Associate Product Owner

The Associate Product Owner will help convert business priorities into product roadmaps and requirements for the ITS Country Engagement unit (ITSCE). In this onsite role in Washington, DC, you will manage priorities and dependencies while coordinating cross-functional teams to deliver measurable business value across digital products and capabilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and drive priorities, roadmaps, and delivery plans for assigned ITSCE products and capabilities, while contributing to cross-unit initiatives and priorities across ITSOE.
• Work with business stakeholders to understand priorities, confirm requirements, identify opportunities, and ensure products deliver measurable business value.
• Manage and prioritize product backlogs across multiple initiatives, balancing business demand, strategic priorities, delivery capacity, dependencies, and risks.
• Maintain visibility across products, business processes, data assets, and technology capabilities to uncover overlaps, dependencies, integration opportunities, and areas for simplification within ITSCE and across related ITSOE products and capabilities.
• Define product requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, and success measures in partnership with business and technical teams.
• Coordinate delivery across engineering, architecture, data, security, and user experience teams to support timely and high-quality execution.
• Drive roadmap planning and release prioritization, ensuring alignment with business objectives and portfolio priorities in conjunction with other teams.
• Support unit-level planning and governance by recommending priorities, trade-offs, dependencies, risks, and investment decisions.
• Partner with peers across ITSOE units to identify and advance opportunities for integration, reuse, and alignment across products, platforms, data, and workflows.
• Facilitate stakeholder engagement, communications, demonstrations, and feedback sessions throughout the product lifecycle.
• Identify opportunities to improve operational effectiveness through process simplification, automation, shared capabilities, and more effective use of technology.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in business, STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), computer science, or a related field with at least five (5) years of relevant experience, or Bachelor’s degree with at least seven (7) years of relevant product ownership experience.
• Demonstrated product ownership experience in ITSOE, including delivery of integrated solutions and business value across products, business areas, and technology teams.
• Commitment to maximizing business value through product design, innovation, and lifecycle management in alignment with Agile processes.
• Ability to collaborate closely with business stakeholders to identify and shape demand, strategize opportunities, and drive IT product development and delivery across multiple business and product areas.
• Recommended certifications in SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager and/or SAFe® DevOps Practitioner.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct advanced-level research and analyses within a specialization and oversee complex products, platforms, initiatives, or processes with limited supervision.
• Ability to work across multiple stakeholders, priorities, and workstreams, balancing competing demands while managing dependencies across teams.
• Demonstrated ability to provide knowledge-based guidance, coaching, and training to more junior staff within the job area as a technical resource.
• Ability to identify opportunities for alignment, simplification, integration, and reuse across products, processes, data, and technology capabilities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to create concise reports and presentations.
• Strong presentation and collaboration skills, including leading meetings and influencing stakeholders in multicultural environments.
• Passion for innovation and keeping current with the latest technological trends.
• Ability to learn quickly and adapt to changing priorities.
• Ability to take personal ownership and accountability for meeting deadlines and achieving agreed-upon results, with strong personal organization.

Benefits

• Retirement plan
• Medical, life and disability insurance
• Paid leave, including parental leave
• Reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities

Additional Selection Criteria

Selection is based on the following items:

• Master’s degree in business, STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), computer science, or a related field with a minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience, or Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of seven (7) years of relevant product ownership experience.
• Demonstrated product ownership experience in ITSOE, including working across products, business areas, and technology teams to deliver integrated solutions and business value.
• Commitment to delivering products that maximize business value through product design, innovation, and lifecycle management aligned with Agile processes.
• Ability to collaborate closely with business stakeholders to identify and shape demand, strategize opportunities, and drive development and delivery of IT products across multiple business and product areas.
• Recommended certifications in SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager and/or SAFe® DevOps Practitioner.
• Demonstrated ability to perform advanced-level research and analyses and oversee complex products, platforms, initiatives, or processes with limited supervision.
• Demonstrated ability to work across multiple stakeholders, priorities, and workstreams while balancing competing demands and managing dependencies.
• Ability to provide knowledge-based guidance, coaching, and training to more junior staff within the job area.
• Ability to identify opportunities for alignment, simplification, integration, and reuse across products, processes, data, and technology capabilities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with proficiency in concise reports and presentations.
• Strong presentation and collaboration skills, including a record of leading meetings and influencing stakeholders in multicultural environments.
• Passion for innovation and staying up to date with the latest technological trends.
• Ability to learn quickly and adapt to changing priorities.
• Ability to take personal ownership and accountability for deadlines and agreed-upon results, supported by strong organization.

World Bank Group Values and Culture Attributes

As the World Bank Group continues to evolve, the organization values candidates who:

• Demonstrate the ability to collaborate effectively across teams, disciplines, cultures, and institutional boundaries.
• Responsibly leverage digital and AI-enabled tools to enhance productivity, learning, and decision-making.
• Bring experience working in fragile, conflict-affected, and violent (FCV) contexts and are encouraged to highlight relevant experience in application materials, where applicable.

World Bank Group culture attributes include:

• Sense of urgency: anticipate and quickly respond to the needs of internal and external stakeholders.
• Thoughtful risk-taking: challenge the status quo and push boundaries to achieve greater impact.
• Empowerment and accountability: empower yourself and others to act and hold each other accountable for results.