Product Owner

Job Title: Product Owner
Location: Hybrid
Duration: 3 months (1 Year Extension Likely)

Overview:
The client is seeking an experienced product owner to help lead this mission. The ideal candidate will have big ideas and strategies that foster an environment of collaboration and creativity. We need someone who has an entrepreneurial mindset for distilling business value and goals into roadmaps and refined product backlogs. Most important, we need a product owner who can help us build better products that people love to use. Candidates will have broad IT experience and deep understanding of IT management and engineering management processes, business acumen, project management, and advise on organization-wide system improvements and optimization.

The successful candidate should be
• Collaborative, analytical thinker with strong problem-solving and program management skills to deliver the best solutions in support of the customer's mission.
• Strong communicator and the demonstrated ability to convey technical concepts to non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities:
• Lead the product-release plans and set expectations for delivery of new functionalities.
• Develop and communicate a clear product vision and strategy aligned with company objectives.
• Ensure that the team and stakeholders have a shared understanding of the product goals.
• Create, prioritize, and maintain the product backlog, ensuring it is aligned with the product strategy and goals.
• Clearly define user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Act as the primary point of contact for stakeholders, gathering and clarifying requirements and feedback. Manage expectations and ensure stakeholder alignment with product goals and priorities.
• Work closely with the development team to ensure clear understanding of requirements and priorities.
• Participate in Scrum ceremonies, including sprint planning, review, and retrospective meetings.
• Make critical decisions regarding product scope, feature prioritization, and trade-offs based on business value.
• Balance short-term and long-term objectives in decision-making.
• Define and uphold standards for product quality, including acceptance criteria and definition of done.
• Identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions.
• Adapt and refine the product backlog based on feedback and changing requirements.
• Conduct market and competitor analysis to inform product strategy and identify opportunities.
• Stay up to date with industry trends and innovations.
• Maintain clear and comprehensive product documentation.
• Communicate progress, risks, and changes to stakeholders and team members effectively.

Basic Qualifications
• Active Public Trust Clearance or Ability to obtain a Public Trust Clearance
• Bachelor's Degree and a minimum of 8 years of experience with large-scale projects/ program(s).
• In-depth knowledge of agile methodology for project management.
• Ability to work well under pressure and be flexible at juggling competing priorities. Must be resourceful and independent problem solvers.
• Experience with standard system engineering lifecycle concepts, architectural frameworks, and artifacts to produce working solutions.
• 5+ years of experience working in an agile role and environment
• Agile certifications Scrum Master (CSM, ACSM, CSP-SM)

Preferred Qualifications/Skills
• Experience within Federal Government, such as Client, FDA, NIH, or HHS is highly preferred.
• Certifications in Product Owner (CSPO, ACSPO, CSP-PO), Developer (CSD, CSD-P, ACSD); Client-CF, CAL1, CAS-S1
• Certifications and Experience with CMMI level certifications
• Proficiency with applicable project management tools and technology.
• Familiar with Microsoft aligned products like Power Platform, M365/MS Teams, and AVD
• Other Expertise in Atlassian suite products, Azure, JAMF, Okta