Product Owner

Join us

Product Owner

Be an advocate for the business area strategy in an Agile team

Are you motivated to represent a business area within an Agile team? Do you like to negotiate and convince? As a Product Owner, your product-oriented vision and efficiency make you the key strategic link between business areas and technical teams.

You will work on product structure with business area teams, and work with Agile teams to implement functionalities through user stories.

Your responsabilities

Identify the functional and technical needs of business area users, define the entire backlog (Design, Build and Run). Use iterative logic when considering feedback from business areas for every Agile team deliverable.
Work together with product management to properly integrate business strategy and sales challenges.
Manage product modifications: schedules, cost, deliverables.
Help transform business area needs into functionalities and user stories.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE JOB

Acquisition of new skills regarding Agile methods, principles and values, and project management

Comprehensive view of projects: from core business challenges to detailed and practical development

Autonomy

A position that requires exceptional people skills The Product Owner works with the Agile teams, Architects, Project Managers, the Product Management Team, Core Business Users, etc.

Meet Bijana, Product Owner

Video transcript

Hello, my name is Biljana, I have been at Societe Generale since 2016. I started as a system engineer and then became a Scrum Master, then Product Owner on the API side and now I'm a Product Owner on the web portal side.

My job as Product Owner consists of developing a product that fits with the expectations of a business need. I'm the link between the client and the development teams.
What's my daily job? I have to identify and prioritize functional requirements. Then I cut out and prioritize these functionalities for the developers, I test them and present them as demos. The second part of the job is to have a vision of my product, establish a roadmap and adjust it if necessary, regarding the jobs needs and technical constraints. To me, a good Product Owner is someone who combines leadership, technical, business and marketing knowledges, because you have to sell your product afterwards.

What I like the most in my job is talking to lots of different people: the product manager team, dev teams, clients or architects. I also like establishing the product strategy, and finally working together as a team, because since we're in agile mode, feedbacks help us to improve.

I joined Société Générale to be able to evolve without changing companies. That's more or less what I did. Within five years, I have had four different jobs.

In addition, Société Générale supports us with business training or e-learning platforms, for example. There is also an agile center. Technically, you evolve in a rich and diverse environment. Agility also means “test and learn”, so you have more room for error. And that's pretty cool.

Profiles wanted

Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban)

Backlog management

Leadership & initiative

Leadership et force de proposition

Master’s degree in business

Frequently asked questions about Product Owner

What is a product owner?

The Product Owner (PO) works according to SCRUM methodology, itself derived from the Agile project method. The PO's mission is to maximise the value of the product they are in charge of (a website, an application, etc.) by managing the product backlog, which is the prioritised list of tasks to be carried out by teams to ensure the design, development and monitoring of the product.

What are the main tasks of a product owner?

The job description of a Product Owner includes the following tasks:

Analysing business, client, and user experience requirements;
Defining the product’s priority features;
Managing the product backlog;
Defining and monitoring the budget;
Providing technical insights;
Collaborating with the development team;
Validating the product and the delivery of its various features.

What skills are essential to become a product owner?

To become a Product Owner, the expected skills include:

The ability to prioritise;
Flexibility and adaptability;
Excellent communication and collaboration skills;
An in-depth understanding of the relevant market and user needs;
Strong data analysis skills to develop a strategic vision of this data.

What education is necessary to become a product owner?

The product owner's training can be in various fields: technology and digital, e-business, as well as digital marketing. Several training options are possible:

At least obtaining a bachelor’s degree (e.g. a B.Tech in MMI).
Higher education to master’s degree level (e.g. an MBA).

It is also possible to obtain certification such as "Scrum Product Owner” certification or "Professional Scrum Product Owner" (PSPO) certification.

How does a product owner's career evolve?

The Product Owner can evolve into:

Strategic leadership roles in product development;
An Agile/Scrum Master or Technical Leader position.

Being highly versatile, they can also become co-founders of startups.

Product owner vs. project manager: what are the differences?

While a Product Owner focusses on the product (features, evolution, etc.), a project manager is responsible for a project’s overall management, from planning to execution and monitoring.

Product owner vs. scrum master: what are the differences?

It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the roles of each. While the PO is responsible for defining and prioritising a product’s features, the Scrum Master is responsible for the working methodology to facilitate the Scrum process (structuring work into short cycles, called sprints), notably by removing obstacles encountered by the development team.

Product Owner vs product manager : what are the differences?

While the Product Owner manages the product backlog and defines priority developments, the Product Manager is responsible for the strategic vision of the product and its alignment with overall business objectives.

What is a typical day like for a product owner?

In a typical day, the Agile Product Owner participates in meetings with various project stakeholders to discuss product requirements, backlog management and backlog updates. They ensure collaboration among teams, especially the development team, and decide on features according to expected requirements.

10.

What is the average salary of a product owner?

The average salary of a Product Owner varies depending on experience, geographical location, company size, and industry. Thus, a junior Product Owner can expect a salary of between €40,000 and €50,000 per annum, while a senior product owner can earn up to €65,000 per annum.

How to join us

To get to know each other and make sure you will be happy as part of Societe Generale, please follow the below steps.

Get in touch

By responding to our job advertisement.

Tell us a little bit more about yourself

We’ll contact you for an initial exchange
and online tests.

Is it a match?

You’ll meet our operational team and human
resources partners.

Welcome!

The job is yours, and you’re ready to start the adventure.

Our latest Product Owner jobs

See all available jobs