SERVICE PRODUCT OWNER - DIGITAL ONBOARDING

Leading UAE Bank | Group Technology & Operations Retail Banking & Wealth Management (RBWM) | Digital Channels

Role Overview

A leading UAE-based bank is seeking a high-calibre Service Product Owner to lead the digital onboarding product within the Retail Banking & Wealth Management (RBWM) segment. This role sits at the intersection of customer experience, technology delivery, and regulatory compliance — owning the full product lifecycle for onboarding journeys across the banks retail digital platform.

The ideal candidate is a banking professional first, with functional depth in customer onboarding, servicing, KYC/compliance automation, and digitalization — who can bridge business intent and technical execution across cross-functional Agile squads. This is an ownership role, not an analysis role. You are accountable for delivery.

Job Purpose

As a Service Product Owner, you will oversee the development, delivery, and continuous improvement of digital onboarding products and services across the retail customer segment. You will serve as the primary bridge between the branch network, digital channels, compliance/regulatory teams, and the Group Technology function — ensuring products are delivered on time, on scope, and in alignment with the banks AI-first digitalization strategy.

You own the product end-to-end — from vision and requirements definition through Agile delivery, UAT, and go-live. Ownership and delivery accountability are the defining expectations of this role.

Key Responsibilities

• Product Roadmap & Vision
• Define and own a clear product roadmap for the digital onboarding suite, aligned with the banks retail strategy and AI-led transformation agenda
• Collaborate with senior stakeholders to establish product vision, quarterly goals, and release milestones
• Prioritize the product backlog based on business value, compliance requirements, technical feasibility, and customer impact
• Balance competing demands across UX, technology constraints, regulatory timelines, and business OKRs
• Agile Delivery & Ceremonies
• Lead and facilitate all Agile ceremonies: sprint planning, daily standups, backlog refinement, sprint review, and retrospectives
• Partner with Engineering Leads and Scrum Masters to ensure sprint capacity and velocity are managed effectively
• Drive rigorous backlog refinement — stories must be clearly defined, acceptance criteria unambiguous, and dependencies resolved before sprint entry
• Manage delivery risks, blockers, and escalations; maintain transparency through Jira and reporting dashboards
• Requirements Definition & Product Specification
• Translate complex business and regulatory needs into structured user stories, epics, and acceptance criteria
• Conduct gap analysis between current-state onboarding journeys and target-state digital experiences
• Lead stakeholder workshops and brainstorming sessions to surface requirements and validate proposed solutions
• Produce clear, actionable product documentation that engineering teams can build from — without reliance on a separate BA function
• Compliance, KYC & Onboarding Domain
• In-depth understanding of retail onboarding workflows: KYC, AML, CDD, identity verification, account opening, and servicing journeys
• Ensure all product decisions account for CBUAE regulations, internal compliance policies, and risk frameworks
• Partner with Compliance and Risk teams to embed regulatory controls into product design without degrading customer experience
• Champion automation of compliance-heavy processes through intelligent workflows and AI-assisted decisioning
• Stakeholder Management
• Serve as the single point of accountability for product delivery — own the narrative with business sponsors, technology teams, and senior leadership
• Communicate product updates, risk flags, and roadmap changes clearly to VP and C-level stakeholders
• Manage expectations and resolve conflicts across Branch Operations, Compliance, Digital, IT, and third-party vendors
• User-Centric Design & Experience
• Conduct user research and journey mapping to identify onboarding friction points and conversion drop-offs
• Advocate for UX best practices across all digital touchpoints — mobile, web, and branch-assisted journeys
• Collaborate with UX/UI designers (Figma-based workflows) to validate wireframes and prototypes against product requirements
• Own post-launch performance monitoring and drive iterative improvement based on data and user feedback
• Technology Enablement & AI
• Maintain strong technical understanding of how systems enable product outcomes — APIs, core banking integrations, CRM platforms, and third-party services
• Actively contribute to the AI-first roadmap: identify automation, ML, and AI use cases within onboarding and servicing journeys
• Partner with architecture and engineering on system design decisions — feasibility and scalability of proposed solutions
• Own SIT, UAT, and production rollout phases with clear go/no-go governance and sign-off accountability
  
  

Requirements

Mandatory

• Minimum 3 years in a banking environment — retail, RBWM, or corporate banking (non-negotiable)
• 5-8 years total experience with proven end-to-end product delivery ownership in banking or financial services
• Deep functional knowledge of retail onboarding: KYC, AML, CDD, account opening, servicing, and compliance workflows
• Strong hands-on Agile experience — Scrum or SAFe — including ceremony facilitation and backlog ownership
• Proficiency with Jira (including add-ons) for backlog management, sprint tracking, and delivery reporting
• Ability to write user stories, define acceptance criteria, and drive requirements independently — no BA dependency
  
  

Preferred

• Figma experience for wireframe review and design validation — strong positive
• CRM platform exposure — Siebel CRM or equivalent — within banking or financial services
• Corporate banking exposure in addition to retail background
• Knowledge of AI, intelligent automation, or ML applications within onboarding or servicing
• Familiarity with CBUAE regulations and UAE open banking frameworks
  
  

Skill Mix

Functional / Domain (:75%)Delivery / Agile (:15%)Technical / Tooling (:10%)Banking domain, KYC/AML, onboarding, servicing, compliance, product strategyAgile ceremonies, backlog ownership, stakeholder communication, sprint governanceJira, Figma, CRM platforms, API awareness, AI/automation concepts

Education & Certifications

• Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Business, Finance, or related discipline
• No certification required — delivery track record and banking domain depth take priority
• CSPO, PSPO, or equivalent Agile certifications are a positive signal, not a screening gate

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