Expert Product Owner

At CN, everyday brings new and exciting challenges. You can expect an interesting environment where you’re part of making sure our business is running optimally and safely―helping keep the economy on track. We provide the kind of paid training and opportunities that long-term careers are built on and we recognize hard workers who strive to make a difference. You will be able to thrive in our close-knit, safety-focused culture working together as ONE TEAM. The careers we offer are meaningful because the work we do matters. Join us!

J ob Summary

The Expert Product Owner acts as the SAFe AGILE team’s primary customer advocate, bridging the gap between business needs and technical execution. This role is responsible for continuous evolution of the solution, prioritizing the product backlog to maximize business value, and ensuring alignment with technical architecture.

While the primary focus of this role is Product Ownership, the incumbent must possess strong analytical skills and may be required to fulfill Business Analyst responsibilities as project demands dictate. When required, they will step in to perform detailed requirements elicitation, process modeling, and drafting of technical specifications to ensure the overall cohesion of product requirements. The Expert Product Owner collaborates closely with customers, Product Managers, and development teams throughout the product lifecycle.

Main Responsibilities

Product Vision & Backlog Management (Core) Own, maintain , prioritize, and commit the team backlog, ensuring work focuses on maximum business value and aligns with the broader product roadmap. Act as the "voice of the customer" throughout the development process, balancing the needs of multiple stakeholders. Define precise and testable Acceptance Criteria for each user story. Define any required Enablers, including exploration, architectural, infrastructure, and compliance enablers. Business Analysis & Requirement Elicitation (As Required) When necessary, act as the lead analyst to elicit, analyze, and document complex business requirements using interviews, workshops, and document analysis. Perform detailed analysis of existing business processes and rules, creating process flow diagrams (e.g., using BPMN) and data models when required to support development. Draft detailed user story specifications, ensuring functional, non-functional, and UX requirements are clearly articulated for the delivery team. Manage Stakeholder & Customer Relations Create trusted relationships between I&T and business stakeholders, ensuring clear communication and alignment on product evolution. Act as the primary liaison between business units and the development team. Work with customers to identify pain points and uncover opportunities for improvement. Support the Agile Delivery Process Architecture & Design: Oversee the refinement of user stories, help make trade-off decisions, and ensure solutions align with target architecture. Build: Act as the subject matter expert for the delivery team to clarify requirements and ensure development aligns with specifications. Testing: Provide input on test data setup, perform UAT testing, and accept user stories on behalf of the customer, validating that Acceptance Criteria are met. Ceremonies: Participate actively in all SAFe AGILE ceremonies, solving problems and making decisions to stay on track toward business value commitments. Comply with SAFe AGILE Practice Remain up-to-date with CN’s SAFe AGILE practices, processes, and artifacts. Facilitate the definition and tracking of key metrics related to the product (e.g., flow, rework, quality).

Requirements

Experience

Minimum 7-10 years overall work experience. Experience in transportation logistic companies. Demonstrated core experience in a Product Ownership role. Proven experience executing Business Analysis tasks (requirements elicitation, process modeling, and data analysis), with a willingness to perform these duties as needed. Software development experience, with I&T or Applied Engineering context. Demonstrated experience in engaging senior leaders and other stakeholders to support business decisions. Experience in shaping, building, scaling and sustaining products. Experience in diverse roles and increasing responsibilities across Business and IT, although a business-only career is acceptable if business roles included sufficient technology focus. Experience working with complex systems in large organizations.

Education/Certification/Designation

Bachelor’s Degree in computer science , business administration or an equivalent degree and experience.

Competencies

Knows the business and stays current on industry needs. Communicates with impact. Demonstrates agility and drives change. Applies critical thinking. Collaborates with others and shares information. Identifies needs and finds solutions to create value for all stakeholders.

Skills/Knowledge

In-depth knowledge and experience of the Product Ownership discipline Business acumen, and the ability to communicate with executives, business domain stakeholders and technical staff alike. Excellent analytical and technical skills. Experience with SW Development methodologies (Agile, Devops , etc.). Familiarity with the principles of Design Thinking Vision and passion for building great products. Experienced in requirements analysis.

This position is posted as a grade 7. For internal candidates, note that the grade level of the position may adjust based on the employee's experience.

About CN

CN is a world-class transportation leader and trade-enabler. Essential to the economy, to the customers, and to the communities it serves, CN safely transports more than 300 million tons of natural resources, manufactured products, and finished goods throughout North America every year. As the only railroad connecting Canada’s Eastern and Western coasts with the Southern tip of the U.S. through a 19,500 mile rail network, CN and its affiliates have been contributing to community prosperity and sustainable trade since 1919. CN is committed to programs supporting social responsibility and environmental stewardship. At CN, we work as ONE TEAM, focused on safety, sustainability and our customers, providing operational and supply chain excellence to deliver results.

About CN

CN is a premium railroad that sustainably generates value for our customers, shareholders, employees, and stakeholders with an unwavering commitment to safety and service. Essential to the economy, to the customers, and to the communities it serves, CN safely transports more than 300 million tons of natural resources, manufactured products, and finished goods throughout North America every year. CN's network connects Canada's Eastern and Western coasts with the U.S. South through a 20,000-mile rail network. CN and its affiliates have been contributing to community prosperity and sustainable trade since 1919. CN powers the North American economy and is committed to programs supporting social responsibility and environmental stewardship.

At CN, we are dedicated to building North America's safest , most inclusive and sustainable railroad, which includes reflecting the communities in which we operate. Research shows that candidates often don't apply unless they feel they fit the job posting at 100%. To all potential applicants, even if you don't meet every job requirement listed in a posting, we still encourage you to apply. If you require an accommodation for the recruitment process (including alternate formats of materials, accessible meeting rooms or other accommodations), please get in touch with our team at cnrecruitment@cn.ca .

As an equal opportunity employer, qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law.

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