Agile Product Owner Lead Analyst

Job Description

The Agile Product Owner will be responsible for owning the product backlog, including communicating the end user requirements, defining user acceptance criteria for requirements, and prioritizing and managing the backlog.  The role represents the “voice of the customer”, ensuring that the team is working on stories that maximize business value and deliver necessary functionality to our customers. The individual will work with multiple stakeholders to determine the business and technology objectives for their team and ensure solutions deliver tangible business value. 

The role is responsible for Cigna's Global Health Benefits external customer app / portal digital experience. In collaboration with product owners across the release train, the team is accountable to drive the objectives for enhancing customer digital experiences, and ensuring technology platform optimization.

The Product Owner will be responsible for understanding internal stakeholders and end users deeply and must synthesize information from multiple sources to ensure backlog readiness and quality.  The individual must exercise considerable creativity, foresight, and judgment in conceiving, planning, and delivering initiatives.  Ideal candidate must possess a broad base of skills and knowledge spanning technology, the individual health insurance business, user experience design, and agile development practices.  In collaboration with the Product Manager, the individual will act as a liaison between business stakeholders and technology to set business objectives, communicate capability requirements, and establish roadmaps based on business priorities and optimizing value. 

The role will collaborate closely with the Scrum Master and UX / UI experts to guide the teams towards successful delivery.  The Product Owner will decompose features into user stories for the development team and has ownership over ensuring stories are prioritize and planned to optimize pace and value within the Program Increment.  Individual will also work closely with Change Readiness, Subject Matter Experts, and Key Stakeholders to ensure business areas are ready for the changes as capabilities are developed and released to end users.

Key Responsibilities:

• Collaborates with stakeholders to ensure alignment between business strategy and product development efforts

• Collaborates with Product Manager and Portfolio Managers to ensure backlogs align to business and product roadmaps

• Has final decision-making authority on acceptance criteria for product functions

• Maintains and refines the inflow of work to the team (product backlog)

• ​Responsible for decomposing features into user stories and acceptance criteria

• Ensures stories clearly communicate customer/stakeholder needs to the Scrum team; work with team to clarify stories as necessary

• Sets and communicates the team’s scope for the current iteration

• Assesses business value and prioritizes all stories to ensure work focuses on those with maximum value and aligns with strategy

• Collaborate with UX/UI teams to ensure the customer voice is embedded at all stages of the product delivery cycle

• Partners with the Product Managers by contributing to story mapping and brainstorming activities to prepare and decompose work for teams

• Ensures the outcome and value is clearly defined and communicated to support technical assessments of solutions with the development team

• Works closely with cross-functional teams to validate product hypotheses and make data-informed decisions

• Must be aware of other work being completed within the Release Train so that they can help teams proactively manage risks and dependencies and propose optimal solutions

• Understands and supports inter-team dependencies and escalates prioritization issues when necessary

• Clearly communicates release timing and delivery dates to Product Management, Portfolio Leads and Key Stakeholders

• Works closely with their Scrum Master to understand progress to plan, identify blockers and paths to resolution

• Reports outward on progress against PI objectives and is accountable for JIRA reporting quality  

• Supports UAT and business readiness activities to ensure new capabilities deliver expected value for internal and external stakeholders

Required skills and experience:

• Agile Product Owner experience 3+ years required

• Experience in individual health insurance industry preferred

• Bachelor’s Degree required

• Strong English language skills required

• Knowledge of agile methodology required

• Experience working in JIRA tool or an equivalent preferred

• Both technically deep and business savvy enough to interface with cross-functional partners

• Proven ability to develop strong working relationships and establish a high level of credibility across functional and lines of business

• High attention to detail and proven ability to manage multiple, competing priorities simultaneously

• Demonstrates strong decision-making skills and problem-solving techniques

• Demonstrates ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative team in a fast paced and changing environment

• Strong adaptive capability; ability to approach problems pragmatically and creatively in the phase of changing circumstances, resources and direction

• Strong analytical skills and proficiency in using data to inform product decisions and measure success

• Some degree of flexibility to work with International Health stakeholders across multiple regions and time zones

About The Cigna Group

Cigna Healthcare, a division of The Cigna Group, is an advocate for better health through every stage of life. We guide our customers through the health care system, empowering them with the information and insight they need to make the best choices for improving their health and vitality. Join us in driving growth and improving lives.