Associate Product Owner

When our square shaped burgers made their first sizzle on the scene more than 50 years ago, people knew our approach wasn't like any other. Same goes for the way we support our employees. Our culture of openness, flexibility, and inclusiveness allows everybody to flourish in their own way. If you're looking for a career where you can be part of the action as we continue to grow our iconic brand We got you!

The Associate Product Owner (APO) plays several key roles acting as the voice of the customer and advocating for the lifecycle of their products. In this role, you will help business owners realize the vision and align technology with key business objectives. You will drive progress on key initiatives through the execution of product roadmap(s) and management of backlog(s), and act as the link between the Product Manager and technical development teams. A successful candidate in this role will demonstrate strong leadership, prioritization and communication skills to consistently deliver outstanding results on-time and in line with established budget.

This role requires a schedule of 4 days onsite and 1 day remote.

• Own sprint backlog and implementation of new product initiatives. Prioritizes product backlog working against established roadmap and coordinating dependencies with other POs. Manages portfolio of IT initiatives to ensure proper prioritization and delivery of initiatives on time and on budget.
• Responsible for development of lean business case. Incorporates this knowledge when prioritizing features for releases. Makes tradeoff decisions between scope (value in expected ROI) and schedule (higher operating expense in longer release cycles) to reflect the best interests of business owners and end users.
• As part of PI planning, decomposes feature(s) into user Stories and establishes Story acceptance criteria. Defines the definition of done.
• Facilitate relationship with the end customer and business leadership/owners, bringing the voice and priorities of the customer to the forefront. Work cross-functionally to ensure business requirements and solution capabilities are effectively matched and implemented. Develops spirit of teamwork and collaboration with clear lines of accountability for key decisions
• Weekly tracking of incidents and service tasks to completion in partnership with service team. Shares regular feedback and follow up with business partners.
• Responsible for product introduction & review with stakeholders. Documents Story acceptance criteria into JIRA and approves/validates Stories into baseline.
• Understands business objectives and clarifies customer objectives for scrum teams

• Education: Bachelors Degree Additional education information (major, etc.): Technology, Business, or related field or equivalent work experience.
• 3 years of experience working on cross-functional and diverse teams. Leadership roles or project management experience preferred.
• Experience working in IT that has resulted in an understanding of technology and its applications
• Understanding of and experience with Agile methodology required.
• Excellent communication skills. Demonstrated ability to build relationships and align stakeholders with competing interests.
• Proven prioritization and organization skills.
• Possesses financial acumen to ensure that organizational change efforts are aligned with the financial perspective of the desired business benefits
• Passion for partnership with inclusive and diverse teams and mirror Wendy's core values 'Treat People with Respect' and 'Do the Right Thing'.

Wendy's was built on the premise, Quality is our Recipe, which remains the guidepost of the Wendy's system. Today, Wendy's and its franchisees employ hundreds of thousands of people across more than 7,000 restaurants worldwide with a vision of becoming the world's most thriving and beloved restaurant brand.

The base pay range for this position is listed below. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and budget for the open position and also may vary depending on the candidate's job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, among other relevant factors. This range does not include an estimated value for any benefits, bonus, or other incentives that may be applicable based on position. The target annual bonus for this role is 10% of annualized base salary, based on actual company and personal performance.

Our square burgers make us different and so do our benefits! Our restaurant support roles are eligible for a wide array of benefits, including things such as parental leave, free EAP sessions, company 401k match and other great offerings.

Wendy's is an equal employment opportunity employer who may provide reasonable accommodation to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.