Product Owner

Purpose Financial is an independent financial services company with an unrelenting focus on customer-centric innovation, delivered through technology-driven solutions. Led by entrepreneur Som Seif, the company is developing a diversified product platform aimed at addressing historically underserved segments of the market. Purpose Financial's businesses include Purpose Investments, Purpose Advisor Solutions, and Thinking Capital.

Who is Thinking Capital:

At Thinking Capital, we’re changing the landscape of financial technology!  Simply put, our mission is to empower Canadian small businesses through innovative financial services. At the heart of our offering is our digital experience, which is powered by our proprietary software platform, our real time connections to a multitude of data sources and our advanced data science models. We are squarely in the corner of owners and entrepreneurs, providing for them, and at the right moment, the financial support they need to grow and thrive.

Your role:

Reporting to the VP of Product, the Product Owner(PO) represents the “voice of the customer” and functions at the intersection of product and technology to promote shared understanding between all impacted parties. The PO focuses on maximizing the value of the product and the work of the Scrum team. Being the subject matter expert of his/her product, the PO makes sound tactical decisions to ensure the backlog is prioritized to deliver the best value with minimal resources. 

The ideal candidate is an excellent communicator who does not just care about the message being communicated, but also about what is understood by the audience. Being an expert storyteller, the ideal PO aligns understanding across all parties that are impacted by up-coming changes to their product. They do not simply embrace change but leverage change to strengthen implementation strategy to deliver more effectively in a fast-paced environment. When it comes to backlog prioritization, the PO excels at managing expectations of various stakeholders with conflicting priorities. A demonstrated history of bringing product to successful iterative releases is a must. 

Key tasks of a PO:

1. Participate actively in initiative envisioning with product team

2. Ensure stories reflect the real pain point and business need of stakeholders

3. Prioritize product backlog based on balanced input from various stakeholders

4. Negotiate/adjust backlog prioritization decision based on technical complexity, size and dependencies

5. Write and tell stories to ensure they are understood by Engineering team

6. Collaborate with  Engineering team to slice business needs into Epic/stories that are conducive to development

7. Invest time with  Engineering team to ensure success delivery of milestone and roadmap

8. Ensure stories that are done meet acceptance criteria

9. Coordinate UAT with the collaboration of Engineering team and stakeholders

10. Promote continuous learning via retrospectives to increase rate of value delivery

We want to hear from you if you have the following skillset:

• 5 or more years of experience as a Product Owner

• Solid understanding of Agile Framework an asset

• Proven ability of getting the right story and getting the story right

• Expert storyteller who is familiar with story mapping an asset

• Strong organizational skills with a proven ability to prioritize activities effectively

• Demonstrated interpersonal skills with the ability to guide and direct team members towards successful completion of initiatives

• Critical thinker that brings solutions to the table and not just the problems

• Team player who is highly driven

• Detail-oriented and cares about precisions

• Technically savvy with strong business acumen

• Excellent written and oral communication skills

• Bilingual (spoken and written) in French and English an asset

Why you should join us?

•  We believe in innovation and vibrant culture - work for an innovative, people-first, financial services firm that values entrepreneurialism
• We believe in a flexible work structure – A flexible hybrid work model that empowers you to do your best work whether at home or at the office
• We care about your rewards - Competitive compensation including equity programs
• We care about your health – comprehensive group health and dental benefits and life insurance, including a Lifestyle Spending Account for all your wellness needs
• We care about your rest - a flexible paid-time-off policy with unlimited vacation days, flexible sick and mental health days
• We care about your family - Paid parental leave for eligible employees with top-up
• We care about your future – Group RRSP matching and TFSA program in Purpose funds
• We care about your development – subsidies are available for courses and tuition

Purpose Financial is an equal employer and we are dedicated to fostering an inclusive and barrier-free work environment for all employees and candidates. We encourage all qualified candidates to apply and if accommodation is required during any stage of the recruitment process, please contact any member of the Talent team. We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those selected for interviews will be contacted.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently working from home. The safety and wellbeing of our teams is our top priority and office time is currently available on a voluntary basis. Our future work philosophy will be a hybrid model allowing for flexibility and collaboration.

For safety reasons, Purpose Financial has adopted a vaccination policy that allows only fully vaccinated employees to enter our offices.