Company Introduction
WorldStrides is the global leader in educational travel and experiential learning. The company was founded in 1967 to provide middle school travel programs to Washington, D.C., and has grown to provide a wide range of programs for more than half a million students annually to over 100 countries around the world. WorldStrides offers experiential learning programs in educational travel, performing arts, language immersion, career exploration, service-learning, study abroad, and sports. Each of these experiences helps students to see beyond the classroom and to see the world - and themselves - in new ways.

Job Description

The Product Owner is the Agile team member accountable for maximizing the value delivered by the team. This role ensures the team(s) backlog is prioritized and aligned with customer and stakeholder needs. As a member of the extended Product Management function, the PO is the team's primary customer advocate and link to business and technology strategy. They collaborate closely with business leaders, designers, developers, and other stakeholders to create value. The Product Owner enables the collective delivery team to balance the needs of multiple stakeholders while continuously defining how to deliver value to the customer. As a business subject-matter expert, the Product Owner uses product and process knowledge to create, define optimize value streams, in addition to developing business requirements and acceptance criteria for the technical delivery teams. As a link between the business and technology, the Product Owner facilitates user acceptance testing and guides the business to adopt the new way of working to meeting the business objectives.

Responsibilities

• Manage the evaluation, prioritization, backlog management of the business need for approved projects
• Collaborate with customers, stakeholders, and internal teams to define capabilities and features for the expected value creation.
• Manage the business communication for project goals and product schedules, adjusting expectations and setting priorities
• Lead the business owners through process design and unification sessions for requested capabilities and features, defining expected outcomes and metrics to measure progress
• Define business value in the form of Epics and user stories, acceptance criteria, and persona identification associated with the capabilities and features
• Lead PI planning sessions, for the assigned teams, as a business consultant for Epic selection and prioritization
• Supports the delivery team during sprints to ensure development is on track and obstacles are resolved
• Schedule and lead meetings to address issues, risks, and mitigation plans in advance of capabilities and features being delivered
• Partner with technical leads and business leaders to create UAT test plans, review and prioritize the defects, and consult on training materials for end users
• Communicate and coordinate delivery of development (beta) and production releases
• Support the identification of actions for change management and confirm business ownership of those actions
• Prepare and share project dashboards to illustrate delivery progress
• Utilize the agile development software life-cycle methodology

Work Perks

• Fun & driven environment.
• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage, life, accidental death and dismemberment, accident, critical illness, and disability insurance, FSA healthcare, FSA dependent care, HAS with employer contribution, and generous 401k match.
• 10 paid floating corporate holidays, 1 paid volunteer day & 25 PTO days to start - accrue up to 28 over 3 years, 4 mental health days, and 5 bereavement days.
• Tuition reimbursement up to five thousand, two hundred fifty dollars annually or one thousand dollars towards professional certification annually.
• Opportunities for paid and discounted travel.
• Flexible work schedule providing on-site, remote, and virtual office opportunities.
• Encouraged participation in our Employee Resource Groups and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion council.
• Fitness Center and cafe onsite at select locations.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Paid Parental, Caregiver, and Disability leave.
• Team Member Discount Program

WorldStrides, a global organization, is committed to educate and serve communities worldwide. Our commitment is fueled by the passion of our team members and partners to make experiential learning accessible, while also being socially, environmentally, and ethically responsible. Together, we accomplish this by investing in initiatives to promote inclusion, diversity, and sustainability.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, WorldStrides` is committed to building a diverse workforce, supported by an environment that promotes inclusion and belonging. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

WorldStrides will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States. This is not a position for which sponsorship will be provided. Individuals with temporary visas such as E, F-1, H-1, H-2, L, B, J or TN, or who need sponsorship for work authorization now or in the future, are not eligible for hire.

• Four-year college diploma or university degree in computer systems designs or computer science, and /or ten years equivalent work experience or training required/preferred
• Five or more years project or product management experience and three or more years of experience in related stakeholder function
• Experience with B2C and commerce channels
• Thorough understanding of Agile software development methodologies, values, and procedures.
• Thorough understanding of the software development lifecycle.
• In-depth knowledge of testing practices and techniques.
• Understanding of organization's development platform and languages.
• Ability to understand technical issues.
• Preferred experience with Higher Education