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Product Owner

MDL IT Asst Director I

Recruitment #25-001638-0002

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Introduction

Maryland Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) makes sure all workers in Maryland have paid time off for medical and family reasons.  FAMLI is a social insurance system covering 2.6 million workers and 180,000 employers, delivered as digitally native, public-facing services.  We're in the early stages of building something as big and as far-reaching as unemployment insurance or a new health department.

Our Digital Services team brings a modern and cross-disciplinary approach to creating, launching, and continuously improving the digital services powering paid leave in Maryland.  The team is responsible for providing human-centered experiences to workers who need to take paid leave, employers who need to provide paid leave, and FAMLI staff who process claims and provide direct support to the public. 

The role we're looking to fill is a career-defining opportunity for someone passionate about using product management and service design principles to deliver transformative digital services in a government space.  The Product Owner is a unique, cross-cutting role that is meant to be the champion for user experience across all system components and is responsible for prioritizing, organizing, and delivering outcomes for a core audience, which may be external (e.g. employers, workers) or internal (FAMLI staff). 

This role is remote, but you'll often commute to the FAMLI office in downtown Baltimore and throughout Maryland to collaborate with the team and FAMLI leadership. 

FAMLI's Values 

  • Equity & accessibility - We are building a service to support all Maryland workers, families and employers, even during life's most vulnerable moments.  You should be adept at thinking broadly about our audiences and their needs, advocating for their needs and for including them in our work. 
  • Adaptability - We are building not only a new service, but a new team with new processes.  You should have the skills to pivot and iterate based on feedback and learnings and to support a team in doing so, as well. 
  • Accountability - We strive to be accountable to the Marylanders we serve, our partner agencies and the team members we work with.  You should have a vision of how we incorporate our audiences into our work and experience leading successful product delivery through clear communication, goal setting, and process optimization.
  • Empathy - We seek to understand others: their feelings, their situation, their point of view.  You should be a strong relationship builder, connecting your colleagues and encouraging them to understand each other's needs and motivations. 

GRADE

0022

LOCATION OF POSITION

Maryland Department of Labor/FAMLI
100 South Charles Street 
Baltimore, Maryland 21201

Main Purpose of Job

The Product Owner reports to the Director of Product Management in the Division of Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) at the Maryland Department of Labor (MD Labor). The Product Owner is responsible for the end-to-end user experience for their assigned user type (e.g. employers, workers, FAMLI staff), coordinating work across teams using an agile approach. The Product Owner leads end-to-end service delivery vision, prioritizations, backlog, and acceptance criteria.

POSITION DUTIES

Duties of this position include, but are not limited to:

  • Ensures consistent user experience (including self-service support, in-call support, written material, etc.) across workstreams and channels.
  • Oversees assigned workstream and works closely with the Staff Engineer and Senior Designer to continuously review the business needs, refine priorities, outline milestones and deliverables, and identify opportunities and risks for their user type. 
  • Sets high-level priorities for the workstream and works closely with delivery teams to ensure that the right work is getting into each sprint. 
  • Coordinates with all relevant team members to ensure alignment of both experience and technology roadmaps for internal and external stakeholders. 
  • Helps build a cohesive team culture of alignment, trust, empowerment, and collective investment in the success of their products. 
  • Sets measurable goals for their products and reports progress against these to build trust among users and partners. 
  • Builds trust with our vendor partners and develops their understanding of the needs of FAMLI's users and stakeholders. 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

  • Five or more years of experience in product management, including
    1. Managing cross-functional teams in a remote-first environment.
    2. Working collaboratively with key stakeholders (e.g. internal teams, subject matter experts, policy) to understand product requirements.
    3. Working iteratively with users of digital products to define, build, improve, and maintain those products.
    4. Making effective digital product trade-off decisions that balance feasibility, user needs, value, and time.
  • Demonstrated knowledge of modern digital product delivery practices, including continuous delivery and user research. 

DESIRED OR PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

We're hiring a team of multiple Product Owners.  We prefer all candidates to have:
  • A keen interest in the challenges of public-sector service design
  • Experience building alignment with stakeholders
  • Experience with human-centered design
  • Experience collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams to translate a product vision into a backlog and lead the team through smooth and continuous delivery. 
  • Experience with agile software development
  • A history of having generated creative ideas to complex problems and followed through on the implementation of solutions
  • An ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders, cross-functional teams, and business lines

We'd like candidates to also have knowledge of one or more of the following:
  • Paid family and medical leave programs, policies, and users
  • Salesforce, especially Public Sector Solutions and/or Benefits Management
  • Program-level data reporting and analytics
  • Knowledge management tools

Selection Plan

All candidates are subject to a background check against files maintained by the Division of Unemployment Insurance (Labor/DUI) to determine whether any monies are owed to Labor/DUI as a result of unemployment insurance overpayment/fraud.  Any unpaid debt may have an impact on whether or not a candidate is offered employment.

SELECTION PROCESS

All information concerning the qualifications, including any required documentation (resume, written introduction) must be submitted and received by the closing date.  Information submitted after this date will not be considered.  Applications that meet minimum and/or selective qualifications will be referred to the hiring unit for interview selection.  Units will select those candidates most closely demonstrating the qualifications for the interview.

A resume and written introduction must be included for this position.  In the introduction, briefly explain (maximum of 2 pages): 
  • Your core skills to a government employee who isn't familiar with product management  
  • Why you believe your experience and expertise will benefit the launch of paid leave in Maryland 
  • A project, accomplishment, or lesson from your government service experience that highlights your skillsets
  • Your experience with any of the following: paid family and medical leave programs, policies, and users; Salesforce, especially Public Sector Solutions and/or Benefits Management; call centers; program-level data reporting and analytics; knowledge management tools

Please upload one Word or PDF file that includes your combined resume and written introduction using the "Transcript" upload function or via the JobAps "Other" tab.

EXAMINATION PROCESS

The assessment may consist of a rating of your education, training, and experience related to the requirements of the position.  It is important that you provide complete and accurate information on your application.

BENEFITS

This is a full-time, permanent position and eligible for full State benefits, which include:

  • Flexible hours and hybrid teleworking
  • Paid holidays 12-13 per year 
  • Generous paid leave package (annual, sick, personal and compensatory leave)
  • State Pension ("defined benefits" plan)
  • Tax-deferred supplemental retirement savings plans (401 (k) and 457) Comprehensive, subsidized health, dental and prescription plans with little to no deductibles, free generic prescriptions, and free preventative health services 
  • Flexible Spending Account plans for Health Care and Daycare
  • State Employees Credit Union
To learn more, please click this link:  STATE OF MARYLAND BENEFITS

FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS

Please contact Tiffany.Lott-Mallard1@maryland.gov for additional information concerning this recruitment.  Online applications are strongly preferred.  A resume and written introduction are required for this position; see the details for the written introduction under Selection Process.  Please upload one Word or PDF file that includes your combined resume and written introduction using the "Transcript" upload function or via the JobAps "Other" tab.

If you are unable to apply online, or encounter difficulty attaching required or optional documentation, you may submit via mail or deliver in person.  Please be sure to include your name, identification number (Easy ID#) and job announcement number on any documentation to ensure timely processing. 

PLEASE DO NOT FAX OR EMAIL UNSOLICITED DOCUMENTATION

Maryland Department of Labor 
Office of Administration 
Attn: Tiffany Lott-Mallard 25-001638-0002
100 S. Charles Street Tower 1
Suite 5000
Baltimore, Maryland 21201

The MD State Application Form can be found online


Maryland Department of Labor, is an equal opportunity employer.  It is policy of DOL that all persons have equal opportunity and access to employment opportunities, services, and facilities without regard to race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin or ancestry, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, disability or veteran status. 



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