Product Owner-Insurance Technology

Preferred Risk Insurance Services, Inc.; Illinois; On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive Salaries

Training & Development

Medical, Dental and Vision Reimburse-

Short/Long Term Disability

Life Insurance

401k with company match

Paid Time Off and Holidays

Tuition Reimbursement

Wellness Program

Company events

Job summary

Preferred Risk Insurance is seeking an experienced Product Owner to support technology delivery teams in the Commercial Lines P&C space. The role entails owning backlogs, facilitating Agile ceremonies, and coordinating with stakeholders, developers, QA, and architects to ensure timely delivery.

Applicants should have strong P&C industry knowledge, experience with backlog refinement, and the ability to translate business needs into actionable user stories.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience as a Product Owner, Business Analyst, or similar role defining requirements and supporting delivery.
• Strong Commercial Lines P&C insurance knowledge, including policy administration, billing, claims, underwriting or related processes.
• Experience collaborating with stakeholders and delivery teams to define requirements, prioritize work, and support delivery.
• Experience in Agile/Scrum environments, planning, coordination, and delivery activities.
• Ability to translate business needs into clear user stories and acceptance criteria and manage priorities in Jira.

Responsibilities

• Own, maintain, refine, and prioritize product and technical backlogs for assigned technology teams.
• Gather, clarify, and document business and technical requirements with stakeholders and technical teams.
• Create and maintain epics, user stories, and acceptance criteria in Jira.
• Facilitate Agile ceremonies and coordinate planning, reviews, and retrospectives.
• Track delivery metrics like velocity, story points, and backlog health; manage dependencies and risks.
• Coordinate with QA, developers, and business stakeholders to resolve gaps and ensure quality.

Skills

Product Owner

Backlog management

Agile/Scrum facilitation

Stakeholder engagement

Jira or Agile tool

Education

Product Owner/BA background

Tools

Jira

Job description

Preferred Risk Insurance Services is seeking an experienced Product Owner with strong Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance industry knowledge to support our technology delivery teams. Commercial Lines P&C experience is required.

Experience with technology platforms or applications is a plus, but is not mandatory. Candidates with relevant Commercial Lines P&C insurance experience and strong Product Owner or Business Analyst skills will be considered regardless of technology background.

Thiis role combines Product Ownership, Agile/Scrum facilitation, backlog management, delivery coordination, and stakeholder engagement. The Product Owner will work closely with business stakeholders, developers, QA, technical leads, architects, and leadership to ensure requirements are clearly defined, backlogs are prioritized, team performance metrics are maintained, and initiatives progress toward agreed delivery timelines.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Product Ownership & Backlog Management

• Own, maintain, refine, and prioritize product and technical backlogs for assigned technology teams
• Collaborate 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
• Ask the right questions, challenge unclear requirements, and translate business objectives into actionable stories and acceptance criteria
• Ensure backlog items are properly refined, prioritized, and ready for sprint planning
• Balance business initiatives, production support, defects, enhancements, technical debt, and platform improvements
• Work with technical leads and architects to understand technical dependencies, risks, and priorities
• Ensure requirements, acceptance criteria, and business expectations are clearly communicated before development begins
• Maintain backlog health by regularly reviewing aging items, blocked work, priorities, and dependencies

1. Agile/Scrum Facilitation

• Facilitate and coordinate Agile/Scrum ceremonies, including:
  • Daily Stand-ups
  • Sprint Planning
  • Backlog Refinement and Replenishment
  • Sprint Reviews and Demonstrations
  • Sprint Retrospectives
  • Sprint Prioritization 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

1. Team Capacity, Velocity & Delivery Metrics

• Track and maintain key Agile delivery metrics, including:
  • Team capacity and availability
  • Capacity allocation/focus factor
  • Average sprint velocity
  • Planned versus completed story points
  • Sprint carryover and spillover
  • Backlog health and readiness
  • Work in Progress (WIP)
  • Blocked items and dependencies
  • Production support and unplanned work
  • PO review turnaround time and pending reviews
• Coordinate capacity planning, accounting for PTO, holidays, production support, and other team commitments
• Maintain Jira dashboards and reports to provide visibility into team progress, workload, and delivery performance
• Analyze delivery trends and identify opportunities to improve sprint predictability and team effectiveness
• Provide regular updates to management on delivery progress, capacity constraints, and risks

1. Product Owner Reviews, Quality & UAT Coordination

• Conduct timely Product Owner (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 prevent 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, requirement gaps, and opportunities to improve quality and reduce rework
• Work with QA and development teams to establish clear review and acceptance processes while avoiding duplication of testing efforts
• Maintain accurate Jira statuses and ensure stories are accepted and closed after applicable review and acceptance requirements are met

1. Delivery & Timeline Management

• Partner with technical leads and delivery teams to establish realistic sprint goals, milestones, and delivery timelines
• Monitor progress against agreed 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.
• Promote accountability, transparency, and predictable delivery while ensuring commitments remain aligned with team capacity

1. Stakeholder & Cross-Team Coordination

• Serve 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
• Communicate initiative status, risks, blockers, and decisions in a timely manner
• Support Big Room Planning, roadmap discussions, and cross-team planning activities

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Hands-on experience as a Product Owner, Business Analyst, Technical Product Owner, or in a comparable role defining business requirements and supporting technology delivery; either a PO or BA background is acceptable.
• Strong Commercial Lines Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance knowledge is required, including familiarity with policy administration, billing, claims, underwriting, or related insurance business processes
• Experience collaborating with business stakeholders and technology delivery teams to define requirements, prioritize work, and support delivery
• Experience working in Agile/Scrum environments and supporting planning, coordination, and delivery activities
• Ability to ask probing questions, challenge assumptions, translate business needs into clear user stories and acceptance criteria, and manage priorities using Jira or a comparable Agile delivery tool.
• Experience managing and prioritizing product and technical backlogs
• Ability to monitor work progress, communicate delivery status, and help resolve dependencies
• Ability to coordinate stakeholders, manage dependencies, and support delivery timelines
• Excellent written and verbal communication, requirements-writing, analytical, problem-solving, and facilitation skills.
• Ability to work effectively with technical and nontechnical stakeholders

Experience using Jira or a comparable Agile delivery management tool to track work and manage backlogs.

Ability to prioritize based on business value, urgency, dependencies, and team capacity, and independently drive decisions and delivery follow-through.

Preferred Qualifications:

Technology platform or application experience is preferred, but not required. Experience with any technology is acceptable; no specific system or platform knowledge is mandatory.

• Experience with technology systems or applications is a plus, but not required.
  • AS400/iSeries or other legacy insurance platforms
  • APIs, integrations, or enterprise services

Advanced Jira experience, including epics, user stories, boards, workflows, dashboards, and backlog management, is preferred.

• Experience with SAFe, Big Room Planning, or Program Increment planning
• 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

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate brings strong Commercial Lines P&C insurance knowledge and hands-on Product Owner or Business Analyst experience, along with excellent requirements-writing, facilitation, and stakeholder-management skills. Commercial Lines P&C experience is required.

This individual should be comfortable working across business and technical discussions, managing product and technical backlogs, facilitating Scrum ceremonies, maintaining team delivery metrics, conducting PO reviews, and coordinating teams to achieve agreed delivery commitments.

Commercial Lines P&C insurance knowledge, hands-on Product Owner or Business Analyst experience, and strong communication and requirements skills are essential. Technology experience is welcome but not mandatory.

Preferred Risk Insurance Services provides a competitive benefits package to all full- time employees. Following are some of the perks Preferred Risk employees receive:

• 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!

Estimated Compensation Range: $100,000/year-$130,000/year*

*Published ranges are estimates. Offered compensation will be based on experience, skills, education, certifications, and geographic location. In addition, starting salary may vary by position depending on whether the position is in-office, hybrid or remote.