Technical Product Owner

Metaphor Services • Sacramento, CA, US • 2d ago

Sacramento/Walnut Creek

Onsite

6M C2H

Key Responsibilities

PRODUCT BACKLOG OWNERSHIP & REFINEMENT

Takes full ownership of managing, grooming, and prioritizing the product backlog in alignment with business objectives
Writes detailed, clear, and actionable user stories and epics, incorporating technical requirements and constraints
Collaborates with development teams to ensure stories are well understood, estimated accurately, and broken down into manageable tasks

TECHNICAL STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION

Serves as a key point of contact between business and technical stakeholders, ensuring technical requirements align with business goals
Works with architects, developers, and DevOps engineers to design solutions, validate feasibility, and ensure scalability
Provides technical input during architecture and solution design discussions

ADVANCED PRODUCT STRATEGY & ROADMAP DEVELOPMENT

Contributes to defining and refining the product vision, strategy, and roadmap, incorporating feedback from key stakeholders
Conducts market and competitive analysis to inform product decisions and identify new technical opportunities
Drives continuous improvement of the product by leveraging metrics, user feedback, and emerging technology trends

AGILE PROCESS ADVOCACY

Leads sprint planning, backlog refinement, daily stand-ups, and sprint reviews to ensure development teams are focused and productive
Champions Agile best practices and drives continuous improvement in team processes and collaboration
Manages sprint goals and timelines, balancing scope, resources, and priorities to ensure timely product delivery

Technical Requirements Gathering & Analysis

Collaborates with the engineering team to translate complex technical and system requirements into clear, actionable product features
Understands and documents technical workflows, data models, APIs, and integrations
Evaluates and recommends tools, frameworks, and technologies that support product objectives

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL COLLABORATION & COMMUNICATION

Serves as a bridge between technical and non-technical stakeholders, translating technical concepts into business-friendly language
Acts as the primary interface for resolving product issues and ensuring alignment across development, operations, and support teams
Facilitates technical discussions and decision-making processes across teams to drive product delivery

QUALITY ASSURANCE & UAT

Defines and enforces acceptance criteria for features and user stories to ensure high-quality deliverables
Collaborates with the QA team to develop comprehensive test plans, perform acceptance testing, and ensure product readiness
Leads user acceptance testing (UAT) sessions, ensuring that product features meet business and technical requirements

PRODUCT LAUNCH & POST-LAUNCH SUPPORT

Coordinates product releases, working closely with release management, DevOps, and support teams
Monitors and tracks the performance of product features post-launch and implements necessary improvements
Provides post-release support to address technical issues and feedback from users and stakeholders

ON-PREMISES, HYBRID, AND CLOUD ENVIRONMENTS

Works with business applications across various environments, including on-premises, hybrid, and cloud systems
Works with the infrastructure and cloud teams to ensure that application environments are stable, secure, and meet business performance expectations
Supports the transition of applications from on-premises environments to cloud or hybrid architectures, working closely with senior IT leadership on cloud migration strategies
Ensures proper governance and performance monitoring for applications in all environments, proactively identifying areas for optimization

STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION

Assists as liaison between business users, IT teams, and external vendors to ensure that applications meet the needs of the organization and align with business goals
Facilitates communication between technical teams and business stakeholders, ensuring clear understanding of project timelines, deliverables, and expectations
Works closely with IT managers and teams to ensure successful integration of business applications with other enterprise systems

RISK & COMPLIANCE

Ensures business applications comply with industry regulations and internal security standards, including SOX, PCI-DSS, and other financial sector regulations
Works with the cybersecurity team to ensure applications are secured against potential threats and vulnerabilities
Supports procedures for regular audits, risk assessments, and disaster recovery plans for critical applications

Required Qualifications

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field required
CERTIFICATIONS: Preferred: Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO), or SAFe certifications
EXPERIENCE: Required: Minimum of 3 years of experience in product management, business analysis, or related technical role within an IT environment. Proven experience working with Agile development teams and using Agile tools such as JIRA, Confluence, or Azure DevOps. Experience in leading technical discussions and collaborating with development teams, architects, and DevOps engineers. Preferred: Experience with microservice architecture, containerization (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes), and modern cloud-native applications. Hands-on experience with tools like Git, Jenkins, or containerization

Technical Skills/Knowledge

Strong technical background with an understanding of system architecture, APIs, cloud technologies, databases, and software development practices
Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, and cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud
Strong understanding of data management principles, integrations, and APIs
Strong knowledge of automation tools, monitoring, and logging platforms