Lead Product Owner
Omaha, NE, US, 68137-2210
AgCountry Farm Credit Services (AgCountry), Farm Credit Services of America (FCSAmerica) and Frontier Farm Credit are financial cooperatives that operate under shared management across eight states. While each association is owned by its local farmers and ranchers, they collaborate by pooling resources, expertise, and talent to provide affordable credit, crop insurance, and financial services.
Our associations are united by a common mission and commitment to serving rural America and supporting each other, which drives the success of the farmers, ranchers, and agribusiness we serve. We take pride in being a great place to work, and this enthusiasm is reflected in the relationships our team members foster with one another and with our customers.
Job Summary
We are seeking a Lead Product Owner opportunity who will own product capabilities and play a pivotal role in defining and evolving key capabilities required to deliver on the organization’s product strategies. You will serve as the bridge between our development team and product management or functional stakeholders. In addition, you will provide continuity across different capabilities and coaching of Product Owners. You will be responsible for defining and prioritizing product features, ensuring alignment with business objectives, and guiding the development process.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
Product Capability Strategy and Vision:
- Develop and communicate a clear product capability vision aligned with the company’s goals and product roadmaps.
- Work with Product Management and other Lead Product Owners to align key features and requirements to activate the product roadmap.
- Collaborate with stakeholders to define desired product capability outcomes (operational efficiencies, ease of use, etc.).
- Maintain a deep understanding of market trends, technology platform evolution capabilities, and user (customer or teammate) feedback. May engage with users to validate solutions that fits user requirements during design through research and interaction in collaboration with other functions.
- Continuously identify opportunities to create and maintain product cost effectiveness.
Feature Development and Delivery:
- Serve as the knowledge expert and seek out expertise from functional and product management stakeholders and subject matter experts when knowledge gaps exist.
- Participate in sprint planning and review meetings, providing input on scope and priorities. Make real-time decisions and trade-offs during development to ensure product success.
- Ensure that features aligned to desired outcomes from Product Management and the business stakeholders.
- Provide insight and requirements to ensure appropriate data quality and process controls.
- Gather and analyze user feedback to continuously improve product features and functionality and ensure realization of defined outcomes.
- Create and manage the product backlog, prioritizing features and user stories based on customer value and business priorities. Clearly define user stories, acceptance criteria, and success criteria.
Team Collaboration:
- Collaborate with Product Managers and Product Owners on feature scoping, refinement, and alignment to desired outcomes.
- Work closely with cross-functional teams, including development, design, and quality assurance, to ensure successful product delivery.
- Understand and communicate the voice of the business, providing guidance and clarity on requirements throughout the development process.
- Foster a collaborative and agile development environment.
Testing and Validation:
- Collaborate with quality assurance teammates to validate that developed features meet the specified acceptance criteria.
- Conduct user acceptance testing and gather feedback from stakeholders to drive improvements.
Product Capability Launch and Feedback:
- Plan and support product capability launches, including communication and training for internal teams and product support documentation for ongoing maintenance and development.
- Gather post-launch feedback and monitor product performance, iterating on features as needed.
Education Requirements
- Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management, Finance, Credit, Lending, Agriculture, or related field or equivalent work experience. Graduate degree preferred.
Years of Experience
- 8+ years’ proven experience as a Product Owner with a strong track record of successful product delivery.
- Experience in Accounting and/or Cash Management preferred
About Us:
AgCountry has 45 offices, is based in Fargo, North Dakota and serves portions of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, FCSAmerica is based in Omaha, NE and has 42 local offices serving rural communities and agriculture in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Frontier Farm Credit has six offices serving eastern Kansas. Together, we support nearly 82,000 producers and agribusinesses, meeting the needs of today’s agricultural industry with our combined 2600+ employees providing lending, risk management, technology, commodity marketing, and customer and employee education.