Investment Product Owner (Fixed Income Portfolio Management)

Full-Time

Boston, MA or Springfield, MA

Summary

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Fixed Income Portfolio Management Product Owner to drive the vision, strategy, and roadmap of our portfolio and order management solutions for the Fixed Income Portfolio Management team. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of investment strategies across a variety of public and private asset classes, and the data required to support these.  This includes the understanding of associated business processes and internal/vended technology capabilities, with a focus on designing, testing, and choosing optimal workflows.  The Product Owner is not a Portfolio Manager or Portfolio Analyst but instead works closely with Front Office teams to improve processes, technology, and data.  In close partnership with the Head of Asset Allocation, the Product Owner will play a key role in ensuring the seamless integration of new tools and enhancements tied to enabling capabilities such as portfolio modeling, order management, allocations, and cash forecasting.  This newly created role is responsible for strategic change, liaising with both day-to-day business teams (i.e. Fixed Income Portfolio Management) as well as technology teams (i.e. Enterprise Technology), and ensuring priorities and interests of the group are represented across functional areas. The Product Owner will be accountable for not only assessing trade-offs, but making and owning decisions intended to improve the portfolio management of fixed income strategies at MassMutual.

The Team

The Fixed Income Portfolio Management Product Owner will join the Investment Operations Transformation team as part of a new, centralized Product Owner group. The Product Owner’s responsibility extends across direct portfolio management capabilities through to understanding how operational and accounting workflows contribute to those activities.  The Product Owner team is expected to work in close partnership with Front Office stakeholders, the Investment Operations Centers of Excellence, Investment Controllership, and Technology teams.  The goal of this group is to build comprehensive expertise in MassMutual process and investment management across asset classes and investment functions.  As a critical point of distinction, the Investment Operations Transformation team and the Product Owner will remain segregated from day to day “Business As Usual” (BAU) work.

Impact

The Product Owner will have impact in the following 5 areas:

Strategy & Vision

• Drive product vision, strategy, and roadmap for business architecture and process flows supporting fixed income portfolio management activities in coordination with Portfolio Management, Investment Operations, Controllership and Technology teams.
• Responsible for ensuring vision, strategy and roadmap are communicated to relevant stakeholders
• Develop deep domain expertise in MassMutual business processes and internal/vended technology capabilities, tying this with their knowledge of investment strategies, and ensuring that this knowledge is not only conveyed appropriately but also factored into the strategy and roadmap

Process

• Own business requirements definitions for portfolio management focused projects and initiatives, incorporating input from business users
• Serve as the first line of defense in business UAT testing to free up capacity for business users
• Maintain and sign off on documentation for key business processes and the operating model.  Related initiatives can range from small- to large-scale and can have far-reaching impact to processing workflows across the entire ecosystem for the entire lifecycle of an asset
• Ensure key business processes are understood and considered by technology counterparts as a part of change initiatives

Roadmap

• Drive project planning, sizing, and delivery timelines for the project queue and backlog based on capability gaps, in close collaboration with the Corporate Functions PMO and Enterprise Technology project management resources
• Represent the interests of fixed income portfolio management processes and activities in the investment ecosystem transformation program by liaising with business end users to gather requirements, by performing testing, and by incorporating user input in recommendations
• Assess, own, and be accountable for recommending go-forward prioritization decisions in partnership with Portfolio Managers, Traders, and Technology colleagues
• Collaborate with other Product Owners to determine resourcing needs and project dependencies within and across products, articulating trade-offs to business users and senior/executive leadership
• Rationalize requests for new tools, enhancements, or issue resolutions from operational teams, considering existing solutions and current projects, and escalate and monitor with appropriate vendor/external oversight teams as needed

Communication

• Maximize the value of tech investments by driving change management, socialization, and adoption of tech strategies and tools.
• Manage interactions between business, operational and technology teams, communicating business needs into technical requirements, and negotiating priorities with tech/data based on business needs.
• Advocate for portfolio management team requirements, escalate emerging trade-offs, and support decision-making by senior/executive leadership.
• Communicate with all levels of the Fixed Income Portfolio Management team, partnering closely with the Head of Asset Allocation as a primary point of contact

Metrics

• Establish KPIs and track application/platform adoption using tools and reports.
• Track issues raised and their time to resolution.
• Monitor the business impact of programs and initiatives to ensure targeted outcomes of strategic change are being realized.

The Minimum Qualifications

• Proven experience 5+ years as a Product Owner or similar role
• Strong understanding of Investment technology, data and processes, with expertise in fixed income portfolio management strategies
• 10+ years’ related experience in financial services, insurance, or related industry
• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Engineering or related field

The Ideal Qualifications

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, highly collaborative
• Ability to manage multiple projects and prioritize tasks effectively
• Experience in project planning and resource allocation
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• CFA or similar certification encouraged

#LI-IZ1

#IMOPS

Salary Range:

At MassMutual, we focus on ensuring fair equitable pay, by providing competitive salaries, along with incentive and bonus opportunities for all employees. Your total compensation package includes either a bonus target or in a sales-focused role a Variable Incentive Compensation component.

Why Join Us.

We’ve been around since 1851. During our history, we’ve learned a few things about making sure our customers are our top priority. In order to meet and exceed their expectations, we must have the best people providing the best thinking, products and services. To accomplish this, we celebrate an inclusive, vibrant and diverse culture that encourages growth, openness and opportunities for everyone. A career with MassMutual means you will be part of a strong, stable and ethical business with industry leading pay and benefits. And your voice will always be heard.

We help people secure their future and protect the ones they love. As a company owned by our policyowners, we are defined by mutuality and our vision to put customers first. It’s more than our company structure – it’s our way of life. We are a company of people protecting people. Our company exists because people are willing to share risk and resources, and rely on each other when it counts. At MassMutual, we Live Mutual.

MassMutual is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer Minority/Female/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/Individual with Disability/Protected Veteran. We welcome all persons to apply. Note: Veterans are welcome to apply, regardless of their discharge status.

If you need an accommodation to complete the application process, please contact us and share the specifics of the assistance you need.

At MassMutual, we focus on ensuring fair, equitable pay by providing competitive salaries, along with incentive and bonus opportunities for all employees.  Your total compensation package includes either a bonus target or in a sales-focused role a Variable Incentive Compensation component.  For more information about our extensive benefits offerings please check out our Total Rewards at a Glance.