Digital Product Owner

Strategic Staffing Solutions; Plano (TX); On-site; USD 124,000 - 179,000; Full time

Job summary

Strategic Staffing Solutions, Inc. is seeking a seasoned Digital Product Owner (DPO) for a Plano, TX onsite engagement. Lead backlog ownership, craft executable user stories, and align business needs with technical delivery across Agile and Waterfall environments.

Collaborate with cross-functional teams, prioritize work based on value, and drive timely delivery while managing dependencies and risks. The ideal candidate will rapidly adapt to new domains, maintain real-time backlog details, and

Qualifications

• Experience developing, refining, and managing executable user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Experience prioritizing work in collaboration with delivery teams and Business Owners.
• Ability to quickly learn new technical domains and understand the work being performed by technical teams.
• Proficiency with Jira, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Whiteboard.
• Experience managing product backlogs, tracking dependencies, and preparing work for delivery.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams, including developers, architects, Business Owners, Scrum Masters, and Subject Matter Experts.
• Experience working within Agile, Waterfall, and evolving development methodologies.
• Strong stakeholder engagement, communication, collaboration, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to proactively manage changing priorities, update information in real time, and quickly integrate into new teams and workstreams.

Responsibilities

• Create, refine, and update executable user stories and acceptance criteria in real time with the team.
• Maintain and prioritize the product backlog, track dependencies, and ensure work is ready for delivery.
• Review stakeholder feedback and new requirements, incorporating changes into the backlog as appropriate.
• Review and accept or decline development deliverables based on established acceptance criteria.
• Partner with Business Owners, Tech Leads, and Scrum Masters to prioritize work based on business value, readiness, dependencies, and team capacity.
• Manage and assess the impact of new features, defects, and other work items, including decisions to create, fix, or defer.
• Track delivery progress, clarify requirements, and resolve questions or impediments affecting execution.
• Ensure delivery priorities align with business strategies, product roadmaps, and stakeholder expectations.
• Serve as the primary business representative to technical delivery teams.
• Collaborate with developers, architects, Business Owners, and SMEs to clarify requirements and facilitate decisions.
• Provide status updates and pre-production demonstrations to Business Owners and leadership.
• Capture feedback, decisions, and evolving business needs and translate them into actionable backlog items.
• Identify, engage, and influence business stakeholders to validate business strategy, customer needs, and delivery objectives.
• Lead backlog readiness activities for Program Increment (PI) Planning and Inspect & Adapt (I&A).
• Communicate upcoming work and proactively manage risks, dependencies, and delivery priorities.
• Assist with project-level planning related to schedules, scope, and resources.
• Partner with business process owners to establish metrics for benefits realization, adoption, and operational risks.
• Identify and mitigate business and technology delivery risks, escalating issues and recommending solutions.
• Support business readiness for change through communication, adoption planning, and performance metrics.
• Assist with coaching less experienced Digital Product Owners and team members.
• Jira: Create and refine stories and acceptance criteria, maintain and prioritize backlogs, track dependencies, and ensure delivery readiness.
• Microsoft Teams: Collaborate with developers, Business Owners, architects, and SMEs to clarify requirements, resolve questions, make decisions, and respond to evolving priorities.
• Microsoft Whiteboard: Facilitate interactive working sessions to visualize processes, map requirements and dependencies, organize ideas, and translate discussions into actionable user stories.

Skills

Executable user stories

Backlog prioritization

Stakeholder engagement

Agile & Waterfall

Cross-functional collaboration

Change-priority management

Requirement clarification

Team integration

Decision making

Tools

Jira

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Whiteboard

Job description

Job Title

Digital Product Owner (DPO)

Location

Plano, TX 75024

Work Arrangement

Onsite

Contract Duration

12 Months

Job ID

JOB-248666

Position Overview

We are seeking a seasoned Digital Product Owner (DPO) who can quickly adapt to new technical domains, establish strong relationships with cross-functional teams, and proactively manage product backlogs and delivery priorities.

The Digital Product Owner will represent business stakeholders to elicit, analyze, document, refine, and communicate business needs, ensuring effective solutions are delivered by business and technical teams. This role requires a strong understanding of customer needs, business strategy, Agile and Waterfall methodologies, and the ability to prioritize work based on business value, readiness, dependencies, and team capacity.

The ideal candidate will be proactive, adaptable, and capable of creating and updating executable stories, acceptance criteria, and backlog information in real time while maintaining alignment between business objectives and technical delivery.

Required Qualifications

• Experience developing, refining, and managing executable user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Experience prioritizing work in collaboration with delivery teams and Business Owners.
• Ability to quickly learn new technical domains and understand the work being performed by technical teams.
• Proficiency with Jira, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Whiteboard.
• Experience managing product backlogs, tracking dependencies, and preparing work for delivery.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams, including developers, architects, Business Owners, Scrum Masters, and Subject Matter Experts.
• Experience working within Agile, Waterfall, and evolving development methodologies.
• Strong stakeholder engagement, communication, collaboration, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to proactively manage changing priorities, update information in real time, and quickly integrate into new teams and workstreams.

Key Responsibilities

Backlog Ownership & Story Development

• Create, refine, and update executable user stories and acceptance criteria in real time with the team.
• Maintain and prioritize the product backlog, track dependencies, and ensure work is ready for delivery.
• Review stakeholder feedback and new requirements, incorporating changes into the backlog as appropriate.
• Review and accept or decline development deliverables based on established acceptance criteria.

Prioritization & Delivery Management

• Partner with Business Owners, Tech Leads, and Scrum Masters to prioritize work based on business value, readiness, dependencies, and team capacity.
• Manage and assess the impact of new features, defects, and other work items, including decisions to create, fix, or defer.
• Track delivery progress, clarify requirements, and resolve questions or impediments affecting execution.
• Ensure delivery priorities align with business strategies, product roadmaps, and stakeholder expectations.

Business & Technology Collaboration

• Serve as the primary business representative to technical delivery teams.
• Collaborate with developers, architects, Business Owners, and SMEs to clarify requirements and facilitate decisions.
• Provide status updates and pre-production demonstrations to Business Owners and leadership.
• Capture feedback, decisions, and evolving business needs and translate them into actionable backlog items.
• Identify, engage, and influence business stakeholders to validate business strategy, customer needs, and delivery objectives.

Planning, Risk Management & Continuous Improvement

• Lead backlog readiness activities for Program Increment (PI) Planning and Inspect & Adapt (I&A).
• Communicate upcoming work and proactively manage risks, dependencies, and delivery priorities.
• Assist with project-level planning related to schedules, scope, and resources.
• Partner with business process owners to establish metrics for benefits realization, adoption, and operational risks.
• Identify and mitigate business and technology delivery risks, escalating issues and recommending solutions.
• Support business readiness for change through communication, adoption planning, and performance metrics.
• Assist with coaching less experienced Digital Product Owners and team members.

Technology Tools & Daily Activities

• Jira: Create and refine stories and acceptance criteria, maintain and prioritize backlogs, track dependencies, and ensure delivery readiness.
• Microsoft Teams: Collaborate with developers, Business Owners, architects, and SMEs to clarify requirements, resolve questions, make decisions, and respond to evolving priorities.
• Microsoft Whiteboard: Facilitate interactive working sessions to visualize processes, map requirements and dependencies, organize ideas, and translate discussions into actionable user stories.