Product Manager

Howden; Chicago (IL); Remote; USD 150,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Flexible Paid Time Off and parental-le

Life and Disability insurance

Job summary

Howden is seeking a Senior Product Manager to own the colleague experience during our AI-driven transformation within the US Retail insurance broking business. You will coordinate with business teams, technology partners, and solution providers to deliver prioritized, end-to-end capabilities.

The role requires forward‑thinking, strong organization, and the ability to turn ambiguity into concrete plans, with exposure to AI-driven tools and governance practices.

Qualifications

• 5+ years as a Product Manager in insurance, broking, or insurtech.
• Experience owning a vendor platform and managing partner roadmaps to quality standards.
• Familiarity with US retail broking processes.
• Hands‑on experience owning product backlogs in Azure DevOps or Jira.

Responsibilities

• Maintain cross-platform backlog view and surface dependencies for leadership.
• Lead backlog refinement, user stories, acceptance criteria, and prioritization.
• Collaborate with Data, Architecture, and Security to align with governance and AI standards.
• Define future-state processes incorporating automation and AI-enabled capabilities.
• Run experiments and prototyping with success criteria and human-in-the-loop validation.

Skills

Product management

Stakeholder communication

Backlog management

AI governance

Vendor management

Tools

Azure DevOps

Jira

Job description

Howden Group is committed to attracting and developing exceptional talent. We believe that our people are our greatest competitive advantage, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can grow, contribute, and build a long-term career. Internal mobility is a key part of this philosophy, and we encourage colleagues to explore new opportunities within the Group.

We are now seeking a Senior Product Manager to own the colleague experience within an exciting AI-driven transformation initiative within our new US Retail insurance broking business. This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of our US operations by embedding automation, AI insights, and next-generation productivity tools across the organization.

Role Summary

The Senior Product Manager will sit within the product organization and own the daily experience of colleagues, working with business teams, technology partners, and solution providers. You will maintain a clear, cross-cutting view of the work in flight across multiple core and extended platforms, ensuring that capabilities are well understood, properly prioritized, and delivered in a way that enhances efficiency, improves customer experience, and supports our strategic growth ambitions.

This role is ideal for someone who is forward-thinking, highly organized, and self-driven-someone who thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment and is energized by turning ambiguity into clear, actionable plans.

The Senior Product Manager will also play a key role in scanning the insurtech and emerging-technology landscape, evaluating solutions against business needs, and making informed, evidence-based decisions about where to build, buy, or partner, starting from the user problem.

Key Responsibilities

• Maintain a cross-platform view of backlogs across multiple core and extended platforms, surfacing dependencies, gaps, overlaps, and sequencing risks for product leadership.
• Lead backlog refinement, story writing, acceptance criteria, and prioritization, translating strategic intent into well-formed, ready-to-build work.
• Conduct detailed analysis across functional areas within the US retail broking business to inform product direction and roadmap decisions.
• Judge build, buy, and configure options against the user problem, the timeline, and the cost. Lead structured assessments and explain the tradeoffs to product leadership, engineering, and business stakeholders.
• Monitor the insurtech landscape and broader emerging-technology trends, distilling what matters into clear, actionable insight for the product organization.
• Produce high-quality analysis artefacts including user stories, functional specifications, acceptance criteria, process flows, wireframes, capability models, and AI-assisted prototypes, working within the design system.
• Drive prioritization of requirements in partnership with engineering and business stakeholders, ensuring effort is focused where value is greatest.
• Provide clear, structured communication to product teams and senior leadership, tailoring the message to technical and non-technical audiences alike.
• Lead workshops, interviews, and discovery sessions to elicit, validate, and refine business requirements.
• Partner with Data, Architecture, and Information Security teams to ensure solutions align with governance, compliance, responsible AI standards, and data protection requirements.
• Define future-state business processes that incorporate automation, copilots, document intelligence, and agentic task orchestration where they create genuine value.
• Run experimentation and prototyping of new solutions, including workflow modelling, success-criteria definition, and human-in-the-loop validation approaches.
• Run post-launch assessment reviews and own the results: measurable success criteria, adoption metrics, and value realization tracking.

Required Experience & Skills

• 5+ years as a Product Manager, ideally within insurance, broking, or insurtech.
• Experience owning a vendor platform in delivery, holding a partner to a roadmap and to quality standards.
• Familiarity with US retail broking processes (such as placement, invoicing, certificate issuance, and settlement), or the ability to come up to speed quickly.
• An interest in the insurtech landscape and a curiosity about how emerging technology can improve the business.
• Hands‑on experience owning product backlogs in Azure DevOps or Jira.
• An ability to translate complex requirements into clear, actionable deliverables.
• Strong communication skills and confidence engaging stakeholders at different levels.
• Self‑directed, organized, and comfortable in a fast‑moving, collaborative environment.
• Exposure to AI‑driven tools (e.g., Microsoft Copilot, document intelligence, or workflow automation), ServiceNow, or AI governance practices is a plus.

Location

• Remote, with occasional domestic travel as required.

Compensation and Benefits

The expected base salary range for this role is $150,000 - $170,000; actual base salary will be determined based on factors including candidate experience and work location. This role is classified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

In addition to a competitive base salary, employees are eligible to receive a discretionary bonus. Howden also offers a variety of benefits and programs, subject to eligibility, including:

Medical, dental, and vision insurance, including healthcare savings and reimbursement accounts

• 401(k) retirement plan
• Flexible Paid Time Off and paid parental leave
• Life and Disability insurance