Product Owner Consultant (Remote)

Purpose

Serves as a senior authority over Product Owners and product teams within CareFirst’s Government Programs portfolio, including Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and ACA offerings. This role is responsible for driving the prioritization and execution of complex claims-related initiatives, leveraging deep expertise in FACETS to ensure effective delivery and alignment with regulatory and business requirements. Leads and manages complex product and project requirements, introducing innovative tools, frameworks, and best practices to enhance delivery outcomes. Oversees the development and enhancement of products supporting Government Programs, ensuring they meet the needs of both internal stakeholders and external members. Establishes and communicates clear business value for all initiatives, while providing strategic insights into opportunities, risks, and trade-offs to support informed decision-making and successful program execution.

Responsibilities

• Leads the development of two or more product portfolios and provides workable solutions to satisfy customer and market expectations in close collaboration with stakeholders, Product managers, product Owners, and scrum teams.
• Collaborates with senior leaders to identify and plan product releases by reviewing milestones with stakeholders; manages the continual development of existing products; coordinates and organizes workshops with product users using the discover and define approach; validates hypothesis and implements best solutions.
• Drives solutioning and long-term technical roadmap for complex products or products lines, ensuring they align with business goals and market demands.
• Communicates regularly with Products Managers and Product Owners to implement technical solutions; conducts product training to partners, staff, identifies need for individual/team training opportunities.
• Manages Product Blacklog(s) for the development teams by using product road mapping and backlog management tools; works closely with testing managers to ensure product functionality is properly tested against business requirements; leads change control processes to reflect project priorities.
• Aides in the development process by attending product refinement, sprint planning, and sprint reviews; contributes to wider initiatives and activities that support and increase customer satisfaction.
• Leads a team utilizing a matrix management system.

Qualifications

• Education Level: Bachelor's Degree in Product Management, Engineering, Information Technology or related field OR in lieu of a Bachelor's degree, an additional 4 years of relevant work experience is required in addition to the required work experience.
• Experience: 10 years product owner experience with an in-depth knowledge of agile process and principles and/or product manager experience.
• Licenses/Certifications: Preferred upon hire: Certified Scrum Product Owner; Preferred: Certified Agile Product Owner, SAFe Agile Product Owner Certification.
• Knowledge, Skills And Abilities (KSAs): Proficient in project planning and life cycle development; Excellent communication skills both written and verbal; Proficient in Agile methodologies, principles, and procedures; Ability to use Product KPIs and business metrics to optimize the product; Ability to recognize, analyze, and solve a variety of problems; Ability to analyze, organize and prioritize work while meeting multiple deadlines; Ability to define and articulate how proposed backlog items drive measurable outcomes, improve Star Ratings, or member retention; Ability to gather requirements from key stakeholders to build holistic user stories; Ability to respond quickly to shifting regulatory environments or operational blockers, ensuring the team can deliver; Ability to identify opportunities to enhance plan design or digital member experience based on competitive benchmarking and emerging models; Ability to build alignment with stakeholders who have competing priorities; Ability to advocate for user needs while balancing enterprise constraints; Strong ability to maintain trust with business needs, communicate tradeoffs clearly, and manage expectations.