FSC Product Owner

POSITION

FSC Product Owner

REQUIRED SKILLS

Nature of the Initiative

• This effort is part of a New Horizon initiative focused on building something fundamentally new.
• The work centers on creating a marketplace-style API experience.
• It is described as a new foundational capability not just an incremental project.

Core Technical Focus

• The team is building APIs that sit at a marketplace level.
• These APIs are intended to:
  • Allow multiple consumers to access and pull data
  • Function as a shared reusable layer
• Keith described it as conceptually similar to an open-access model where different groups can leverage the same API layer.

Data & Integration Model

• The system does not use Salesforce as a source of record.
• Instead:
  • Data comes from other internal systems (sources of record)
  • Teams integrate with those upstream systems to retrieve data
• The charitable (DAF) FSC environment relies on this integration to access that data.

Business Context

• This is tied to charitable/FSC (Financial Services Cloud) use cases.
• The effort represents something the team has:
  • Wanted to build for 3 years
  • But lacked capacity to execute until now

Strategic Importance

• The goal is to make this:
  • A repeatable pattern
  • Something that becomes commonplace across future development
• It is not a one-off build - it is meant to influence how applications are designed going forward

Broader Technology Direction

• The initiative involves:
  • AI
  • GitHub
  • Copilot-type capabilities
• The intended outcome includes enabling a future employee desktop experience where:
  • Users can access capabilities and data more seamlessly
  • The platform supports broader future-state innovation

Product Owner

Core Role Positioning

• The role is not just a traditional task-driven Product Owner
• Keith emphasized the need for someone who is:
  • Forward-thinking
  • Able to engage beyond execution into conceptual and applied design thinking

Level & Scope

• Not expected to be:
  • A full business architect
  • Or someone operating entirely at a strategic architecture level
• But should have exposure to and understanding of larger concepts

Key Expectations

1. Experience with Similar Initiatives

• Should have experience with this type of big idea implementation
• Specifically:
  • Understanding how to apply and implement large conceptual platforms
  • Not just manage backlog execution

2. Ability to Guide and Uplift the Team

• Expected to:
  • Help guide the team through unfamiliar territory
  • Bring perspective on how this type of architecture works
• The goal is to:
  • Bring the team along in building this capability

3. Blend of Thinking Doing

• Keith explicitly reinforced:
  • Someone who is not just task-oriented
  • But can think strategically while executing
  • A thinker and doer

4. Technical Orientation (Preferred)

• The role is preferably a technical Product Owner
• Reason:
  • The work involves:
    • APIs
    • Integration layers
    • New architectural constructs
• A non-technical PO would likely struggle in this context

5. Alignment to FSC Context

• Must be aligned to FSC (Financial Services Cloud):
  • Because the charitable platform uses FSC
  • And integration with that environment is required

6. Forward-Looking / Innovation Mindset

• Should be interested in:
  • AI-driven development approaches
  • Emerging engineering workflows (GitHub/Copilot)
• Needs to engage with:
  • Future-state platform thinking not just current requirements

3) Team Dynamic & Operating Model (Keiths View)

• The Product Owner will not operate in isolation
  • The team wants to stay involved
  • This is a shared learning effort
• The initiative is intended to:
  • Build organizational capability not just deliver a project
• There is also an internal shift happening:
  • A current team member is moving toward a business architect role (Tibi) which creates the need for this PO to help bridge execution concept

• The work is a first-of-its-kind API-driven marketplace platform intended to become a repeatable enterprise pattern
• The PO must have-
  • Experience with complex conceptual implementations
  • Be technically capable
  • Operate as a guide and collaborator not just a backlog manager
  • Help the team learn shape and execute this new model