Product Owner

Product Owner

Location: Chicago, IL/Riverwoods, IL Client: Client Financials

Contract Duration: Initial 5-month contract, with strong potential for extension through year-end based on performance and funding.

Role Overview

We are seeking a Contract Product Owner to support a UI-aligned platform product team. This role focuses on maintaining and supporting a shared platform that hosts multiple applications, rather than owning a single, traditional application. The Product Owner will primarily focus on "keeping the lights on"—ensuring platform stability, compliance, intake management, and defect triage—while also partnering closely with engineering, delivery, and product leadership to prioritize and execute work. This is a functional Product Owner role (not a Scrum Master and not a highly technical PO), ideal for someone with strong PO fundamentals, operational rigor, and the ability to manage multiple workstreams in parallel.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and manage platform backlogs, including epics, user stories, defects, and intake requests using Jira
• Support platform stability initiatives, including: vulnerability management with SLA tracking, compliance and technical upgrade initiatives, defect triage and prioritization
• Manage intake requests from multiple platform consumers (application teams)
• Support user access and provisioning, including configuring profiles and access levels
• Partner closely with engineers to: refine requirements, prioritize work, remove blockers and support delivery
• Collaborate with: Product Manager (strategy-focused), Senior Product Owners, Engineering teams, PMO / Agile Delivery partners (Scrum Master–like support)
• Support convergence initiatives, including migration from legacy Client technologies to target Client platforms
• Balance operational work with evolving project and delivery needs

Required Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Product Owner in a digital or platform-based environment
• Strong experience using Jira (epics, stories, backlog management)
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams and applications simultaneously
• Experience supporting backend or platform-oriented products (not physical products)
• Strong organizational, prioritization, and stakeholder management skills
• Comfortable working in fast-paced, high-volume environments with changing priorities

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting platforms used by multiple application teams
• Exposure to UI/front-end teams (helpful but not required)
• Experience working with compliance, vulnerability management, or technical upgrades
• Strong project management and agility skills
• Experience working in large enterprise environments

Nice to Have

• Product Owner certification
• Background supporting convergence, migration, or modernization initiatives
• Experience working closely with engineering leads and architects

Not a Fit / Red Flags

• Candidates with only Scrum Master experience and no Product Owner background
• Heavy strategic product management profiles with limited hands-on PO execution
• Experience limited to a single product without managing multiple applications
• Background primarily in physical products rather than digital platforms

Interview Process

• 1–2 interview rounds with the Hiring Manager and Team Lead