Product Owner (O&M Escalation)

Role Description

AcisTek is seeking qualified professionals to support the Grants.gov Information Technology Services program for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Grants, Division of Information and Solutions. Grants.gov is a highly visible, public-facing federal shared service that provides a centralized platform for applicants to find and apply for federal discretionary grant opportunities and for federal agencies to post, manage, and process grant application packages.

The selected candidate will support the operation, maintenance, enhancement, modernization, security, performance, and user experience of the Grants.gov system. This work supports a mission-critical federal platform used by applicants, grantors, federal agencies, and partner systems across the grants lifecycle. Candidates should be comfortable working in a structured federal IT environment with strong emphasis on:

• Service continuity
• Stakeholder responsiveness
• Documentation
• Quality
• Security
• Accessibility
• Disciplined delivery

Ideal candidates will bring experience supporting federal IT programs, public-facing web applications, grants management systems, cloud-hosted environments, Agile/SDLC delivery, system operations, application support, testing, cybersecurity, communications, or related technical and program functions. Prior experience with Grants.gov, federal grants systems, HHS, government shared services, or high-volume public-sector platforms is strongly preferred.

Preferred Grants.gov / Federal Grants Experience

• Grants.gov, GrantSolutions, or other federal grants management platforms.
• Federal discretionary grants lifecycle, including funding opportunity posting, application package creation, applicant submission, agency download, forms, validations, and acknowledgements.
• Public-facing government websites or shared service platforms with large user communities.
• System-to-system interfaces supporting applicant systems, grantor systems, partner systems, or external federal integrations.
• Federal forms development, Adobe/XDP/PDF forms, XML schemas, web forms, form validation, and Section 508 accessibility.
• HHS, OMB, GAO, OIG, congressional data calls, federal stakeholder reporting, or executive-level federal communications.
• Federal cloud, ATO, POA&M remediation, vulnerability management, disaster recovery, and operational continuity.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Establish and maintain a clear product vision and roadmap for stakeholders and the team.
• Prioritize backlog items based on business value, technical feasibility, and customer feedback.
• Work with stakeholders to understand needs and convert them into user stories, acceptance criteria, and feature specifications.
• Partner with UX, engineering, QA, and business units to ensure alignment and quality.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies (sprint planning, reviews, retrospectives) and provide guidance throughout the development process.
• Track product performance, progress toward goals, and deliverables against acceptance criteria.
• Continuously collect user and stakeholder feedback to inform future decisions.
• Identify and resolve obstacles that impact delivery timelines.

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in information technology, computer science, or related preferred.
• Strong understanding of Agile methodologies, backlog management, and sprint planning.
• Ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Deep understanding of user experience and market trends.
• 5 years or more of related experience required.

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times.