IT&Data PO D&A MDM Platform tbc

Job Description:

• In the role of Product Owner for the Master Data Workflow, you will gain a profound understanding of the requirements of requestors, data stewards, approvers, and downstream consumers reliant on these workflows. You will take ownership of the vision, roadmap, and backlog for the platform.
• You will be responsible for workflow capabilities that support Product, Customer, Vendor, and future master data domains throughout the organization.
• Your mandate is to transform this vision into a product that maximizes value for Danone and its business functions, holding accountability for user satisfaction with the workflow product from start to finish.
• You will define the what and the why of the product.
• You will set outcomes, prioritize the backlog, and determine the sequence of development activities.

Key Responsibilities:

• Product Vision Strategy
• Articulate, communicate, and continuously refine the vision and strategy for the Master Data Workflow, ensuring alignment with the MDM and IT Data strategy as well as the needs of the business functions it serves.
• Translate business goals and data governance objectives into a clear product direction with measurable outcomes.
• Backlog Management
• Oversee, maintain, and prioritize a single, transparent product backlog for the Workflow, encompassing enhancement projects and transformation demands.
• Requirement Gathering and Refinement
• Collaborate closely with business process owners, data owners, and data stewards to gather, clarify, and refine requirements into well-defined backlog items and user stories.
• Ensure that data quality and governance requirements are articulated as product requirements in collaboration with Data Governance and DQ teams.
• Release Planning and Roadmapping
• Own the product roadmap while planning and prioritizing releases in coordination with the squad and stakeholders.
• Manage the global roadmap and communicate it effectively, keeping stakeholders informed about upcoming features and their purposes.
• Plan Review
• Coordinate work with the squad, then review and accept completed increments, demonstrating the value delivered to stakeholders.
• Ensure the backlog and product artifacts are current according to the applicable delivery framework, whether Scrum, Kanban, or hybrid methodologies.
• Dependency Management
• Identify and oversee dependencies across Orsoft, SAP ECC, S/4HANA, and the integration layer (e.g., Tibco), ensuring coordination and escalation through product and program governance as necessary.
• Serve as the primary communication link between the squad and stakeholders across Finance, Marketing, R&D, and Supply Chain, ensuring mutual understanding of needs, trade-offs, and decision-making.
• Represent the product in architecture and program governance forums, effectively communicating the value delivered to both technical and executive audiences.
• Acceptance Criteria Definition
• Establish clear acceptance criteria so the team recognizes when a requirement is complete and ready for release, ensuring quality and suitability from the user’s perspective.
• Continuous Improvement
• Proactively seek feedback from stakeholders, squad members, and end-users to identify opportunities for improvement and promote adherence to product and agile best practices.
• Utilize adoption, quality, and performance metrics to drive simplification and continuous improvement of the workflow product.
• Workflow Governance

Technical Requirements:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business, or a related field.
• A minimum of 7 years of experience in enterprise IT Data, including a proven track record as a Product Owner, Product Manager, or in a similar role, overseeing the vision, roadmap, and backlog of a technical or platform product.
• Strong expertise in agile product ownership, backlog management, prioritization, writing user stories and acceptance criteria, release planning, and familiarity with Scrum, Kanban, and hybrid SAFe methodologies is advantageous.
• Possess adequate domain knowledge in SAP master data (material, product, customer, vendor) and master data workflow BPM (e.g., Orsoft, SAP Business Workflow, SAP MDG) to credibly prioritize and shape requirements and collaborate effectively with the technical team without being the hands-on design authority.
• Proven ability to translate business and data governance needs into tangible product outcomes and measurable value.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills across business and IT, up to senior management level, capable of aligning priorities and constructively saying no when necessary.
• Driven by outcomes and data, comfortable prioritizing under constraints and uncertainty.
• Fluent in written and spoken English, effective in a global, multicultural, matrixed organization.
• Experience in supporting global template deployments, regional rollouts, and business transformation programs across multiple markets and operating companies.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Product ownership of master data workflow or platform products within a large matrixed enterprise.
• Familiarity with Orsoft-based master data processes and S/4HANA migration programs and their workflow implications, sufficient to prioritize and plan without needing to configure.
• Understanding of data governance operating models, including data owners, stewards, councils, and how workflows operationalize them.
• Awareness of process mining, workflow analytics, automation, RPA, and low code as strategic levers on the product roadmap.
• Experience in the FMCG/CPG industry, understanding its master data characteristics, innovation cycles, regulatory attributes, and customer hierarchies.
• Working knowledge of agile hybrid delivery methodologies, including Scrum, SAFe, and ITSM/ITIL as they relate to product operations.
• Familiarity with enterprise integration patterns, APIs, event-driven architectures, and workflow orchestration across SAP and non-SAP ecosystems.

Preferred Skills:

Technology->Oracle Cloud->Product Master Data Management