Director Agile Product Owner - Specialty Guidewire Functional Lead (Hartford)

Director, Guidewire Agile Product Owner

Travelers is seeking a Director, Guidewire Agile Product Owner to join our organization to lead a team to deliver capabilities / solutions in an agile way. In this position you will act as a voice of the end-user to guide day-to-day work of a cross-functional team, focusing on achievement of defined outcomes versus defining how the work is completed.

What Will You Do?

• Provide subject matter expertise for Guidewire Business and Systems requirements workstream
• Translate business requirements into technically feasible features by leveraging deep understanding of Guidewire Policy Center constraints, capabilities, and best practices
• Guide solution design discussions with development teams to ensure proposed features align with Guidewire's out-of-the-box functionality and minimize costly customizations
• Proactively identify technical dependencies and system limitations early in requirements gathering to prevent scope creep and delivery delays
• Lead backlog prioritization by balancing business value with Guidewire implementation complexity, upgrade impact, and long-term maintainability
• Facilitate cross-team collaboration by serving as the subject matter expert who can communicate both business intent and technical feasibility to stakeholders across Integration Gateway, Domain API, and UI teams
• Define, prioritize and ensure a ready backlog of work for a cross-functional product team, accept final product output, focusing on achievement of defined outcomes versus defining how the work is completed.
• Effectively manage a backlog of deliverables and capabilities as well as 'test and learn' / experimentation targeted at defining / refining future deliverables, measuring performance and adjusting the overall roadmap of deliverables as needed.
• Translate business strategies and needs into execution ready work for an Agile product team; define team goals and strategy, ensuring alignment with circle and value stream vision; Articulate team goals and strategy effectively to key stakeholders, Circle Leads, and team members.
• Act as voice of the end-user; have a deep understanding of and anticipate and proactively seek customer feedback ensuring needs and requirements are clearly defined; ensure team work product meets defined acceptance criteria.
• Own team backlog, including prioritization and refinement; Make trade-off decisions to maximize value.
• Optimize the flow of value by setting objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs) for solutions.
• Inform and participate in business readiness; understand the impact of change, translate the approach to manage adoption and mitigate resistance.
• Provide feedback on work-in-progress, clarify requirements and contribute to removing roadblocks or impediments; Look for opportunities for continuous team and process improvement.
• Partner with key leaders and peers across to determine resources required to achieve defined business outcomes.
• Share best practices across teams to ensure alignment and consistency in ways of working within a value stream.
• Foster an innovative, inclusive and diverse team environment, promoting positive team culture, encouraging collaboration and self-organization.
• May manage Agile Product Owners.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

What Will Our Ideal Candidate Have?

What Is a Must Have?

What Is in It for You?

Employment Practices

Travelers is an equal opportunity employer. We value the unique abilities and talents each individual brings to our organization and recognize that we benefit in numerous ways from our differences. In accordance with local law, candidates seeking employment in Colorado are not required to disclose dates of attendance at or graduation from educational institutions. If you are a candidate and have specific questions regarding the physical requirements of this role, please send us an email so we may assist you. Travelers reserves the right to fill this position at a level above or below the level included in this posting. To learn more about our comprehensive benefit programs please visit http : / / careers.travelers.com / life-at-travelers / benefits / .