Product Owner (Mortgage Lending/SaaS Fintech)

John Evans Recruiting is conducting a Sr. Product Owner search for a 25-year-old fintech that has developed an industry leading SaaS tool for mortgage lenders. Our 50-employee client company has a fantastic mission and culture, and they are very focused on collaboration onsite in the office. The Sr. Product Owner must be able to be based in a Baltimore office two days a week for this role.

Pay is $135k-150k base 20% bonus for this position.

Essential Functions:

• Product Backlog Management: Prioritize, manage, and refine the product backlog to ensure the team always has a well-prepared set of tasks that align with business priorities.
• User Stories & Specifications: Develop detailed user stories, top-level feature specifications, and acceptance criteria that provide clarity to the development team and stakeholders.
• Feature Prioritization: Work with key stakeholders to define, prioritize, and articulate product features that best support company objectives and user needs.
• Collaboration with Development Teams: Ensure the development team has a clear understanding of backlog items, user stories, and requirements necessary to deliver high-quality features.
• Release Planning & Coordination: Lead the planning of product releases, setting expectations for new functionality delivery and managing timelines.
• Customer-Centric Focus: Advocate for the customer at every stage of product development, ensuring features and product behavior meet documented user needs and enhance the user experience.
• Product Strategy & Roadmap: Contribute to the long-term product strategy and roadmap by identifying opportunities for improvement and innovation.
• Product Research: Identify and initiate product research to gather insights and data that will inform the product direction and decision-making.
• UX Collaboration: Partner with UX Designers to create user-centered solutions and provide input on user research planning and studies.
• Quality Assurance: Review product deployments, ensuring that they align with the intended product experience, working closely with the UX Director for feedback on deviations.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Foster collaboration between the development team, UX, marketing, and other business units to drive product success.

Required Education and Experience

• 7 years of experience as a Product Owner, specifically managing technology-driven products within a SaaS company or similar environment.
• Proven experience in product ownership role, backlog prioritization, user story creation, and working closely with development teams.
• Strong JIRA and Confluence experience.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to work cross-functionally and articulate the product vision to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience collaborating with UX Designers and other product teams to create customer-centric solutions.