Product Owner & Business Analyst

Alpha Data Solutions

Job Description: Product Owner & Business Analyst

Role Summary

To articulate to clients, prospects and internal stakeholders:

• the business strategy, product vision & roadmap as well as differentiation against a defined competitor set
• the value proposition and client business case for ADS products and solutions, highlighting industry trends and problem statements that our products address
• the internal business case for new features to support achievement of the ADS business plan objectives of Business growth, Operating Margin and Client satisfaction

To oversee technical delivery of product roadmaps that maximise the value of the product resulting from work of the Development Team. Related activities include:

• Expressing Product Backlog items and User Stories and (re)prioritising the Product Backlog to best achieve goals and missions
• Optimizing the value of the work the Development Team performs and remaining available to the Team to articulate requirements at the level of detail needed
• Ensuring that the Product Backlog is visible, transparent, and clear to all, and shows what the Development Team will work on next
• Define the scope and client communication strategy for major product releases, including ownership of user acceptance testing and Product Owner release signoffs

To support business development activity & pre-sales activity to win new clients for assigned solution components, client segments and products. Related activities include:

• Owning product demonstration environments to deliver solution demos
• Supporting client pitches, presentations and Proof of Value initiatives
• Providing technical expertise and SME input to RFP and DDQ responses

To support the implementation and ongoing support of live clients as an ADS Product SME for assigned solution components, client segments and products. Related activities include:

• Guiding implementation teams and clients across the solution design, onboarding and go-love process to requisite quality per the delivery plan
• Delivering assigned tasks including briefing the client on approach and data issues, responding to requests for product customisations, QA of software delivery and outputs and transition to the Business as Usual (BAU) operating model
• Providing second line support implementation and BAU Support teams regarding product defects, enhancement requests and client education, helping to design and specify workarounds and resolutions as user stories with acceptance criteria

Lead ADS business and technical Research & Development initiatives to further advance solutions and client value propositions as an ADS Product SME. Related activities include:

• Working with the wider Solution and Development teams to explore new technologies, data and software integrations and functional capabilities to drive product differentiation
• Conduct deep technical or data analysis to expedite product decisions, validate working assumptions and prove out problem statements
• Conduct market and product feasibility research relating to the business, competitor and regulatory landscape informing product opportunities for new ADS products

Organisation & Reporting Lines

Reporting to:

• Solution Owner, Alpha Data Solutions
• Implementation Leads – matrix reporting lines for assigned product implementations (as Product SME)
• Head of Professional Services – matrix reporting line for assigned live clients (as Product SME)

Indicative Effort Allocation across responsibilities (average over 12 months)

Illustrative Experience & Qualifications

Business Domains

• Sales, Client Relationship Management (CRM) & Digital & Marketing business applications in intermediated industries, preferably Financial Services
• Business and operational processes associated with Buy-side market participants, such as Investment Managers, Hedge Funds, Wealth Managers and Asset Owners (e.g. Client Onboarding & Know-Your-Client (KYC), Trade Settlement and Custody, Regulatory Reporting)
• Exposure to key business data domains, including:

• Global Fund Data (e.g. Performance, Charges & Fees and ESG data from Refinitiv, Morningstar, FundInfo, Broadridge, Bloomberg etc.)
• Private Assets & Alternatives Data (e.g. Prequin)
• Master Data (Client, Product, Securities, Legal Agreements, Legal Entities)
• Reference Data (Prices, Currencies & Rates, Dates, Geographies etc.)
• Found Accounting, Transfer Agent & other fund distribution data (e.g. Platforms)

Technical Delivery Domains

• Project management and/or Agile product delivery experience
• Product specification and documentation
• User Journeys, Personas and Client Experience (CX) best practices
• Solution design and system integration experience
• Testing strategies and acceptance criteria
• Awareness of environment management and DevOps processes
• ETL, Data Quality & Reconciliation experience 
• Data Documentation, Modelling (e.g. UML) and Governance expertise
• User Portals & workflow business applications
• Business Intelligence, Analytics & exposure to Machine Learning technologies

Essential Qualities & Behaviours

• Attention to detail and focus on total quality management
• Collegiate, collaborative & effective team member
• Clear communicator & explainer – written and verbal
• Grasps concepts, processes and technologies quickly
• Strong ability to build meaningful relationships with client stakeholders at all levels
• 'Gets’ the transformational impact of better data in enhancing business processes (e.g. sales enablement), reducing cost (e.g. automation) and managing regulatory risk

Appendices

About ADS

ADS is a division of Alpha Group (see information about Alpha below) which provides a market leading data solution to Asset & Wealth Management to address the challenge of 'messy data' that makes it hard for asset managers to get a clear view of the Client Book of Record –i.e. the economic data (flows, holdings, revenue & profit) about clients & fund investors.

In Q4 2019, Alpha acquired Obsidian Solutions, combining best practices and leading solutions to offer a broad and market leading proposition to Hedge Funds & Investment Managers. The combined management team builds on extensive experience from the investment management space and is focused on delivering high quality technology & data solutions to address the core business and operational challenges facing the Investment Management industry today.

About Alpha

Alpha provides perspective, strategy and technical expertise to the world’s top asset and wealth managers. As the company with the largest dedicated team of consultants to asset and wealth managers, we have unrivalled knowledge of the industry. With offices around the world in 8 major financial centres, our global expertise and ability to respond at a local level set us apart. Alpha counts over 130 leading asset and wealth management amongst its clients, which include 21 of the top 25 global asset managers.