Product Owner

Position Summary:

Join a team focused on the success of our customers, the success of our communities, and the success of each other. Farm Credit East (FCE) is the leading provider of loans and farm advisory services to farm, forest product, fishing, and other agricultural business owners across the northeast with $11.7 billion in total loan volume and $29 million in annual financial services revenue from 18,000 customers across our 8-state territory. We are One Team Working Together with a focus on our five pillars: Outstanding Customer and Employee Experience, Quality Growth, Operational Excellence, Commitment to our Communities, and Protecting Customer Information.

The Product Owner at Farm Credit East plays a pivotal role in steering the evolution of our core systems that underpin credit delivery, advisory services, and internal operations processes. The mission is to oversee the lifecycle of key platforms and products such as customer applications, customer relationship management, digital banking, tax preparation, and loan processing. Collaborating seamlessly with fellow product owners, you will co-create the Farm Credit East suite of experiences acting as a primary or secondary owner on multiple systems. The Product Owner’s strategic acumen and innovative mindset are crucial as they spearhead enhancements in our foundational systems, including CCH, DNA, Q2 Online Banking, AgWorx (Salesforce and nCino), Farm Credit Connect (Experience Cloud) and GL.

The Product Owner drives product strategy by defining and prioritizing features aligned with business goals. This person leads product development and delivery through effective backlog management and sprint planning, while ensuring adherence to company governance and standards. This role ensures clear product communication between internal/external stakeholders and development teams, fostering collaboration to deliver high-quality products that meet user needs and deliver business outcomes.

The value drivers for this role are as follows:

• Provides strategic leadership for products in your purview to continually develop, enhance and evolve those items to optimal employee and customer experiences.
• Innovates, collaboratively and individually, to deliver a best-in-class experience at a pace sufficient to continually improve our competitive position while maintaining high levels of adoption through an engaged EX and CX. 

We offer generous benefits including: a 6% 401K match plus an additional defined contribution retirement plan, medical, dental, HSA, paid annual holiday and sick leave, FSA, life insurance, and a bonus incentive program. Potential for tuition reimbursement, including Project Management certification courses. Farm Credit East provides all team members with the training and resources needed to be successful in their careers. Technical training, soft skill training, and ongoing professional development provided by Farm Credit East will help you be poised for continued career growth within our organization.  We use state of the art technology for customer relations (Salesforce), internal communication (Microsoft TEAMS) and delivery of services.

Come join a collaborative, customer-focused team at Farm Credit East!

Duties and Responsibilities:

Product Strategy and Vision

• Develop and communicate a clear product vision and strategy aligned with business goals.
• Conduct market research and competitor analysis to identify opportunities and inform product roadmaps.
• Define and prioritize product features, ensuring alignment with customer needs and business objectives.

Product Development and Delivery

• Own the product backlog, ensuring it is well-groomed, prioritized, and aligned with the overall product strategy.
• Lead sprint planning, review, and retrospective meetings, ensuring continuous improvement in product delivery.
• Collaborate with development teams to ensure timely delivery of high-quality products that meet or exceed stakeholder expectations.
• Ensure all product development and delivery processes adhere to corporate governance standards and policies.

Product Communication

• Act as the primary liaison between business stakeholders, development teams, and other key partners.
• Facilitate clear and consistent communication across all levels of the organization regarding product goals, status, and updates.
• Gather and refine requirements from stakeholders, translating them into actionable user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Conduct regular reviews of product performance with stakeholders, ensuring transparency and accountability

Product Collaboration

• Foster a collaborative environment among cross-functional teams, encouraging open communication and teamwork.
• Work closely with application business owners, business analysts, project managers, organizational change management, and product leadership to ensure alignment and successful product delivery.
• Champion the voice of the customer, ensuring user-centric design and functionality.
• Drive a culture of innovation, encouraging the team to explore new ideas and approaches to solve business challenges.

Job Qualifications and Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture, Agri-Business, Economics, Finance, Business or a related field.
• Salary range: $80,000-$110,000 commensurate with experience 

Farm Credit East is an Equal Opportunity Employer. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, parental status, political affiliation, disability status, protected veteran status, genetic information or any other status protected by federal, state or local law. It is our goal to make employment decisions that further the principle of equal employment opportunity by utilizing objective standards based upon an individual's qualifications for a specific job opening. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), if you have a disability and would like a reasonable accommodation in order to apply for a position with Farm Credit East, please call 1-800-562-2235 or e-mail FarmCreditCareers@farmcrediteast.com.