Product Owner

Thales Group; Ottawa; Hybrid; CAD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Thales Group in Ottawa, Ontario, is seeking a Product Owner to drive development and success of products, bridging stakeholders, development teams, and end-users. You will shape the product vision, manage the backlog, and translate complex requirements into actionable user stories for delivery by engineering and design teams.

Responsibilities include prioritizing features, participating in sprint ceremonies, and collaborating with UX designers to ensure a high-quality user experience.

Qualifications

• 6-8 years of experience as a Product Owner or Product Manager, preferably in defense.
• 5+ years demonstrated experience translating business requirements into actionable development tasks.
• Proficient in Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban).
• Comfortable with project management tools such as JIRA, Trello, or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Define and communicate a clear product vision and strategy aligned with business goals.
• Gather and prioritize product requirements from stakeholders and end users.
• Create, manage and prioritize the product backlog with current priorities and user needs.
• Write clear user stories and acceptance criteria for development teams.
• Collaborate with engineering, design and cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality products on time.

Skills

Agile methodologies

Stakeholder collaboration

User story writing

Backlog management

Cross-functional teamwork

Education

Undergraduate degree in software engineering / CS / business administration

Tools

JIRA

Trello

Job description

Location: Ottawa, Canada

In fast changing markets, customers worldwide rely on Thales. Thales is a business where brilliant people from all over the world come together to share ideas and inspire each other. In aerospace, transportation, defence, security and space, our architects design innovative solutions that make our tomorrow's possible.

Ottawa, ON, Hybrid

Product Owner

Position Summary

Thales requires a Product Owner who will be responsible for driving the development and success of our products, whether they are developed internally or externally by partners or subcontractors. The successful candidate will act as the bridge between stakeholders, development teams, and end-users, ensuring that the product aligns with the business goals and customer needs.

As a Product Owner, you will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to define the product vision and strategic roadmap. You will engage in comprehensive market and user research to understand customer needs, identify opportunities, and determine the most impactful features to enhance the product. Your insights will drive the creation and management of a detailed product backlog and you will prioritize features and tasks to maximize business value and customer satisfaction.

A key part of your responsibility will include translating complex business requirements into actionable user stories and detailed specifications for the development team. You will work closely with engineers to ensure that product features are delivered on time and within scope, while maintaining a high-quality standard. Additionally, you will facilitate regular feedback loops through continuous testing and user feedback sessions, enabling iterative improvements and ensuring alignment with end-user expectations. Your role also encompasses analyzing performance metrics and user data to measure the success of product initiatives. You will leverage this data to make informed decisions, adjust priorities, and refine the product strategy. Moreover, effective communication and collaboration will be essential, as you will present product updates and strategic plans to the portfolio owner and other stakeholders, articulating the value and impact of product decisions. Your experience includes being a product owner for products involving data analytics and artificial intelligence.

Regulatory Compliance Requirement

This position requires direct or indirect access to hardware, software or technical information controlled under the Canadian Export Control List and/or the US the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). All applicants must be eligible or able to obtain authorization for such access.

Key Areas of Responsibility

• Product Vision and Strategy: Develop and communicate a clear product vision and strategy that aligns with the company's overall objectives and market needs.
• Conduct competitive analysis and market research to identify opportunities and threats.
• Stakeholder Collaboration: Act as the primary liaison between stakeholders, including end-users, business leaders and development teams to ensure alignment and transparency.
• Gather and prioritize product requirements based on feedback from various stakeholders.
• Product Backlog Management: Create, manage and prioritize the product backlog(s), ensuring it reflects current business priorities and user needs.
• Write clear and comprehensive user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Product Development: Contribute to the product development lifecycle, working closely with engineering, design, and other cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality products on time, within scope and with high quality standard.
• Participate in sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives.
• User Experience (UX): Collaborate with UX/UI designers to ensure the product provides an intuitive and engaging user experience.
• Contribute to usability studies and user feedback gathering to continually improve the product.
• Product Launch and Marketing Support: Collaborate with the marketing team to develop go-to-market strategies and product launch plans.
• Collaborate with the change management team when a product is introduced launched for internal use.

Minimum Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in software engineering, computer science, business administration or related field.
• 6-8 years of experience in a Product Owner or Product Manager role, preferably in defense.
• At least 5 years of demonstrated experience in gathering and translating business requirements into actionable development tasks.
• Proficient in Agile methodologies (e.g., Scrum, Kanban).
• Comfortable with project management tools such as JIRA, Trello, or equivalent.

If you're excited about working with Thales, but not meeting the requirements for this position, we encourage you to join our Talent Community.

What We Offer

Thales provides an extensive benefits program for all full-time employees working 24 or more hours per week and their eligible dependents, including the following: