Product Owner - API.
Job DescriptionThe Product Owner is responsible for delivery excellence in turning strategy into a prioritized backlog of features and stories, with clear line-of-sight into systems analysis. The primary goal is to deliver high-value product increments that achieve measurable business outcomes, supported by clear systems-analysis insight.
This role will focus on understanding the business, story refinement, backlog ownership, sprint readiness, acceptance criteria, UAT coordination, and outcome-focused prioritization. Within the SDLC, this role leads sprint/PI planning and ensures backlog readiness, validates stories, and drives delivery through the full SDLC to deployment. This position owns all delivery, acceptance, sign-off, and approval decisions, including final approval of any functionality delivered by the team.
In addition, this role will play a key part in API-enabled partner and client implementations, helping translate external integration needs into scalable product capabilities and delivery plans. This includes working with internal and external stakeholders to understand integration requirements, define API-related backlog items, support the creation and maintenance of API documentation, and contribute to a consistent partner onboarding experience through playbooks, implementation guidance, and process improvements.
This role is preferred hybrid in our Glastonbury, CT, or Eatontown, NJ, or remote in Eastern time zone.
What you will do:- Consistent application of agile frameworks (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe), focusing on predictability, transparency, and continuous improvement.
- Ceremonies (daily stand ups, refinement, sprint planning, demos, retros) with consistency and ongoing maturity.
- Collaborate with RTE, Business Leaders, Architecture, and Engineering to maintain a unified program level view of delivery.
- Maintain clear documentation and process reinforcement.
- Ensure backlogs are healthy, prioritized, scoped, and have final acceptance and release sign off.
- Complete intake, prioritization, and refinement process to ensure.
- Certify all work products across the entire SDLC, including UAT, release readiness, and production deployment approval.
- Ensure cross functional alignment among agile delivery, UX, QA, Compliance, and Engineering on definition of ready/done and release standards.
- Ask the right probing questions to translate business requests into well-defined, actionable work, ensuring shared understanding of technical complexity, dependencies, risks, and delivery impacts.
- Partner with business, engineering, and external stakeholders to support API-based implementations for new partners and clients, gathering and documenting integration requirements, workflows, data needs, technical constraints, and onboarding expectations.
- Translate API integration needs into features, user stories, acceptance criteria, process flows, implementation plans, and API/partner documentation, while working closely with engineering to validate capabilities, identify gaps, and support successful adoption.
Stakeholder Collaboration & Alignment- Address and resolve conflicts, cross team dependencies, or delivery risks in collaboration with End Users, Engineering, UX/design, Compliance, Operations and other parts of the business.
- Partner with Engineering and the business to ensure clear problem statements, feasibility validation, and outcome definition.
- Use influence rather than authority to align business and IT stakeholders on scope, priorities, tradeoffs, and implementation approach throughout the delivery lifecycle.
- Collaborate with external partners, clients, business teams, and technical teams to align on implementation goals, integration requirements, scope, timelines, responsibilities, and success criteria, ensuring API solutions are scalable, usable, and aligned to business objectives.
Continuous Improvement & Effectiveness- Meet key deliverables including but not limited to prioritized backlogs, defect management, user stories, acceptance criteria, release plans, UAT plans, final acceptance and approval of all delivered functionality, all with ongoing communication and timely follow through, with a focus on delivering Value.
- Drive continuous improvement through post-mortem.
- Convert business needs into clear, technically feasible requirements by asking targeted questions, identifying ambiguity, and validating scope, dependencies, and implementation considerations with IT partners.
- Identify and drive improvements to API implementation processes, partner onboarding workflows, documentation standards, and overall delivery efficiency by incorporating lessons learned into playbooks, onboarding materials, and backlog priorities.
- Other duties as assigned.
What you will bring to C&F:- Bachelor's degree from accredited institution or equivalent experience.
- 3 - 7+ years of experience required in Product, Business Analysis, or Systems Analysis.
- Understanding of backlog management, agile delivery, program increment planning, and cross team coordination.
- Demonstrated experience eliciting requirements through effective questioning, stakeholder interviews, and refinement sessions to clarify scope, dependencies, and technical impacts.
- Proven ability to influence and align cross-functional stakeholders across business and IT teams without direct authority.
- Experience working with APIs, system integrations, or technical partner implementations preferred, including gathering requirements for external partner/client integrations.
- Experience translating integration needs into clear business and technical deliverables, such as API requirements, implementation guides, process flows, user stories, acceptance criteria, and onboarding materials, preferred.
- Insurance industry experience is a plus.
- Scaled Agile Framework SAFe or Scrum certifications are a plus.
- Understanding of Agile and Scrum methodologies.
- Knowledge of product ownership best practices.
- Exceptional collaboration ability, problem-solving and analytical skills with attention to detail.
- Excellent communication skills, stakeholder alignment, and conflict resolution skills.
- Ability to effectively lead multiple projects simultaneously, drive results and prioritize tasks.
- Effective technical writing skills.
- Ability to ask insightful, probing questions that clarify business intent, uncover gaps or assumptions, and define scope in a way that supports effective technical delivery.
- Demonstrated ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders and build alignment across business and IT teams without direct authority.
- Strong aptitude for connecting business objectives to technical execution, including understanding dependencies, risks, tradeoffs, and delivery impacts.
- Working knowledge of APIs and system integrations, with the ability to translate technical concepts for business stakeholders and support new partner/client implementations through requirements gathering, process definition, and cross-functional coordination.
- Experience creating API and workflow documentation, implementation guides, and partner-facing onboarding materials, with the ability to help design scalable onboarding approaches, playbooks, and repeatable implementation processes.
#LI-MS
#LI-REMOTE
What C&F will bring to you- Competitive compensation package
- Generous 401K employer match
- Employee Stock Purchase plan with employer matching
- Generous Paid Time Off
- Excellent benefits that go beyond health, dental & vision. Our programs are focused on your whole family's wellness, including your physical, mental and financial wellbeing
- A core C&F tenet is supporting your career development, so we provide a wealth of ways for you to keep learning, which may include tuition reimbursement, industry-related certifications and professional training to keep you progressing on your chosen path
- A dynamic, ambitious, fun and exciting work environment
- We believe you do well by doing good and want to encourage a spirit of social and community responsibility, matching donation program, volunteer opportunities, and an employee-driven corporate giving program that lets you participate and support your community
