Technical Product Owner - Contract

#### **About the Role** We are seeking a **Technical Product Owner** to drive the delivery of technology initiatives that align with our business strategy and member experience goals. You will define, prioritize, and manage the product backlog, working closely with engineering, operations, and business stakeholders to deliver measurable outcomes through iterative, data-driven development. This role requires a balance of technical acumen, operational understanding, and strong communication across teams. #### **Key Responsibilities** **Product Ownership & Backlog Management** - Translate strategic goals into clear, actionable **features**, **user stories**, and **acceptance criteria**. - Own the **product backlog**, ensuring items are well-defined, prioritized, and aligned with roadmap objectives. - Collaborate with engineering teams during **backlog refinement**, **sprint planning**, and **release planning**. - Ensure completed stories meet **acceptance criteria** through active review of test results and documentation. **Delivery & Execution** - Partner with delivery teams to ensure timely, high-quality releases. - Manage **testing, documentation, and rollout activities** for new features. - Track **product health**, performance, and usage metrics to drive continuous improvement. - Prioritize and resolve issues, defects, and production incidents in collaboration with technical teams. **Stakeholder Engagement** - Communicate effectively with **cross-functional teams**, including leadership, business users, and vendors. - Gather and synthesize **business requirements** from multiple stakeholders. - Align technical decisions with business goals and compliance needs (PCI, CCPA, SOX). - Coordinate with **3rd-party vendors and consultants** to manage professional services delivery. **Continuous Improvement** - Leverage data and user feedback to pursue **incremental, measurable improvements**. - Lead or contribute to **retrospectives** to improve team processes and delivery velocity. - Stay current with **Agile best practices**, **DevOps processes**, and **product management tools**. #### **Required Skills & Experience** - 5+ years of experience in a **Technology Operations or Product Ownership** role. - 5+ years creating clear, structured documentation for diverse technical and business audiences. - 2+ years working with **formal compliance frameworks** (PCI, CCPA, SOX). - 1+ years of hands-on experience with **Scrum or Agile methodologies**. - 1+ years coordinating with **third-party vendors** or consulting partners. - Strong skills in **requirements gathering**, **business modeling**, and **non-functional requirements** definition. - Familiarity with **networking**, **storage**, and **compute technologies**. - Excellent organizational, analytical, and communication skills. - Proven ability to work both **independently** and **collaboratively**. #### **Preferred Qualifications** - Experience with **Kanban methodology**. - Hands-on experience with **Microsoft** and **Azure technologies**. - Familiarity with **ServiceNow** workflows and integrations. - Understanding of **modern application architectures** and **CI/CD pipelines**. **Who We are...** SmarTek21, founded in 2006, is an innovative digital transformation leader dedicated to empowering organizations through design-led, data-centric solutions. We believe that exceptional user experiences and intelligent data-driven insights are pivotal in shaping the future of business. At the heart of our approach is Design-Led Engineering, where we combine strategic design principles with cutting-edge technology to create tailored solutions that deliver significant business outcomes. Our commitment to accelerating digital transformation includes specialized expertise in Agile DevOps, Data Engineering and analytics, Testing Automation and support, and comprehensive Managed Application and Infrastructure Services. We’ve evolved from our consulting and development roots into a full-spectrum s…