Technical Product Owner

Technical Product Owner – Retail POS Optomi, in partnership with a leader in the retail grocery industry, is seeking a highly motivated and experienced Technical Product Owner to lead the implementation and continuous improvement of our new Point of Sale (POS) product within a fast-paced retail environment. This role sits at the intersection of product strategy, technical execution, and cross-functional collaboration - partnering closely with product design, engineering, vendors, and end users to deliver a best-in-class POS experience. Key Responsibilities Product Strategy & Roadmap Partner with Product Ownership to define product needs and leverage user feedback to shape direction. Contribute to the development and execution of the POS product vision and long-term strategy. Prioritize features and build a roadmap aligned with business goals, technical feasibility, and user requirements. Agile Product Development Facilitate intake, refinement, and sizing of feature requests across internal teams and external vendor partners. Write clear, testable user stories and maintain a well-groomed backlog using Azure DevOps (Kanban). Actively participate in sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives. Support one internal engineering team plus multiple external vendors to ensure delivery alignment. Design Collaboration & User Feedback Partner with product designers to develop intuitive, scalable POS features and user experiences. Work directly with store and operational users to validate concepts and gather feedback. Analyze feedback on existing functionality to prioritize enhancements and improve usability. Technical Contribution & Development Contribute to technical specifications, testing efforts, and system documentation. When needed, support development initiatives by writing clean, maintainable code (e.g., .NET, C#, Azure DB, Kafka). Participate in code reviews and help refine engineering processes. Troubleshoot and resolve product and system issues. Technical Understanding & Collaboration Maintain a deep understanding of system architecture across applications, databases, integrations, and cloud services. Translate product requirements into technical specifications in partnership with engineering teams. Ensure clear communication across product, engineering, design, vendors, and business stakeholders. Migration Management Track and manage application migrations, ensuring minimal disruption to users. Identify prerequisites, dependencies, and blockers that may impact development or deployment. Performance Tracking & Analysis Define and monitor KPIs to measure product success and inform roadmap decisions. Pull and analyze application performance metrics using SQL, PowerBI, or similar tools. Leverage data insights to optimize functionality, performance, and user experience. Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience. 10+ years of professional experience in product ownership, technical product management, or technical project leadership. 3+ years of product management experience, ideally managing multiple products in enterprise environments. 2+ years of software development experience with proficiency in one or more relevant languages (e.g., .NET, C#, Kafka). Strong knowledge of cloud technologies, especially Azure, cloud-based architectures, and data integration. Experience with databases including CosmosDB, MongoDB, SQL, and messaging systems such as Kafka, RabbitMQ, Azure Service Bus. Familiarity with .NET and Java build tools (MSBuild, Maven, Spring Boot). Strong understanding of Agile methodologies (Kanban and/or Scrum) and SDLC best practices. Experience managing vendors and cross-functional technical teams. Proficiency with Azure DevOps, ADO Boards, and GitHub pipelines (preferred). Exceptional communication, stakeholder management, and documentation skills. Strong organizational abilities with a focus on detail and process optimization. Ability to translate complex technical requirements into clear, actionable plans and user stories. DevOps experience is a plus, though a solid technical foundation is essential.