Technical Product Owner

Title: Technical Product Owner

Location: Sacramento & Walnut Creek, California.

Must be a US Citizen or a Green Card

The Technical Product Owner will be responsible for owning the delivery of complex IT products and solutions from concept to deployment. This individual will work closely with technical teams to translate high-level business requirements into detailed technical specifications aligning with the organization's strategic goals, while leveraging technical expertise and product management experience to enhance product delivery, improve team efficiency, and support the product's vision and roadmap.

Must be legally authorized to work in the United States, without requiring, now or in the future, sponsorship for employment visa status.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

PRODUCT BACKLOG OWNERSHIP & REFINEMENT

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

TECHNICAL STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION

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

ADVANCED PRODUCT STRATEGY & ROADMAP DEVELOPMENT

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

AGILE PROCESS ADVOCACY

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

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS GATHERING & ANALYSIS

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

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL COLLABORATION & COMMUNICATION

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

QUALITY ASSURANCE & UAT

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

PRODUCT LAUNCH & POST-LAUNCH SUPPORT

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

ON-PREMISES, HYBRID, AND CLOUD ENVIRONMENTS

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

STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION

1. 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.
2. Facilitates communication between technical teams and business stakeholders, ensuring clear understanding of project timelines, deliverables, and expectations.
3. Works closely with IT managers and teams to ensure successful integration of business applications with other enterprise systems.

RISK & COMPLIANCE

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

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

1. EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field required.
2. CERTIFICATIONS: Preferred: Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO), or SAFe certifications.
3. 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

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