Investment Product Owner (Derivatives)

Summary

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Derivatives Product Owner to drive the vision, strategy, and roadmap of our middle and back-office processing solutions for derivatives. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of derivatives asset classes, including associated business processes and internal/vended technology capabilities, with a focus on designing, testing, and choosing optimal workflows. In close partnership with the Head of the Derivatives Center of Excellence and the Head of Derivatives Controllership, the Product Owner will play a key role in ensuring the seamless integration of new tools and enhancements tied to the processing & administration of these investments. This newly created role is responsible for strategic change, liaising with both day-to-day operational business teams (i.e. Investment Operations and Controllership) as well as technology teams (i.e. Enterprise Technology), and managing priorities for derivatives across functional areas. The Product Owner will be accountable for not only assessing trade-offs, but making and owning decisions intended to improve the derivatives asset class at MassMutual.

The Team

The Derivatives Product Owner will join the Investment Operations Transformation team as part of a new, centralized Product Owner group. The Product Owner’s responsibility extends across the lifecycle of the asset class through operations and accounting and the Product Owner team is expected to work in close partnership with the Investment Operations Center of Excellence, Investment Controllership, and Technology teams. The goal of this group is to build comprehensive expertise in MassMutual process and operations flow ensuring there is a consistent approach for treatment across asset classes. As a critical point of distinction, the Investment Operations Transformation team and the Product Owner will remain segregated from day to day “Business As Usual” (BAU) work. 

Impact

The Product Owner will have impact in the following 5 areas:

Strategy & Vision

• Drive product vision, strategy, and roadmap for business architecture and process flows supporting derivatives servicing in coordination with Investment Operations, Controllership and Technology Teams.
• Responsible for ensuring vision, strategy and roadmap are communicated to relevant stakeholders
• Develop deep domain expertise in MassMutual business processes and internal/vended technology capabilities, tying this with their knowledge of the asset type, and ensuring that this knowledge is not only conveyed appropriately but also factored into the strategy and roadmap

Process

• Own business requirements definitions for derivatives projects and initiatives, incorporating input from business users
• Serve as the first line of defense in business UAT testing to free up capacity for business users
• Maintain and sign off on documentation for key business processes and the asset class operating model. Related initiatives can range from small- to large-scale and can have far-reaching impact to processing workflows across the entire ecosystem for the entire asset-class
• Ensure key business processes are understood by technology counterparts

Roadmap

• Drive project planning, sizing, and delivery timelines for the project queue and backlog based on capability gaps, in close collaboration with the Corporate Functions PMO and Enterprise Technology project management resources
• Represent the interests of the derivatives process in the investment ecosystem transformation program by liaising with operational end users to gather requirements, by performing testing, and by incorporating user input in recommendations
• Assess, own, and be accountable for recommending go-forward prioritization decisions in partnership with Investment Operations, Controllership, and Technology colleagues
• Collaborate with other Product Owners to determine resourcing needs and project dependencies within and across products, articulating trade-offs to business users and senior/executive leadership
• Rationalize requests for new tools, enhancements, or issue resolutions from operational teams, considering existing solutions and current projects, and escalate and monitor with appropriate vendor/external oversight teams as needed

Communication

• Maximize the value of tech investments by driving change management, socialization, and adoption of tech strategies and tools.
• Manage interactions between operational and technology teams, communicating business needs into technical requirements, and negotiating priorities with tech/data based on business needs.
• Advocate for operational team requirements, escalate emerging trade-offs, and support decision-making by senior/executive leadership.
• Communicate with all levels of Investment Operations and Controllership teams, partnering closely with the Head of the Derivatives Center of Excellence and the Head of Derivatives Controllership as primary points of contact

Metrics

• Establish KPIs and track application/platform adoption using tools and reports.
• Track issues raised and their time to resolution.
• Monitor the business impact of programs and initiatives to ensure targeted outcomes of strategic change are being realized.

Min Qualifications

• Proven experience 5+ years as a Product Owner or similar role
• Strong understanding of Investment Operations and Accounting technology and processes, with expertise in the derivatives asset classes
• 10+ years’ related experience in financial services, insurance, or related industry

Ideal Qualifications

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, highly collaborative
• Ability to manage multiple projects and prioritize tasks effectively
• Experience in project planning and resource allocation
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

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MassMutual is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer Minority/Female/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/Individual with Disability/Protected Veteran. We welcome all persons to apply. Note: Veterans are welcome to apply, regardless of their discharge status.

If you need an accommodation to complete the application process, please contact us and share the specifics of the assistance you need.