Product Owner

PLEASE NOTE: Applicants must be serving as a permanent Computer Systems Manager, in order to apply OR have a comparable civil service title.

NYCERS is in search of Product Owner within the Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO). This is a hybrid role that will leverage your knowledge and experience with both waterfall (e.g., scope requirements) and agile (e.g., incremental feature-based delivery) methodologies to drive expected business value / outcomes. You will represent the EPMO’s Programs and Projects as a bridge between the Business and other Stakeholders (e.g., IT, Communications, Legal, Project Teams, Leadership) related to product vision, scope, and requirements (the business value to help NYCERS envision and achieve successful outcomes).

You will be responsible for leading other Product Owners / Business Analyst, plus additional related tasks assigned by the Deputy Director (including owning / managing the scope / requirements for individual projects in an individual contributor Product Owner / Business Analyst capacity, as needed).

To ensure successful job performance, this role demands working knowledge of both product owner and business analysis practices, flexibility to take on tasks as assigned, ability to navigate conflict, a can do’ delivery-driven attitude, and an adaptive mindset.

Primary Responsibilities:

- Represent EPMO’s Programs and Projects group to understand the Business needs and prioritize / execute on the scope / requirements to achieve outcome-driven business value: Collaborate across the organization to help the business develop and communicate the product vision and roadmap to all relevant stakeholders and team members. Partner with the Business, IT, and other stakeholders to create valuable product outcomes. Nurture ideas and solutions to existing customer problems. Partner with the Business to create personas and journey maps. Think strategically (e.g., macro product vision, interrelationships amongst projects) and delve into the micro details (e.g., workflows).
- Learn, understand, translate, and decompose Business needs with stakeholders: Communicate effectively and work closely with team members to achieve project goals. Continuously gather feedback from users and stakeholders to inform future product / solution decisions. Work closely with stakeholders to identify and understand their needs and translate these into product requirements. Partner with the Business to create and prioritize a product backlog, ensuring the team is working on the highest
value features. Define user stories and acceptance criteria and ensure they are clearly understood by the development team. Work closely with the development team throughout the product development process, providing scope / requirements clarification and direction where needed.
- Support / Manage UAT: Ensuring it meets the defined acceptance criteria and overall quality standards (after QA has performed its validations, but before final release to the Business).
- People Leadership: Lead a group of Product Owner / Business Analysts responsible for supporting assigned product / projects related to scope, requirements, and business value / outcomes. Promote a culture of collaboration and continuous learning. Help resolve conflicts and remove scope / requirements-driven obstacles that may affect the team’s ability to meet project objectives. Schedule and lead meetings to identify issues and fixes to ensure business value / outcomes are achieved.
- Support to the EPMO Deputy Director: Serve as key and trusted partner to the EPMO Deputy Director. Assist the EPMO Deputy Director with implementing effective Product Owner / Business Analysis Governance across the EPMO’s Programs and Projects and support leadership’s Change Management vision plus other continuous improvement initiatives. Partner with the Project Portfolio Managers (PPMs) on scope / requirements progress and related impediments.
- Certifications: Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) or equivalent preferred.

COMPUTER SYSTEMS MANAGER - 10050

1. A master's degree in computer science from an accredited college or university and three (3) years of progressively more responsible, full-time, satisfactory experience in Information Technology (IT) including applications development, systems development, data communications and networking, database administration, data processing, or user services. At least eighteen (18) months of this experience must have been in an administrative, managerial or executive capacity in the areas of applications development, systems development, data communications and networking, database administration, data processing or in the supervision of staff performing these duties; or

2. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and four (4) years of progressively more responsible, full-time, satisfactory experience as described in "1" above; or

3. A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent, and six (6) years of progressively more responsible, full-time, satisfactory experience as described in "1" above; or

4. A satisfactory combination of education and experience equivalent to "1", "2" or "3" above. However, all candidates must have at least a four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent and must possess at least three (3) years of experience as described in "1" above, including the eighteen (18) months of administrative, managerial, executive or supervisory experience as described in "1" above.

In the absence of a baccalaureate degree, undergraduate credits may be substituted for a maximum of two (2) years of the required experience in IT on the basis of 30 semester credits for six (6) months of the required experience. Graduate credits in computer science may be substituted for a maximum of one (1) year of the required experience in IT on the basis of 30 graduate semester credits in computer science for one (1) year of the required IT experience. However, undergraduate and/or graduate credits may not be substituted for the eighteen (18) months of experience in an administrative, managerial, executive, or supervisory capacity as described in "1" above.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.