Product Owner

Build a brilliant future with Hiscox. In Technology Services, our collective goal is to deliver and maintain best-in-class, innovative infrastructure solutions that are sustainable, resilient and inclusive. We do this by understanding the needs of our Hiscox colleagues so that we can create and tailor the tools and services that enable them to deliver on their goals. This increases our competitive advantage in the market.

We work within an Agile methodology, which helps us to deliver the right solutions quickly and accurately. It also means that we have the flexibility to pivot and adapt our work through iterative testing with our Hiscox colleagues. We communicate and collaborate effectively with each other every day, ensuring that each of us knows what we need to achieve. We take individual and team accountability for ensuring that everything we deliver brings value to our business.

The Product Owner role involves:

• Developing and executing the product roadmap, ensuring alignment with the value stream OKRs.
• Conducting workshops and analysis activities to design and define appropriate delivery iterations – gathering requirements, assessing value, ensuring work is prioritised and focused on delivering maximum value for our colleagues.
• Writing clear and concise user stories, acceptance criteria and product specifications.
• Prioritising and managing the product backlog, ensuring it is maintained and refined.
• Working with the Agile Delivery Lead/s (ADLs) to ensure there is a steady flow of work for the squad/s aligned to the product roadmap.
• Creating and owning dashboards to track metrics, utilising the data to inform future backlog items that target waste and inefficiency.
• Being the first point of contact for the squad/s to answer any product-related questions, clarify requirements and support the ADL to remove blockers.
• Acting as the voice of the customer to ensure everyone understands the business value of the backlog items.
• Coordinating and participating in all Agile ceremonies for the product – stand-ups, refinement, planning and retrospectives.
• Providing feedback on the product roadmap, resolving risks, issues and blockers raised by the squad/s – escalating to the Product Manager as needed.
• Reporting on actual vs. expected progress and any knock-on impact to the product roadmap.
• Managing key stakeholder relationships and communicating effectively to keep them informed.
• Monitoring and analysing product performance, identifying areas for improvement and making data-driven decisions.
• Coordinating product launches, ensuring effective communication to internal customers and stakeholders.
• Staying up-to-date with industry best practices and trends in product management, technology and user experience.
• Working with other members of the Technology Services Product Chapter to share knowledge, best practices and develop as a team.
• Actively participating in the wider product management community to aid continuous learning, innovation, best practice and alignment with Hiscox engineering teams.

Required Skills/Experience:

• Prior experience working with Technology Infrastructure tools, systems and platforms.
• Prior experience in a product-related role or environment – working in Agile delivery teams, managing a backlog to ensure business value is prioritised, delivered and embedded.
• An aptitude for customer-centric problem solving and challenging the status quo.
• Relevant qualifications (e.g. Certified Scrum Product Owner).
• Experience working with Agile collaboration (e.g. Jira, Confluence, etc.) and product management tools.
• Experience of writing business requirements that can be picked up by engineers and implemented.
• Detail-oriented with a focus on quality and delivering value to customers.
• Detailed understanding of Agile methodologies (Kanban, Lean, Scrum) and product management frameworks.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to effectively convey complex ideas to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced environment and adapt to changing priorities.
• Demonstrable analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to gather and interpret data to make informed decisions.
• Highly organised, with the ability to prioritise tasks and meet deadlines.

Beneficial Experience:

• Knowledge of implementing and managing End User Experience technologies and tools is preferred.
• Demonstrable experience of ‘lean thinking’ – continuously looking to minimise waste and drive efficiency.

At Hiscox, we care about our people. We hire the best people for the work, and we’re committed to diversity and creating a truly inclusive culture, which we believe drives success. We embrace hybrid-working practices, balancing the ability to work remotely with the culture and energy we experience when we are face-to-face in our offices.

This modern way of working has contributed to impressive employee engagement scores across Hiscox and means we’re delivering even better solutions for our Hiscox colleagues. As an international specialist insurer, we are selective and focus on our key areas of expertise and strength, all underpinned by a culture that encourages us to challenge convention and always look for a better way of doing things.

If that sounds good to you, get in touch.