IT Product Owner

About Allied World:

Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG, through its subsidiaries and brand known as Allied World, is a global provider of innovative property, casualty and specialty insurance and reinsurance solutions.

At Allied World we have over 1,600 talented and loyal employees working in 25 offices globally who service clients throughout the world. We are focused on providing superior customer service and creative risk solutions, building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships. Our employees share our passion for progress and success, and we are looking for talented committed people to join our team.

As a subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. and a Lloyds syndicate, we are situated in the heart of the London insurance market and benefit from a wealth of experience setting us apart from our competitors on the cutting edge of innovation.

Based in the Walkie Talkie building at 20 Fenchurch Street, our office is based on the 19th floor, providing fantastic views across London. With just under 200 employees in London we pride ourselves on our warm and welcoming culture, with regular learning opportunities and support to achieve your career goals.

Allied World is an Equal Opportunities Employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to an individual’s race, colour, national origin, religion, sex, age, genetic information, or disability status. Further information on our Diversity and Inclusion values can be found here

Job Summary:

The Product Owner’s mission is to work with stakeholders to create and evolve Allied World digital products. Working closely with their Product Team Leadership, business stakeholders, end users and other functional groups (e.g., Design, Development, Infrastructure), the Product Owner will identify opportunities to improve efficiency, drive innovation, and solve business problems to support the growth of Allied World’s business. They will work with their cross-functional Product Team to implement solutions that bring value to Allied World.

Key Responsibilities:

• Understand the business need, user needs, manage priorities and establish the vision for the product
• Develop and maintain the roadmaps, release plans and backlogs
• Decompose the business needs into user stories with acceptance criteria
• Create and leverage the business case to understand and quantify the value of outcomes
• Well informed stakeholders and users – “Who”
• Identify the relevant stakeholders and users and their impact/interest
• Provide regular updates, on both strategic and tactical plans (e.g. roadmap reviews and demos)
• Grow the Agile Practice at Allied World - “How”
• Work with the team and broader organization to adopt agile practices to improve transparency, communication, effectiveness, and team happiness.
• Participate in the AW IT Community and bring new ideas and practices the community.

Requirements & Experience:

• Preferred qualification of a bachelor’s degree with product development experience
• Preferred business domain knowledge of insurance and/or reinsurance
• 3-5 years’ experience in a product role
• Experience defining and documenting epics, user stories, acceptance criteria, etc for complex solutions (preferred)
• Experience working on underwriting and pricing projects and knowledge of PAS systems e.g. Duck Creek, Guidewire and pricing systems such as Rulebook.
• Strong knowledge of UW and pricing business functions, process and operations, objectives and strategies
• Documentation of management systems & workflow application experience
• General knowledge of IT concepts, strategies and methodologies, including architectural and security concepts, systems development lifecycle, information management and portfolio management (production systems, release planning, change management)
• Demonstrated ability to communicate both in business and technical terms
• Change Agent – intellectual & analytical skills to perform research, collect & analyze data, conceptualize, and proactively manage the change, conduct user research, customer interviews and lean experiments
• Quality / Execution / Delivery – organizational, time management and motivational qualities; Ability to enable employees to perform specific tasks to achieve organizational objectives
• Team Player – communicate effectively with others, work collaboratively towards a common goal, ability to compromise & negotiate, provide support & encouragement and be flexible & adaptable; ability to work collaboratively with a team of varying skillsets
• Planning – ability to plan everyday abilities to make it easier to handle workloads, accomplish tasks and collaborate using critical thinking & communication; ability to multi-task, prioritize, and manage across multiple initiatives; highly organized with a strong attention to detail
• Emotional Intelligence (EQ) – capacity to be aware of, control and express emotions; ability to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically
• Communication – ability to facilitate group discussions with an attention to detail; ability to develop accurate written materials; action-oriented with ability to follow up on feedback to ensure positive outcomes; ability to advise and manage expectations of stakeholders, earning trust and building durable relationships
• Thinking Styles – Design Thinking – a creative, user-center problem-solving approach that revolutions product development; Agile Thinking – ability to rapidly & successfully adapt to change; ability to analyze processes and information, identify problems and trends, and develop effective solutions and strategies
• Leadership – coaching & conflict resolution skills; ability to delegate, inspire & communicate effectively; leadership traits of honesty, confidence, commitment & creativity

Our Benefits:

• Hybrid working
• Fantastic location, on the 19th floor of the Walkie Talkie/Sky Garden building
• Breakfast in the office
• Employee Share scheme
• Regular learning opportunities for professional development
• Competitive annual leave allowances
• Private Medical & Dental insurance
• Group Life Assurance
• Income protection
• Discretionary Annual Bonus
• Generous employer pension contributions
• Gym subsidy
• Regular social events

All of Allied World's rated insurance and reinsurance subsidiaries are rated A by A.M. Best Company, A by Standard & Poor's, and A2 by Moody's, and our Lloyd's Syndicate 2232 is rated A+ by Standard & Poor's and AA- by Fitch. Allied World is an Equal Opportunities Employer.