Director - Product Owner / Product Lead (AI)

Fitch Group; Toronto; On-site; CAD 200,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial ratings agency is seeking a Director - Product Owner/Product Lead focused on AI capabilities in Toronto. The successful candidate will lead a dynamic team, drive innovation, and improve processes with AI technology. Responsibilities include defining strategy, managing product backlogs, and leading an agile squad. Ideal candidates should have a Bachelor's degree, 5+ years in product ownership, and strong communication skills. The role offers a hybrid work environment and emphasizes continuous learning and development.

Benefits

Hybrid Work Environment

Culture of Learning & Mobility

Retirement planning support

Comprehensive healthcare offerings

Generous parental leave policies

Inclusive work environment

Paid volunteer days

Qualifications

• 5+ years of product ownership experience.
• Experience managing ML/AI products.
• Track record of delivering results in a high-demand organization.

Responsibilities

• Define overall strategy and direction of the team.
• Foster team experimentation while maintaining reliability.
• Drive and support organizational change.

Skills

Product ownership experience

Communication skills

Agile practitioner capabilities

Interpersonal and organizational skills

Problem-solving

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Jira

Excel

PowerPoint

Word

Job description

Fitch Ratings is currently seeking a Director- Product Owner / Product Lead focused on AI capabilities based out of our Toronto office.

About the Team

Ratings Workflow Solutions (RWS), part of the Ratings COO organization, is a cross-functional, agile team responsible for designing, implementing, and optimizing applications and workflows used by our Ratings staff. Our goal is to streamline processes, mitigate risks, and advance standardization and automation across Fitch’s ratings platforms and workflows. The team partners closely with analytical, business, and technology staff to ensure our systems support the needs of the Ratings organization and enable our staff to work effectively.

How You’ll Make an Impact

We’re looking for an experienced and dynamic Product Owner to lead an agile delivery team focused on supercharging our users with Artificial Intelligence (AI) focused capabilities. This is your opportunity to be at the forefront of AI and innovation and be a key contributor to our strategy. If you thrive on scaling proven capabilities, driving change at enterprise scale, and inspiring people to do the best work of their careers, this is your chance to make a company‑wide impact—and elevate our AI capabilities to the next level at Fitch Ratings.

In this role, you’ll lead the squad, work closely with different groups to understand their needs, solve problems, and ensure we’re building AI solutions that advance our business objectives. You’ll work alongside analytical groups, technology, and specialized AI functions to align priorities, execute and deliver key outcomes. Strong change leadership, communication, and organizational skills are important, and you should enjoy working with colleagues who have different levels of experience with AI. A collaborative, customer‑first, AI‑first mindset is essential.

• Define overall strategy and direction of the team based on understanding of organizational goals and user groups’ needs.
• Innovation Mindset: Foster team experimentation while maintaining production reliability
• Change Champion: Proven ability to drive and support organizational change and technology adoption across diverse stakeholder groups
• Own the backlog, feature prioritization, roadmap, and the MVP in support of business objectives.
• Communicate and align with stakeholders to prioritize features and ensure a shared vision of sprint goals and backlogs.
• Lead the Agile squad to define and align sprint goals, ensuring “ready” user stories and supporting the squad to deliver on sprint commitments. Supports squad in identifying dependencies and other execution risks.
• Work closely with the squad to provide timely feedback and answers to their questions; ultimately accept or reject the product increments of the sprint.
• Oversee the overall squad’s quarterly delivery, ensuring that the squad meets their goals and deliver business value.
• Identify opportunities for process improvements and drive initiatives to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the Ratings business.
• Enhance and automate processes to improve data quality, standardize workflows, and integrate key systems.
• Analyze and break down complex workflows and system processes for both current (As‑Is) and future (To‑Be) states in support of automation and standardization.
• Oversee and guide user training, rollout, and change management processes.

You May be a Good Fit if

• Bachelor’s degree and 5+ years of product ownership experience
• Experience managing ML/AI products as platform services (not just features)
• Understanding of AI product lifecycle, including experience scaling AI/ML products from POC to launch
• Agile practitioner capabilities & experience working with or in Agile teams.
• Sees the business as a customer and translates requirements into technical solutions.
• Track record of delivering results in a high‑demand, matrixed organization.
• Strong interpersonal and organizational skills, demonstrating an ability to work well with teams and stakeholders.
• Proficiency in Jira, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word

What Would Make You Stand Out

• Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) certification
• Understanding of AI governance, model risk management, and regulatory considerations
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to engage and influence stakeholders at all levels
• Demonstrated ability to oversee complex projects and excel in a high‑demand, matrixed organization
• Prior experience in debt capital markets, financial services or consulting

Why Choose Fitch

• Hybrid Work Environment: 3 days a week in office required based on your line of business and location
• A Culture of Learning & Mobility: Dedicated trainings, leadership development and mentorship programs designed to ensure that your time at Fitch will be a continuous learning opportunity
• Investing in Your Future: Retirement planning and tuition reimbursement programs that empower you to achieve your short and long‑term goals
• Promoting Health & Wellbeing: Comprehensive healthcare offerings that enable physical, mental, financial, social, and occupational wellbeing
• Supportive Parenting Policies: Family‑friendly policies, including a generous global parental leave plan, designed to help you balance career and family life effectively
• Inclusive Work Environment: A collaborative workplace where all voices are valued, with Employee Resource Groups that unite and empower our colleagues around the globe
• Dedication to Giving Back: Paid volunteer days, matched funding for donations and ample opportunities to volunteer in your community

To protect Fitch’s credibility and reputation, our employees must take every precaution to avoid conflicts of interests or any appearance of a conflict of interest. Should you be successful in the recruitment process at Fitch Ratings you will be asked to declare any securities holdings and other potential conflicts prior to commencing employment. If you, or your immediate family, have any holdings that may conflict with your work responsibilities, you may be asked to divest yourself of them before beginning work.

Fitch is proud to be an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status, and other statuses protected by law.