Project Manager (Data)

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Lead Agile project management for data product initiatives, ensuring timely delivery and alignment with strategic business objectives.
• Collaborate with stakeholders across the organization to identify business needs and translate them into clear data product requirements and user stories.
• Facilitate Agile ceremonies (daily stand-ups, sprint planning, retrospectives) to maintain team focus and momentum.
• Manage and prioritize the product backlog in coordination with product owners and data experts to maximize value delivery.
• Ensure data quality, governance, and compliance standards are met throughout the product lifecycle.
• Foster cross-functional collaboration among data engineers, data scientists, analysts, and business teams to resolve impediments and steer delivery.
• Develop and maintain product roadmaps that reflect evolving business priorities and data capabilities.
• Track project progress using Agile metrics and provide transparent communication to stakeholders.
• Support continuous improvement by coaching the team on Agile best practices and adapting processes as needed.
• Define and track the KPIs that transparently reflect the status of key initiatives
• Direct a team of 5 or more people comprising leads, principals, etc. and indirectly co-ordinate with more people as part of a cross functional teams comprising of varied roles and functions

Required Skills and Experience:

• Bachelors degree or above preferably in Software Engineering
• Strong understanding of Agile frameworks such as Scrum or Kanban, and experience facilitating Agile teams.
• Should have experience of leading all Agile ceremonies
• Knowledge of data product management principles, including requirements definition, data quality, and governance.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills to bridge technical and business perspectives.
• Strong business communication, presentation and conflict management skills
• Experience working with data professionals (data engineers, data scientists, data quality engineers) and understanding data pipelines.
• Proficiency with Agile project management tools like ADO, Jira or equivalent.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and adapt plans based on feedback and changing requirements.
• Proficient in delivery and quality metrics, burn down charts, progress and status reporting
• Knowledge of 2 or more effort and cost estimation methodologies/ frameworks
• Proficient in scope (requirements)/ backlog management, quality management, defect prevention and risks and issues management

Nice to Have Qualities & Skills

• Flexibility to learn and apply new methodologies
• Mortgage Industry experience /knowledge
• Strong commercial acumen i.e. understanding of pricing models, delivery P&L, budgeting, etc. Basic level understanding of contracts
• Relevant certifications like Certified Scrum Master (CSM, PMP, Agile Project Management, etc.
• Knowledge of compliance frameworks like RESPA, TILA, CFPB, and data security standards.
• Knowledge of Azure Cloud