SENIOR PRODUCT OWNER

SENIOR PRODUCT OWNER

Job ID: 928-1-Product Owner -4 @ NNS Work Arrangement: Hybrid Pay Rate: $55.00-$69.00/hourly PPE Required: Steel-toe boots, hard hat, and safety glasses

POSITION SUMMARY

We are seeking a highly skilled and engaged Senior Product Owner to lead backlog strategy, customer discovery, and delivery execution for a software development team operating within an Agile delivery model. This role is ideal for a strong practitioner who can model best-in-class Product Ownership while serving as a change agent to improve delivery discipline, customer focus, and Agile maturity across the portfolio. The Senior Product Owner will: Own the delivery team backlog. Ensure work is clearly defined, prioritized, and ready for delivery. Represent the customer and end user. Drive consistent delivery of high-value business outcomes. Align product priorities with business and portfolio objectives. Collaborate closely with customers, business partners, architects, developers, and testers. Spend regular onsite time with customers, business partners, and delivery teams.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Backlog Ownership & Delivery Own, maintain, and continuously refine the delivery team's backlog. Align backlog priorities with business objectives and highest-value outcomes. Translate business and portfolio priorities into clear, actionable user stories and acceptance criteria. Ensure backlog items are sufficiently detailed, understood, and ready before sprint execution. Lead backlog refinement sessions. Actively participate in: Sprint planning Sprint reviews/demos Retrospectives Other Agile ceremonies Serve as the content authority for the delivery team. Provide timely answers, clarification, direction, and decisions. Identify and manage upstream and downstream dependencies. Drive alignment with adjacent product teams. Collaborate with architects to ensure backlog items comply with enterprise architecture requirements. 2. Customer Discovery & Validation Engage directly and regularly with customers and end users. Understand real-world workflows, pain points, and operational needs. Spend meaningful onsite time at customer worksites. Observe how work is performed and identify opportunities for improvement. Serve as the voice of the customer within the delivery team. Ensure product development remains aligned with actual business value. Validate completed work with customers. Gather customer feedback to confirm solutions meet intended needs. Use customer feedback and delivery results to refine future backlog items. Conduct continuous discovery activities, including: Customer interviews Surveys Workflow observation Feedback sessions Identify evolving customer needs and translate them into product opportunities. 3. Agile Leadership & Collaboration Build strong collaborative relationships with: Developers Testers Architects Business stakeholders Customers Model strong SAFe and Agile Product Owner behaviors. Help improve Product Owner capability and Agile maturity across the portfolio. Promote: Backlog discipline Transparency Customer engagement Continuous improvement Maintain an Agile team culture aligned with organizational values and modern delivery practices. Lead, direct, and empower team members without formal management authority. Identify risks, unclear requirements, and delivery issues early. Proactively resolve or escalate delivery challenges. 4. Strategic Thinking & Decision Making Apply a data-driven approach to prioritization and trade-off decisions. Make informed product and delivery decisions based on business value. Influence stakeholders at all organizational levels, including senior leadership. Define and deliver against measurable OKRs and KPIs . Work effectively with ambiguous requirements. Collaborate across multidisciplinary teams. Adapt quickly in a fast-paced, collaborative, and continuously changing environment. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS Proven experience as a Product Owner in a software development environment. Senior-level Product Ownership experience preferred. SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager (POPM) certification preferred. Certified Product Owner certification preferred. Demonstrated success owning and continuously refining Agile delivery team backlogs. Experience working directly with customers and end users. Strong facilitation and communication skills. Excellent stakeholder management and relationship-building abilities. Ability to lead, direct, and empower team members without formal management authority. Experience collaborating with: Software developers QA/testers Architects Business stakeholders Large enterprise experience preferred. SAP experience desired but not required. Azure DevOps experience preferred.

IDEAL CANDIDATE

The ideal candidate understands Product Ownership as a strategic, customer-centered discipline , rather than simply backlog maintenance or requirements intake. The successful candidate continually asks: Who is the customer? What problem are we trying to solve? Do we understand the customer's real workflow? Is the work clear enough for the delivery team? What does success look like? Did the delivered solution truly solve the customer's problem?

CORE COMPETENCIES

Product Ownership | Agile | SAFe | Backlog Management | Product Strategy | Customer Discovery | User Stories | Acceptance Criteria | Sprint Planning | Backlog Refinement | Sprint Reviews | Customer Validation | Stakeholder Management | Agile Leadership | Continuous Improvement | OKRs | KPIs | Dependency Management | Enterprise Architecture | Software Development | Azure DevOps | SAP

WORK ENVIRONMENT

This is a hybrid position requiring regular onsite engagement with customers, business partners, and software delivery teams. Required Personal Protective Equipment Steel-toe boots Hard hat Safety glasse PROLIM Corporation