Director, Agile Product Owner

The American Institute of Architects (AIA):

AIA will provide you with the opportunity to advocate for the value of architecture and give architects and design professionals the resources they need to do their best work. The collective voice of architects is essential, and our work drives positive change through the power of design.

Each one of us at AIA is a leader committed to demonstrating our mission and values and designing a better future for our country and planet. Even in times of change, AIA's values remain constant:

• We stand for equity and human rights
• We stand for architecture that strengthens our communities
• We stand for a sustainable future
• We stand for protecting communities from the impacts of climate change
• We stand for economic opportunity
• We stand for investing in the future
• We speak up, and policymakers listen

The American Institute of Architects, as part of the global community, is building a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion within the profession of architecture to create a better built environment for all. Achieving this vision has a direct impact on the relevance of the profession of architecture and the world's prosperity, health, and future.

Job Summary

Reporting to the Managing Director, Digital Products Development and Operations, responsible for helping define, direct, and launch AIA digital products. The Agile Product Owner will work as a member of the Product Owners team, on product (s) as assigned, and oversee products as each advance through the conceptualization, deployment and release lifecycle. The Agile Product Owner will continuously engage the internal stakeholders to ensure the Digital Products Development and Operations team is building the right product, and therefore delivering the ROI expected of it.

Strategy and Leadership

• Lead a strategic initiative from the beginning stages and lay the infrastructure for future growth.
• Organize and align stakeholders across the organization to contribute to the strategic initiative, discuss the value, help foster participation and collaboration.
• Manage competing stakeholder demands and goals to ensure that a beneficial product is gained by all.
• Make decisions decisively that will impact immediate and long-term growth opportunities and own all decision ramifications.
• With the Managing Director, Digital Products Development and Operations, serve as one of the primary points of contact for this initiative between the Senior Leadership Team and Digital Products.

Planning and Stakeholder management

• Plan product development.
• Work with stakeholders to establish the product vision, goals and roadmap and refine when necessary.
• Discuss the expectations and the progression of the product with business users and customers.
• Lead business analysis sessions to support new and enhancement development efforts.
• Develop and communicate the vision of the product being developed.
• Create user stories, user acceptance criteria, epics, process maps, data mapping and formal requirements documentation.
• Prioritize the requirements/User Stories based on their business value and risks.
• Define the goals of Sprints and Releases.
• Communicate with the business users and stakeholders on a regular basis to provide feedback on progress of the implementation of the vision.
• Work with the product key stakeholders and contributors to develop training resources and provide internal and external stakeholder training on an as needs basis.
• Participate in meetings and accurately capture meeting notes and perform post-meeting communication to attendees.

Product Development and Release

• Manage the Product Backlog.
• Participate in change management process to evaluate change requests and assess the benefits.
• Ensure and assist in achieving and meeting project deadlines and schedules.
• Support UAT activities, to include defect triage, solution recommendation and prioritization.
• Work with developers to help prepare for upcoming sprints by reviewing business requirements.
• Support developers throughout the sprint by answering their questions, for the goal of completing committed stories at the conclusion of the sprint.
• Participate in internal product testing.
• Successfully launch products in conjunction with the IT Project Management team, and plan/prioritize and execute the next features.
• Prepare status reports on an as needs basis.
• Define and document products using Jira and Confluence, and other approved platforms.
• Lead the communications and collaboration with customers, tech team and external partners to optimize activities.
• Provide group facilitation, vision and direction to key stakeholders and contributors throughout the project ensuring requirements are developed and implemented efficiently.
• Participate in team meetings to discuss process improvement strategy to meet business goals and objectives.
• Manage schedules, which may include secondary resources and delivery of assigned AIA digital products.
• Conduct business process analysis and provide recommendations for process improvement.
• Oversee development stages including sprint planning, refinement and review.
• Evaluate product progress from each iteration.
• Collaborate with customers ensuring that release plan expectations are set.
• Assess and plan beyond the immediate business needs; position our products in such a way so that they can grow and enhance value and potentially create new revenue opportunities.
• Work closely with cross-functional agile project teams and help drive projects across the product design, development, testing and deployment.
• Keep stakeholders apprised of progress, timelines, important updates.
• Responsible for budget management.

Frequent contacts:

• Technology Team
• AIA Staff

Qualifications

• Demonstrated understanding of agile development processes, software, user interface design and the business needs.
• Demonstrated ability to simplify complex and sometimes competing requirements.
• Previous experience planning and delivering complex digital solutions.
• Knowledge and passion for emerging technologies and how they are used to empower developers and businesses to deliver great products.
• Strategic thinking and an ability to effectively identify opportunities for growth in new businesses and markets.
• Tactical thinking and an ability to identify and prioritize opportunities in highly ambiguous contexts, and then organize thematic work areas in deep detail, thus aligning long term vision with iterative execution.
• Excellent people management and mentorship skills.
• Excellent communication and partnership skills for interacting and communicating with key stakeholders at all levels across the company to manage, inform and influence outcomes.
• A team player who brings a passionate, positive, professional, and high-energy approach to delivering results.
• Working knowledge of human-centered design methodologies and product development.
• Experience with Atlassian Tool Suite or similar team-based planning, tracking, and collaboration suite, as well as adaptability to additional tools and processes as needed.

Bachelor or Masters' degree in Computer Science, Business Administration, or related field with a minimum of 7 years of related experience. Certified Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Scrum or Product Owner, including a minimum of 7 years' experience in Agile Product Management

Supervisory Requirements:

None

What we offer

We offer a comprehensive benefits package that reflects our company values and workplace culture, including:

• Medical, vision and dental
• 401(k)
• Flexibility
• Paid time off
• Flexible spending accounts
• Income protection (Life Insurance Coverage up to 2x salary) & disability plans at no cost.
• Tuition and membership reimbursements
• AIA employees have access to a variety of other programs, including:
  1. Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for employees and their family members
  2. Computer purchase program
  3. Fitness club discounts
  4. Prepaid legal services program
  5. Identity theft protection

Travel Requirements: N/A

Work Location: 100% Remote from the Washington DC area only

All AIA employees in the DC metro area are currently working remotely during our office renovation.

Employees in the DC Metro area will return to a hybrid work environment in the newly renovated office at the completion of the renovation in the Fall 2025.

Equal Opportunity Employer, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.