Product Owner

NOTE:  This position requires US citizenship.  

We are seeking Product Owners in support of a government contract in the Baltimore/Washington DC area. Hybrid work may be a possibility for certain positions.  

Must have a bachelors and at least 7 years experience.  

We’re looking for a combination of skills that encompass both the strategic and tactical elements of product management, ensuring that the product owner can effectively balance the needs of the business with the demands of the customer and the development team. These skills include the following: 

Core Skills:

1. Product Management:
   • Strong understanding of the product lifecycle from ideation to delivery
   • Experience creating and managing product roadmaps
   • Ability to define and prioritize product features based on business goals and customer needs
2. Business Analysis:
   • Ability to analyze customer feedback, and other metrics to define product requirements
   • Expertise in gathering, refining, and documenting user stories, product requirements, and acceptance criteria
   • Writing detailed product specifications for development teams
   • Defining MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and roadmap priorities
3. Agile Methodologies:
   • Strong experience with Agile frameworks (e.g., Scrum, Kanban)
   • Leading and participating in sprint planning, stand-ups, and retrospectives
   • Experience managing backlogs and creating detailed user stories and epics
4. Stakeholder Management:
   • Strong ability to communicate with both internal and external stakeholders, including customers, sales, marketing, and development teams
   • Balancing competing priorities and negotiating trade-offs to align product direction with business objectives
   • Keeping stakeholders informed of progress, risks, and timelines
5. Prioritization & Decision-Making:
   • Ability to prioritize product features, bug fixes, and improvements based on business impact, customer needs, and technical feasibility
   • Applying decision-making frameworks (e.g., MoSCoW, RICE) to determine priorities effectively
6. Product Vision & Strategy:
   • Defining the product vision, strategy, and long-term goals aligned with business objectives
   • Communicating the product vision clearly to internal teams and external stakeholders
   • Ability to pivot or adjust strategies based on customer feedback
7. Customer-Centric Focus:
   • Strong understanding of customer needs, pain points, and user experiences
   • Experience conducting customer interviews, surveys, or focus groups to validate product ideas
   • Ensuring the product delivers exceptional user experience (UX)

Technical Skills:

1. Collaboration with Development Teams:
   • Experience working closely with cross-functional teams, including developers, designers, and QA 
   • Translating business needs into clear technical requirements for developers
   • Ability to review technical concepts and make decisions based on feasibility, trade-offs, and impact
2. Software Development Lifecycle:
   • Understanding of how products are built, tested, and deployed in an iterative environment
   • Ability to manage product releases and updates effectively
   • Experience working with version control systems and basic understanding of deployment pipelines
3. Collaboration with UI/UX Design Teams:
   • Ability to translate wireframes and prototypes into actionable requirements for development teams

Soft Skills:

1. Leadership & Influence:
   • Leading and motivating teams towards shared product goals
   • Ability to inspire a vision and keep the team aligned with product objectives
   • Managing conflicts or disagreements effectively and fostering collaboration
2. Communication & Presentation Skills:
   • Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal, to articulate ideas, product requirements, and updates to various stakeholders
   • Confidence in presenting product strategies and progress to senior leadership and external partners
3. Problem Solving:
   • Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify root causes, come up with solutions, and guide teams in execution
   • Identifying and mitigating risks throughout the product lifecycle
4. Adaptability & Resilience:
   • Ability to adapt to changing priorities and market conditions while maintaining focus on long-term goals
   • Comfortable working in a fast-paced, dynamic environment
5. Customer Empathy:
   • Strong ability to put yourself in the shoes of the customer and advocate for their needs
   • Listening to customer feedback and using it to shape product direction

Bonus Skills (Optional but Helpful):

1. UX/UI Knowledge:
   • Experience working closely with UX/UI designers to ensure the product is user-friendly and visually appealing
   • Understanding of design principles and user-centric design practices
   • Experience with product design tools (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD) for basic wireframing or collaborating with UX/UI designers
2. Change/Adoption Management:
   • Experience in managing change effectively within the organization, ensuring smooth transitions when implementing new features or processes