Product Owner, Data Platform

Job Description

What is the opportunity?

RBC Insurance is advancing its enterprise data capabilities to power analytics, AI, and operational excellence across the organization. Our Data Platform program is central to this transformation enabling scalable, governed data solutions that deliver measurable business value.

You'll own a squad within this program. Your team is delivering capabilities that matter, data products that people across the business actually depend on. The work is technical, strategic, and constantly evolving.

You need to care about data. Architecture. Governance. Pipelines. Semantic layers. The whole stack. This isn't a generic PO role where data is just context, it's the entire job. If you're not curious about how data systems work and scale, this isn't for you.

Finally, you'll need to be comfortable when things aren't clear. Priorities shift. Requirements are fuzzy. Stakeholders disagree. You'll chart your own course, solve problems without a playbook, and keep your squad focused when everyone else is spiraling.

The upside: Joining a program that's shaping the data foundation for the entire organization. Working with sharp people and growing fast. If you're serious about becoming a data product expert, this is where you do it.

What will you do?

• Run your squad like you own it: You'll lead backlog refinement, sprint planning, and delivery, keeping priorities clear and your team unblocked. You turn messy business problems into clean user stories. You ship data platform capabilities that actually get used.
• Build data products, not just pipelines: Work with engineers, architects, and analysts to design data contracts, semantic models, and governance frameworks. Think end-to-end: ingestion, transformation, orchestration, consumption. Make data discoverable, trustworthy, and useful.
• Find your way through the noise: This isn't a paint-by-numbers role. You'll deal with ambiguity, conflicting priorities, and organizational politics. You'll need to cut through the chaos, make decisions with incomplete info, and keep your squad focused when things get messy.
• Align people who don't always agree: You'll bridge gaps between business stakeholders, tech teams, governance, and ops. Manage conflicts. Communicate trade-offs. Build trust. Keep everyone moving in the same direction.
• Shape what's next: Run discovery sessions. Talk to users. Test assumptions. Use data to validate what's working. Help evolve your squad's roadmap as priorities shift.

What will you need to succeed?

• You know data, really know it: 4-7 years working with data platforms, pipelines, analytics, or BI. You understand data architecture, governance, semantic layers, orchestration. You've worked with modern cloud platforms. You get what makes a data product good vs. just functional.
• You've shipped things in messy environments: You're comfortable when the path isn't clear. You don't wait for perfect requirements. You figure it out, make calls, and move forward. Ambiguity doesn't slow you down, it energizes you.
• You can handle the hard conversations: Stakeholder conflicts? Organisational tension? Communication breakdowns? You navigate it without losing your cool or your integrity. You know how to say no, push back respectfully, and keep your squad's priorities intact.
• You communicate like a human: No jargon walls. No death-by-PowerPoint. You explain complex stuff clearly. You facilitate workshops that don't suck. You write documentation people actually read.
• You run Agile like a pro: Backlog management, refinement, sprint planning, you've done it enough to know what works and what's theater. You keep ceremonies focused and valuable.
• Bonus points if you have:
• Built or scaled data products with proper contracts and governance
• Worked with data mesh, domain-driven design, or modern data architectures
• Exposure to AI/ML, LLMs, or advanced analytics use cases
• Experience in financial services or regulated industries
• Real curiosity about where data + AI is heading

What’s in it for you?

• A Total Rewards program that includes flexible benefits, work/life balance and career development programs and investment and retirement savings plans
• Competitive pay and high-earning potential
• All the tools, training, and team support you need to grow your business and career
• Flexible work/life balance options
• Sophisticated RBCI software tools to boost your productivity and grow your business

RBC Insurance is an organization that succeeds by bringing out the best in its people. You’ll be part of a supportive, inclusive team that shares common values – including a fundamental respect for each other. At the heart of this is a commitment to diversity. RBC respects and responds to the many competing and evolving priorities in our lives – so you can focus on what you can do best – putting clients first

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