Ontology Scrum Master (TS/SCI)

Vantor; Herndon (VA); On-site; USD 107,000 - 157,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) match

Mental health resources

Student loan repayment assistance

Adoption reimbursement

Pet insurance

Job summary

Vantor is seeking a Product Owner to define, prioritize, and manage the product vision and backlog for software capabilities supporting Object-Based Intelligence and knowledge graphs. You will bridge Government stakeholders, end users, and the Agile development team to translate priorities into actionable requirements.

The role requires directing roadmaps, prioritizing features, and ensuring secure, scalable, mission-focused solutions.

Qualifications

• 10 years of experience with an advanced degree or 15 years with a bachelor’s degree.
• Experience serving as Product Owner, Product Manager, Business Analyst, or similar role in Agile environments.
• Experience managing product backlogs, defining user stories, and prioritizing work.

Responsibilities

• Develop and communicate the product vision, roadmap, and release strategy.
• Own and manage the product backlog with clear user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Collaborate with Government stakeholders and technical teams to elicit and refine requirements.
• Translate mission needs into actionable user stories and epics for iterative delivery.
• Prioritize features based on mission value, risk, and resources.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies and provide direction to development teams.
• Review work and formally accept delivered capabilities against criteria.
• Coordinate semantic data models and knowledge graph capabilities to support objectives.
• Gather user feedback and recommend enhancements to improve effectiveness.
• Maintain product documentation and release plans throughout the lifecycle.

Skills

Product Owner

Agile

Backlog management

Stakeholder collaboration

Documentation

Education

Advanced degree

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Jira

Azure DevOps

Job description

Vantor is forging the new frontier of spatial intelligence, helping decision makers and operators navigate what’s happening now and shape what’s coming next. Vantor is a place for problem solvers, changemakers, and go-getters—where people are working together to help our customers see the world differently, and in doing so, be seen differently. Come be part of a mission, not just a job, where you can: Shape your own future, build the next big thing, and change the world.

To be eligible for this position, you must be a U.S. Citizen. This position requires an active U.S. Government security clearance, applicants who do not currently hold the required clearance will not be eligible for consideration. Employment for cleared roles is contingent upon verification of clearance status.

Export Control/ITAR: Certain roles may be subject to U.S. export control laws, requiring U.S. person status as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).

Please review the job details below.

This position requires an active U.S. Government Security Clearance at the TS/SCI level with CI polygraph.

Vantor is seeking a Product Owner to join our team. In this position you will define, prioritize, and manage the product vision and backlog for software capabilities supporting Object-Based Intelligence (OBI) mission requirements, enterprise ontologies, knowledge graphs, and semantic data integration.

The Product Owner serves as the primary liaison between Government stakeholders, end users, and the Agile development team to ensure mission priorities are translated into actionable product requirements. This position is responsible for defining product roadmaps, managing feature prioritization, and ensuring delivered capabilities align with operational objectives. Working closely with ontology engineers, software developers, data engineers, database engineers, UX designers, and Government stakeholders, the Product Owner ensures the delivery of secure, scalable, and mission-focused solutions that enable semantic interoperability, knowledge management, and advanced analytics.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and communicate the product vision, roadmap, and release strategy in alignment with Object-Based Intelligence mission objectives.
• Own and manage the product backlog, ensuring user stories, features, and acceptance criteria are clearly defined, prioritized, and aligned with Government priorities.
• Collaborate with Government stakeholders, mission users, analysts, and technical teams to elicit, analyze, and refine functional and non-functional requirements.
• Translate mission needs into actionable user stories and epics that support Agile software development and iterative delivery.
• Prioritize product features and technical enhancements based on mission value, operational impact, risk, and resource constraints.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, sprint reviews, and retrospectives, providing direction and clarification to development teams.
• Review completed work, validate acceptance criteria, and formally accept delivered capabilities to ensure they meet mission and quality expectations.
• Coordinate with ontology engineers, software developers, data engineers, and database engineers to ensure semantic data models, knowledge graph capabilities, and enterprise integrations support product objectives.
• Monitor product performance, gather user feedback, and recommend enhancements that improve operational effectiveness and user experience.
• Maintain product documentation, release plans, feature roadmaps, and stakeholder communications throughout the product lifecycle.
• Support user acceptance testing, operational demonstrations, and deployment planning to ensure successful delivery of mission capabilities.
• Provide product leadership and facilitate knowledge transfer activities with Government personnel and project team members.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Must be a U.S. citizen and have an active TS/SCI with CI polygraph.
• 10 years of experience and an advanced degree or 15 years of experience with a bachelor’s degree.
• Demonstrated experience serving as a Product Owner, Product Manager, Business Analyst, or similar role supporting Agile software development.
• Experience managing product backlogs, defining user stories, and prioritizing work in Agile development environments.
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional technical teams, including software developers, data engineers, architects, and stakeholders.
• Experience translating complex mission or business requirements into actionable development tasks.
• Familiarity with Agile frameworks such as Scrum, Kanban, or SAFe.
• Experience using Agile lifecycle management tools such as Jira, Azure DevOps, or equivalent.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience supporting Object-Based Intelligence, Intelligence Community, or Department of Defense mission systems.
• Familiarity with enterprise ontologies, knowledge graphs, Semantic Web technologies, or data-centric mission applications.
• Experience managing products involving AI/ML, advanced analytics, data integration, or knowledge management capabilities.
• Experience with Human-Centered Design (HCD), user experience (UX) principles, and user research methodologies.
• Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO), SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager (POPM), PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA), or equivalent Agile product management certification.
• Experience supporting DevSecOps environments, continuous delivery, and iterative software releases.
• Experience facilitating collaboration and consensus among Government stakeholders, technical teams, and operational users in complex mission environments.

Pay Transparency:

To support pay transparency, Vantor includes salary ranges in all U.S. job postings. Starting pay for this role will fall within the listed range and will be based on factors such as experience, qualifications, skills, location, and market conditions. Candidates who meet the minimum requirements for the role should not expect to receive compensation at the top of the range. The listed range reflects the expected pay for this position, and final offers will be determined based on each candidate’s experience, expertise, and alignment with the role.

• The base pay for this position within the Washington, DC metropolitan area is: $107,000.00 - $143,000.00 - $157,300.00 annually.

For all other states, we use geographic cost of labor as an input to develop market-driven ranges for our roles, and as such, each location where we hire may have a different range.

The application window is three days from the date the job is posted and will remain posted until a qualified candidate has been identified for hire. If the job is reposted regardless of reason, it will remain posted three days from the date the job is reposted and will remain reposted until a qualified candidate has been identified for hire.

The date of posting can be found on Vantor’s Career page at the top of each job posting.

#cjpost

#LI-CJ1

#LI-Onsite

Benefits:

Vantor offers a competitive total rewards package that goes beyond the standard, including a robust 401(k) with company match, mental health resources, and unique perks like student loan repayment assistance, adoption reimbursement and pet insurance to support all aspects of your life. You can find more information on our benefits at: https://www.Vantor.com/careers

EEO Policy: Vantor is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive workplace. We believe in fostering an environment where all team members feel respected, valued, and encouraged to share their ideas. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.