Product Owner Intern - AI Solutions

Union Home Mortgage's L.E.A.D Internship Program's goal is to provide a fun, interesting, and real-world environment for our interns to Learn about the industry, be Educated by Sr. Leadership and their peers, Achieve their personal goals and Develop their skills and knowledge base. We pride ourselves in providing innovative programs to our interns for them to learn and grow as they progress through their careers. Some of the programs we offer include: shadowing, mentoring, professional development, group projects and we even take our interns on corporate outings! Our internship program gives students a chance to meet new people, gain more experience, and learn from the best in the business! Our interns are treated like full-time Partners who work 40 hours a week during the 3-month summer program, are compensated, and based out of headquarters in Strongsville, Ohio.

The Product Owner Intern - AI Solutions works directly with business partners and users to understand how work gets done, identify opportunities for improvement, and help turn those opportunities into tangible solutions.

A key part of this role is developing a process-engineering mindset. Rather than simply documenting how a process works today, the Product Owner Intern learns to decipher and deconstruct business processes into their underlying activities, decisions, handoffs, inputs, outputs, dependencies, and exceptions. They are encouraged to question why steps exist and identify opportunities to eliminate, combine, simplify, or automate activities to create more efficient and effective ways of working.

Using modern AI tools, Product Owner Interns can rapidly move from process discovery and ideation to prototypes and, in some cases, functional software applications. Prior software development experience is not required. The role is designed for individuals who are naturally curious about how things work, enjoy breaking complex problems into understandable components, and are motivated to find better ways of getting work done.

Product Owner Interns work closely with AI Software Engineers, UI/UX Designers, business stakeholders, and experienced Product resources. When AI tools enable them to create functional software, senior technical resources provide guidance and review changes through established source-control and pull-request processes to ensure solutions meet appropriate architectural, security, and engineering standards.

Duties & Responsibilities

Duties and responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

• Work directly with business partners and users to understand workflows, challenges, goals, and desired business outcomes.
• Observe, decipher, and deconstruct business processes into activities, decisions, handoffs, inputs, outputs, dependencies, and exceptions.
• Develop an understanding of what a business process is intended to accomplish rather than simply documenting how it operates today.
• Question existing processes and help distinguish necessary activities from steps created by legacy systems, historical practices, or unnecessary complexity.
• Identify opportunities to eliminate, combine, simplify, reorder, or redesign process steps to improve efficiency and user experience.
• Recognize repetitive, rules-based, data-driven, or manual activities that may be candidates for technology, AI assistance, or automation.
• Help envision improved future-state processes rather than simply recreating current-state workflows in new technology.
• Use AI tools to research problems, explore ideas, analyze information, develop concepts, and rapidly create prototypes.
• Where appropriate, use AI-assisted tools to create functional applications that demonstrate or implement potential solutions.
• Put concepts and solutions in front of users quickly and incorporate feedback through rapid iteration.
• Collaborate with UI/UX Designers to translate process improvements into simple and intuitive user experiences.
• Collaborate with AI Software Engineers when solutions require greater technical complexity, integration, scalability, or production hardening.
• Participate in source-control and pull-request processes when contributing functional software, with review and guidance from senior technical resources.
• Help evaluate solutions based on measurable improvements such as reduced manual effort, fewer process steps, faster completion times, improved accuracy, or better user experiences.
• Communicate findings, ideas, prototypes, recommendations, and outcomes to business and technology partners.

To perform this role successfully, an individual should demonstrate curiosity, strong analytical thinking, and an interest in understanding and improving how work gets done. Traditional software development experience is not required.

Skills Required

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills.
• Strong process-oriented thinking with an ability to break complex workflows into understandable components.
• Natural curiosity about how and why business processes work, with an instinct to identify unnecessary complexity and opportunities for simplification.
• Ability to recognize patterns, repetitive activities, decision points, bottlenecks, and other opportunities where technology or automation could improve a process.
• Willingness to question existing approaches and ask why a process works the way it does.
• Interest in business process improvement, automation, AI, product development, and emerging technologies.
• Ability to translate ambiguous business problems into understandable opportunities and potential solutions.
• Ability to think beyond existing processes and imagine simpler future-state approaches.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills with an interest in working directly with business users.
• Comfortable experimenting, learning new tools, and iterating based on feedback.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively.
• Prior software development experience is not required.

Education & Experience

• Pursuing a 4-year college degree in Business Analytics, Information Systems, Management Information Systems, Operations, Industrial Engineering, Computer Information Systems, Business, or a related field.
• Interest in business process improvement, technology, product development, automation, or AI.
• Experience analyzing, mapping, redesigning, or improving a process through coursework, projects, extracurricular activities, or previous work experience is a plus.
• Experience with AI tools through coursework, personal projects, or experimentation is a plus but not required.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and positions are open until filled (this may be prior to the job posting expiration date).

At UHM, we understand diversity comes in many different forms. It's our commitment to improve inclusion in the workplace through programs and policies that establish a positive and inclusive environment where every Partner, regardless of their background, can grow and excel. We value diversity, educate on equity, and create inclusive partner opportunities to ensure that you know #UBelongAtUHM!

This employer participates in E-Verify. If hired, the employer will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.

Union Home Mortgage Corp. provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.