The Group: The Products group is the home of innovative product development at Morningstar. The individuals in this group transform our high-quality data, independent research, and technological expertise into well-designed products that engage our clients and help users reach their financial and investment goals. The group’s product management, product development, and service teams collaborate with our Client Solutions group to help provide clients with relevant products and bundled solutions.

The Role: The Financial Planning team is looking for a product manager to oversee the design, development, and management of our Financial Planning products from conceptualization, definition and planning through implementation, sales, release, enhancement and eventual sun-setting —the entire product lifecycle. Currently the product suite includes retirement planning, investment planning and financial wellness and the product manager will take ownership of one or more of these products based on experience and expertise.  This product manager will act as the product expert and will translate market trends, customer needs, competitive analysis, and Morningstar intellectual property into innovative products that solve customer problems.  The role will be hands on and you will be expected to lead day to day development. This position is based in our Chicago office.

Responsibilities:

• Own and uphold the agile process across the Financial Planning group.
• Manage projects from consultation to deployment; apply project management methodology, drive project quality, and enforce best practice standards.
• Coordinate with stakeholders to create and manage realistic and detailed program timelines. Set deadlines and intermediate milestones; coordinate all project-related activity to ensure benchmarks are met.
• Establish a regular cadence of agile ceremonies including daily standups, sprint planning, showcases and retrospectives.
• Proactively identify project risks, develop mitigation plans, and escalate potential impediments to success to stakeholders and see them through eventual resolution.
• Manage and communicate regular updates on project and program status (e.g., work completed, work in progress, next steps, risks, KPIs, and costs) to stakeholders, peers, and others.
• Hands on role including the definition of epics, the creation of user stories, running scrums, leading design sprints etc.

Requirements:

• Strong knowledge of and experience with agile software development methodologies
• Ability to work independently and manage competing priorities and deadlines.
• Ability to drive mandates and results across multiple teams without direct reporting relationships.
• Experience building both B2B and B2C software products preferred.
• Comfort with collaboration, open communication, and reaching across functional borders.
• Coaching other team members in agile methods and keeping the team focused on top priorities.
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational and communication skills; ability to work in a fast-paced changing environment.
• A bachelor’s degree. An advanced degree is a plus.
• A technical background is a plus.
• Familiarity with Morningstar products, data, and technology is a plus.

Morningstar is an equal opportunity employer.