Warrior Insurance Network is seeking an experienced Product Owner focused on insurance technology to support technology delivery teams at Preferred Risk Insurance Services. The role combines product ownership, Agile/Scrum facilitation, backlog management, and delivery coordination, with a strong foundation in Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance.

Role Responsibilities

Own, maintain, refine, and prioritize product and technical backlogs for assigned technology teams.
Partner with business stakeholders and technical teams to gather, clarify, and document business and technical requirements.
Create and maintain epics, user stories, technical stories, and acceptance criteria in Jira.
Ensure backlog items are refined, prioritized, and ready for sprint planning.
Balance business initiatives with production support, defects, enhancements, technical debt, and platform improvements.
Work with technical leads and architects to understand technical dependencies, risks, and priorities.
Confirm that requirements, acceptance criteria, and business expectations are clearly communicated before development starts.
Maintain backlog health through regular reviews of aging items, blocked work, priorities, and dependencies.
Facilitate Agile/Scrum ceremonies, including daily stand-ups, sprint planning, backlog refinement and replenishment, sprint reviews and demonstrations, sprint retrospectives, and release planning.
Support sprint planning based on team capacity, historical velocity, and business priorities.
Identify and coordinate resolution of blockers, risks, and cross-team dependencies.
Promote Agile best practices, team collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Ensure Jira boards and sprint activities reflect current priorities and progress.

Agile Delivery Metrics and Reporting

Track key Agile delivery metrics, including team capacity and availability, capacity allocation or focus factor, average sprint velocity, planned versus completed story points, sprint carryover or spillover, backlog health and readiness, Work in Progress (WIP), blocked items and dependencies, production support and unplanned work, and PO review turnaround time and pending reviews.
Coordinate capacity planning, including PTO, holidays, production support, and other team commitments.
Maintain Jira dashboards and reports that provide visibility into progress, workload, and delivery performance.
Analyze delivery trends to improve sprint predictability and team effectiveness.
Provide regular updates to management covering delivery progress, capacity constraints, and risks.

Product Owner Reviews, Quality, and Testing

Conduct timely PO reviews of completed user stories, enhancements, and defect fixes to validate alignment with business requirements and acceptance criteria.
Review completed functionality and available QA evidence to ensure expected business outcomes are met.
Collaborate with QA, developers, and business stakeholders to clarify gaps, address defects, and resolve issues identified during PO reviews.
Ensure PO reviews are completed within agreed timelines to reduce delivery bottlenecks and unnecessary sprint carryover.
Coordinate User Acceptance Testing (UAT) with business stakeholders when required, including test scenarios, business validation, and sign-offs.
Identify recurring defects and requirement gaps and support efforts to improve quality and reduce rework.
Work with QA and development teams to establish clear review and acceptance processes while avoiding duplicate testing efforts.
Maintain accurate Jira statuses and ensure stories are accepted and closed after required review and acceptance steps are complete.

Collaboration and Delivery Planning

Partner with technical leads and delivery teams to establish realistic sprint goals, milestones, and delivery timelines.
Monitor progress against commitments and proactively identify potential delays.
Coordinate with teams to address blockers, competing priorities, and dependencies impacting delivery.
Communicate delivery risks, timeline changes, and mitigation plans to stakeholders and leadership.
Support release planning, business readiness, testing, and implementation coordination.
Act as a primary coordination point between business stakeholders and assigned technology teams.
Collaborate with business leaders, IT leadership, architects, developers, QA, Scrum Masters, and other Product Owners.
Facilitate discussions to clarify requirements, priorities, scope, and delivery expectations.
Identify impacted teams and coordinate cross-functional dependencies early in the delivery lifecycle.
Ensure stakeholders are engaged throughout requirements gathering, development, testing, and implementation.
Support Big Room Planning, roadmap discussions, and cross-team planning activities.

Location and Employment Details

Location: Bedford Park, IL (onsite)
Compensation: USD 100,000 - 130,000 per year
Minimum Experience: 5 years

Required Qualifications

Minimum of 5 years of experience as a Product Owner, Technical Product Owner, Business Analyst/Product Owner, or similar Agile delivery role.
Mandatory: Strong knowledge of the Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance industry, including familiarity with policy administration, billing, claims, underwriting, or related insurance business processes.
Minimum of 5 years of experience working with insurance technology or enterprise application delivery teams.
Hands-on experience facilitating Agile/Scrum ceremonies, planning team capacity, and maintaining delivery dashboards.
Strong working knowledge of Jira, including epics, stories, boards, workflows, dashboards, and backlog management.
Experience managing and prioritizing product and technical backlogs.
Experience tracking team capacity, velocity, sprint commitments, and delivery metrics.
Ability to coordinate stakeholders, manage dependencies, and support delivery timelines.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, and facilitation skills.
Ability to work effectively with technical and nontechnical stakeholders.

Technologies

Guidewire
AS400/iSeries
Data Warehouse
APIs/Integrations
UI/UX
Jira
InsuranceNow

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with one or more technology areas: Guidewire PolicyCenter, BillingCenter, or ClaimCenter, or InsuranceNow.
Experience with AS400/iSeries or other legacy insurance platforms.
Experience with Data Warehouse, data integration, or reporting systems.
Experience with APIs, integrations, or enterprise services.
Experience with UI/UX or digital application development.
Experience supporting multiple Agile teams or cross-functional technology initiatives.
Experience with SAFe, Big Room Planning, or Program Increment planning.
Experience balancing strategic initiatives with production support, defects, and technical debt.
Agile/Product Owner certifications such as CSPO, PSPO, CSM, PSM, or SAFe POPM.

Key Success Measures

Backlog Readiness: Well-maintained, prioritized, and refined product and technical backlogs.
Sprint Predictability: Realistic sprint commitments aligned with team capacity and historical velocity.
Delivery Timeliness: Progress against agreed milestones with proactive identification and communication of delays.
PO Review Efficiency: Timely review and acceptance of completed work without unnecessary bottlenecks.
Stakeholder Alignment: Clear communication, timely decisions, and effective cross-team coordination.
Agile Effectiveness: Productive Scrum ceremonies and continuous improvement in team practices.
Delivery Transparency: Accurate Jira reporting and visibility into capacity, velocity, risks, and dependencies.
Business Value: Delivery of prioritized initiatives aligned with organizational objectives.

Benefits

Competitive Salaries
Commitment to your Training & Development
Medical and Dental and Vision Reimbursement
Short Term Disability/Long Term Disability
Life Insurance
Flexible Spending Account
Telemedicine Benefit
401k with a generous company match
Paid Time Off and Paid Holidays
Tuition Reimbursement
Wellness Program
Fun company sponsored events
And so much more!

Product Owner-Insurance Technology

Job Description