Product Owner

Role & responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

• Own and manage the product backlog, ensuring it is clearly defined, prioritized based on business value and customer needs, and represented using RICE scoring.
• Define clear and concise user stories along with robust acceptance criteria to ensure alignment between stakeholder expectations and development outcomes.
• Collaborate effectively with stakeholders to gather business requirements, provide clarifications, and ensure ongoing alignment with strategic business objectives.
• Act as a liaison between business stakeholders, the Product Manager, and the development team, maintaining clear communication and shared understanding.
• Participate actively in Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, sprint reviews, sprint retrospectives, and backlog refinement sessions.
• Continuously refine, reprioritize, and adjust the product backlog based on stakeholder feedback, user data, and evolving business priorities.
• Facilitate Scrum ceremonies as necessary, ensuring team engagement and alignment (e.g., daily stand-ups, sprint planning, sprint reviews, and retrospectives).
• Proactively identify, communicate, and assist in removing impediments or blockers to keep the development team productive and focused.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, agility, and accountability within the development team.
• Coach and encourage the development team towards self-organization, cross-functional skills, and effective collaboration.
• Ensure the development team understands and adheres to Scrum principles, promoting best practices.
• Protect the development team from external distractions, ensuring they remain focused on delivering high-quality outputs.
• Monitor, evaluate, and regularly communicate the team's progress, ensuring commitments are met and risks or issues are transparently addressed.

Primary Skills:

• Proven experience as a Product Owner in an Agile development environment.
• Exceptional ability to craft clear user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Proficient understanding of Agile methodologies, especially Scrum.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize effectively based on customer value and business strategy.

Secondary Skills:

• Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or Professional Scrum Master (PSM) certification.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is a plus.
• Familiarity with agile tools such as Jira, Trello, or similar platforms.
• Strong organizational and time-management abilities.

Preferred candidate profile