Senior, Business Process Owner - Strategic Programs

Position Information

Primary Role

This role will involve carrying out all responsibilities detailed in the Job Description, with a specific emphasis on Hire-to-Retire business processes. Key areas of focus will include Talent Management, Talent Development, and Learning & Development processes. These areas encompass, but are not limited to, Performance Management, Learning Administration, and Succession Planning.

The [Value Stream] Process Owner is responsible for driving the analysis, documentation, design, and optimization of end-to-end business processes within a designated value stream for the American Water 2030 (AW2030) program. Supporting the Process Architect and Process Leads, the Process Owner works closely with Subject Matter Advisors (SMAs), transformation teams, and system integrators to ensure future state business processes are well-defined, integrated with systems, and aligned to transformation goals. Key requirements include:

• Design, document, implement, and assist in ongoing optimization of assigned processes within a value stream.
• Collaborate with Process Architect and Process Leads to ensure alignment with end-to-end value stream process architecture and documentation standards.
• Guide Process Analysts in work activities including process updates, requirements documentation, etc.
• Engage Business Subject Matter Advisors (SMAs) to validate and refine process designs.
• Contribute to the development of key process artifacts, including: Process Hierarchies, Business Process Documents (BPDs), Functional and Configuration Design Documents and Requirements Traceability Matrices (RTMs).

Key Accountabilities

• Design and maintain detailed process documentation, including workflows, policies, and standard operating procedures for assigned processes.
• Assist Process Leads in executing process improvement opportunities based on AW2030 wave initiatives.
• Help facilitate cross-functional workshops to align process decisions, business requirements, and integration points.
• Coordinate with IT and other key organizations to ensure process designs align with system capabilities and constraints.
• Engage SMAs to gather insights and validate business requirements.
• Identify employee pain points and process inefficiencies to share with the Process Architect and Process Leads.
• Monitor process performance using KPIs and assist in continuous improvement initiatives.
• Incorporate internal controls, regulatory requirements, and quality standards into process designs.

Knowledge/Skills

Knowledge:

• Understanding of American Water’s organization within a particular value stream including teams, roles, systems, and processes.
• Ability to highlight downstream impacts of process change, and/or identify the correct value stream teams to understand impacts
• Familiarity with current American Water systems used within the value stream and typical employee pain points across processes.
• Knowledge of enterprise-wide systems (SAP preferred, MapCall, Coupa, etc.).
• Knowledge of compliance, risk, and quality considerations in process design.
• Knowledge of process modeling methodologies.
• Advanced proficiency of MS365 (Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Teams, etc.).

Skills:

• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement within the value stream organization.
• Ability to work effectively at different levels in the organization, across functional areas, and with vendors like consultants, system integrators, etc.
• Ability to analyze data to identify areas for improvement and implement solutions.
• Demonstrated ability to perform in challenging situations.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks at once.

Experience/Education

• Typically requires 5+ years of relevant experience, including 3 + years in process ownership, business analysis, and/or operational excellence roles.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required.

Travel Requirements

• Up to 50% travel

Competencies