Product Owner - Agile

The next part of your journey is right around the corner — with The Standard.

A genuine desire to make a difference in the lives of others is the foundation for everything we do. With a customer-first mindset and an intentional focus on building strong teams, we’ve been able to uphold our legacy of financial stability while investing in new, innovative technologies that support the needs of our customers. Our high-performance culture focused on operational excellence thrives thanks to remarkable people united by compassion and a customer-first commitment. Are you ready to make a difference?

Job Summary

The IT Strategy and Portfolio (S&P) Product Owner is responsible for shaping and improving the tools, services, and processes that support IT portfolio planning and delivery. This role partners with IT, business, and finance teams to understand needs, prioritize work, and deliver technology solutions that drive business value. Using platforms such as Targetprocess, Jira, Confluence, and Microsoft Project, the Product Owner develops product roadmaps, manages backlogs, defines user stories, and helps teams deliver high-quality outcomes. This role also leads adoption of portfolio management tools, monitors performance through key metrics, and continuously improves processes and frameworks to support effective decision making and delivery across the organization.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and manage product strategy, roadmap, backlog, and delivery priorities.

• Partner with business and IT stakeholders to gather requirements and align solutions to business needs.

• Create and prioritize product requirements, user stories, and work items to enable effective planning and delivery

• Drive adoption of portfolio management tools through training, communication, and support.

• Measure product and service effectiveness using KPIs and continuous improvement practices.

* Occasional travel, up to three times annually, is a requirement of the role. *

Skills and Background You'll Need

Education: Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Information Technology, or a related field is required.

Experience: Minimum 5 years of experience as a Product Owner or similar role delivering technology or digital solutions.

• Experience working in Agile environments, including backlog management, sprint planning, and user story development.

• Experience creating product requirements, product specifications, and business or technical documentation.

• Proven success leading complex, cross-functional business and technology initiatives.

• Strong stakeholder management skills with experience partnering across IT, business, and finance teams.

• Experience with IT portfolio management, product strategy, and roadmap development.

• Experience using Targetprocess, Atlassian Jira, Confluence, and/or Microsoft Project preferred.

• Experience defining and tracking KPIs, metrics, and performance outcomes.

• Ability to lead through influence, promote collaboration, and support continuous improvement initiatives.

• Ability to work effectively across multiple delivery methodologies (Agile, Kanban, Waterfall, and hybrid approaches) with cross-functional teams

Key Behaviors of a Successful Candidate

• Customer Focus: Builds strong partnerships with stakeholders and delivers solutions that create value and improve the customer experience.

• Improvement Mindset: Challenges the status quo, identifies opportunities for greater efficiency, and drives continuous improvement.

• Driving Success: Leads work forward, takes ownership of outcomes, and delivers results across multiple priorities and initiatives.

• Adaptability: Sees possibilities in changing circumstances, accepts and understands change, and alters behavior as necessary. Adjusts quickly to changing priorities.

• Collaboration: Builds productive relationships across teams and encourages open communication, knowledge sharing, and shared success.

We have built an enduring legacy of stability, financial strength and exceptional customer service through the contributions of the service-oriented people who choose to work at The Standard. To ensure we can attract and retain the best talent, when you join The Standard you can expect:

• A rich benefits package including medical, dental, vision and a 401(k) plan with matching company contributions

• An annual incentive bonus plan

• Generous paid time off including 11 holidays, 2 wellness days, and 8 volunteer hours annually — PTO increases with tenure

• A supportive, responsive management approach and opportunities for career growth and advancement 

• Paid parental leave and adoption/surrogacy assistance

• An employee giving program that double matches your donations to eligible nonprofits and schools

In addition to the competitive salary range below, our employee-focused benefits support work-life balance. Learn more about working at The Standard.

• Eligibility to participate in an incentive program is subject to the rules governing the program and plan. Any award depends on a variety of factors including individual and organizational performance.

The actual compensation for this role will be based on a combination of education and experience, knowledge and skills, position budget, internal equity, and market data.

Salary Range:

Standard Insurance Company, The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York, Standard Retirement Services, Inc., StanCorp Mortgage Investors, LLC, StanCorp Investment Advisers, Inc., and American Heritage Life Insurance Company and American Heritage Service Company, marketed as The Standard, are Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability or veteran status or any other condition protected by federal, state or local law. Except where precluded by state or federal law, The Standard will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. The Standard offers a drug- and alcohol-free work environment where possession, manufacture, transfer, offer, use of or being impaired by an illegal substance while on The Standard's property, or in other cases which the company believes might affect operations, safety or reputation of the company is prohibited. The Standard requires a criminal background investigation and employment, education and licensing verification as a condition of employment. After any conditional offer of employment is made, the background check will include an individualized assessment based on the applicant’s specific record and the duties and requirements of the specific job. Applicants will be provided an opportunity to explain and correct background information. All employees of The Standard must be bondable.