The Senior Product Owner for Personal Lines is accountable for business value and end-to-end delivery of complex, strategic initiatives across agile development teams within the P&C insurance product line. The role translates product vision into actionable delivery plans, partners across stakeholders, and drives continuous improvement through measurable outcomes.
Role Overview
The Senior Product Owner serves as a product champion and key delivery leader, creating alignment on product strategy while ensuring agile teams build the right capabilities at the right time. This position focuses on customer advocacy, backlog ownership, and outcome measurement, coordinating with product, program, IT, business leaders, and stakeholders to refine priorities, manage dependencies, and demonstrate business value.
Responsibilities
- Synthesize and translate product and program strategies and vision into actionable delivery plans for multiple agile development teams.
- Own end-to-end value delivery and team-level outcomes, working with product leaders, IT partners, business leaders, and stakeholders to ensure teams are delivering the highest-value work.
- Act as a customer advocate and proxy by engaging internal and external customers to understand needs, optimize feedback mechanisms, and incorporate outcomes into product scope and design.
- Conduct and participate in market and competitive research, applying relevant findings to product initiatives.
- Collect, refine, and analyze data to support decision-making using an economic view that evaluates cost, benefit, and business value.
- Build and sustain a product mindset within teams by maintaining understanding and alignment to product strategy during development and innovation, including navigating ambiguity and embracing change.
- Own and regularly prioritize user story backlogs; refine features and user stories in collaboration with the Product Manager and Business Analysts.
- Lead demonstrations of business value and guide multiple teams through agile ceremonies, program planning, defect remediation, and continuous improvement activities.
- Proactively manage team-level dependencies, updating delivery plans and communicating impacts as needed.
- Collaborate on measurement, tracking of outcomes, and team-level status reporting.
Requirements
- Advanced understanding of the P&C insurance industry, product line or domain, with aptitude for continued learning.
- Advanced stakeholder management and collaboration skills, with appreciation for diverse perspectives.
- High proficiency in customer and user engagement.
- High proficiency in market and competitive research.
- Advanced problem-solving capability, intellectual curiosity, and a development-focused mindset.
- High proficiency in data collection and analysis, with the ability to apply insights to effective decision-making.
- Comfort and aptitude in navigating ambiguity.
- Ability to operate effectively at both strategic and tactical levels.
- Advanced understanding of and experience with product and software development lifecycles.
- Strong knowledge and practical experience with writing and refining agile requirements.
- Advanced knowledge of and practical experience with agile methodologies and tooling.
- Experience and comfort working with regulated products.
- Highly proficient written and verbal communication skills.
- College degree preferred.
- 5+ years of business analysis experience.
- 5+ years of experience in an insurance line of business role.
- Demonstrated success leading projects from inception to delivery.
Compensation & Location
- Location: Short Hills, NJ (hybrid)
- Salary: USD 130,000 - 168,000 per year
- Pay range: USD $130,000.00 - USD $168,000.00 /Yr.
Benefits
- Competitive base salary
- Incentive plan eligibility at all levels
- Comprehensive health care plans
- Retirement savings plan with company match
- Discounted Employee Stock Purchase Program
- Tuition assistance and reimbursement programs
- 20 days of paid time off
Additional Information
- Selective is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.
- Building a highly engaged team is described as a core strategic imperative, enhanced by diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- For Massachusetts Applicants: it is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment.
About Selective
Selective is a midsized U.S. domestic property and casualty insurance company with a history of strong, consistent financial performance for nearly 100 years. Employees are encouraged to “Be Uniquely You” by bringing their unique selves and diverse talents, experiences, and perspectives to shared success.
