverage, while Delta Dental of New Jersey administers self-funded dental benefit programs. We proudly serve over 1.7 million individuals through more than 1,800 groups, including commercial, school board, and government programs.
Since 1969, Delta Dental has been at the forefront of innovation, offering programs that control costs while ensuring the highest level of benefits.
As a member of the national Delta Dental Plans Association, we provide national dental coverage to over 75 million people across 139,000 groups. Our commitment to excellence is reflected in our prestigious Standard & Poor’s “A ” rating for financial strength. Join us and be a part of a trusted company with a rich history of delivering quality dental benefits to millions.
In addition to a great culture, we offer excellent benefits including medical, dental, Rx and vision, matching 401k, enhanced tuition reimbursement, and generous time off to recharge. We value our associates and support everyone with learning and development, active wellness and diversity initiatives, and even paid time off to volunteer at causes that you care about.
General Job Information
We are seeking a Product Owner to join our Program Management Organization (PMO) team. The ideal candidate will work closely with business, technical, and vendor partners to ensure the successful delivery of key corporate workstreams. You will drive the identification of business value for feature delivery and manage a prioritized backlog for software development and business process improvements. This role is integral to bridging the needs of stakeholders and ensuring that actionable features are delivered within an agile framework.
As a Product Owner, you will collaborate with cross-functional teams to solve pain points across platforms and through partner integrations. A strong background in healthcare and insurance, along with a passion for improving healthcare systems, is preferred. You must be a strategic thinker, skilled at utilizing both quantitative and qualitative data to inform product roadmaps, and have excellent communication and collaboration skills. This is a full time hybrid position, in our Parsippany office Tuesdays and Wednesdays and remote Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Essential Functions & Responsibilities
- Drive value by aligning product goals with overall organizational strategies.
- Partner closely with cross-functional teams to define product strategy, guide the development process, and drive the product vision.
- Develop well-scoped requirements and prioritize work for engineering teams, dev ops, and data analysts.
- Execute product commitments to consistently deliver meaningful business outcomes.
- Maintain a prioritized product backlog, defining features, value, function, security, and testing needs.
- Champion product goals and support an agile software development lifecycle (SDLC), identifying and documenting Epics, Features, PBIs (Product Backlog Items), and tasks.
- Facilitate communication between business and technical teams to ensure solutions meet both business requirements and technical standards.
- Use agile methodologies (e.g., user stories, acceptance criteria) to drive functional needs.
- Be the voice of the customer, ensuring effective communication between stakeholders and the agile core team.
- Collaborate with sponsors to create a clear product roadmap aligned with both business and technical goals.
- Break down large initiatives into logical Epics, Features, and PBIs for execution based on team capacity.
- Lead the elicitation of business requirements and translate them into user stories and technical requirements.
- Write clear and concise requirements specifications in natural language.
- Regularly review and update the backlog, priorities, and specifications with project stakeholders.
- Facilitate agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, sprint refinements, retrospectives, and daily stand-ups.
- Ensure proper change management practices for maintaining and communicating requirement baselines.
Other Duties
This job description is not exhaustive and may change as business needs evolve. Duties and responsibilities may be assigned or adjusted as required.
DDNJ Competencies
Competency | Description |
Problem Solving | Ability to analyze complex situations, identify issues, and develop innovative solutions. |
Analysis | Strong capability to assess situations and make data-driven decisions. |
Critical Thinking | Excellent judgment and reasoning skills to approach problems and challenges effectively. |
Communication | Clear and effective communication skills for both written and verbal interactions. |
Confidence | Ability to make decisions and communicate those decisions confidently to both internal and external stakeholders. |
Self-Development | Continual improvement of skills and knowledge to remain effective in the role. |
Dealing with Ambiguity | Ability to work effectively in an environment with frequent change and uncertainty. |
Creativity | Applying creative problem-solving techniques to achieve business goals. |
SQL | Proficiency in SQL for querying databases and analyzing data. |
Technical-Functional Knowledge | Deep understanding of technical and functional aspects in product development, especially in agile frameworks. |
EDI-Healthcare | Knowledge of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) in the healthcare sector. |
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
- 3 years of product management, business/systems analysis, or project management experience, with a proven track record of successful project delivery.
- Strong background in healthcare and insurance, CX experience preferred.
- Excellent strategic thinking, problem-solving, and execution skills in handling complex problems.
- Familiarity with Agile methodologies (Scrum, XP, SAFe) and traditional waterfall methodologies.
- Experience in managing product development life cycles and cross-functional collaboration.
- Proficiency in utilizing agile tools such as Azure DevOps, Jira, or similar.
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to build relationships across diverse teams.
- Self-motivated, proactive, and able to work under minimal supervision.
- Data-driven with strong proficiency in analytics and testing best practices.
- Ability to deliver large-scale product features and improvements in a fast-paced environment.
- Proven ability to prioritize work, manage ambiguity, and adapt to changing business needs.
Required Experience & Education
- 3-5 years of relevant experience in product management, project management, or business analysis.
- Experience in healthcare, insurance, or consulting roles is highly preferred.
Educational Requirements:
- Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent professional experience.
Certifications (preferred but not required):
- PMI ACP, PMI PMP, IIBA CBAP, or SAFe certifications are considered a plus.
Required Physical Abilities
- Ability to sit and perform extensive keyboard and PC work.
- Ability to walk, talk, or hear.
- Occasionally required to stand and reach with hands and arms.
Working Environment
- Ability to meet deadlines and attendance standards.
- Moderate noise level in the work environment.
- The role may require signing a confidentiality agreement.
