Product Owner

Southern Company; Atlanta, Northern (GA, KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Southern Company, part of the Customer Engagement Portfolio within the Technology organization, seeks a Product Owner to manage and support system product enhancements, maintenance, and requests for the OCC suite of web, batch, and middleware applications.

You will maintain a well-groomed backlog and collaborate with stakeholders, development teams, vendors, architects, and cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality, scalable solutions.

Qualifications

• 3+ years as Product Owner in Agile teams.
• Experience with transactional web sites, batch processes, databases, APIs, and middleware.
• Strong analytical, root-cause analysis, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to prioritize and groom backlogs with features, bugs, and tech debt.
• Define clear acceptance criteria; work with Dev, QA & UA testers.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills across audiences.
• Experience gathering feedback from stakeholders and reporting progress.
• Experience in fast-paced, collaborative environments.
• Ability to drive process improvements with minimal supervision.

Responsibilities

• Define and communicate product vision, strategy, and roadmap for owned solutions.
• Collaborate with business units to embed rules into product design.
• Develop and execute product implementation plans across SDLC.
• Create and prioritize a groomed backlog with acceptance criteria.
• Write epics, features, and user stories; refine by business value.
• Gain deep product knowledge to act as SME for Dev and QA.
• Define success criteria and identify growth opportunities.
• Coordinate with QA testers to ensure quality and accuracy.
• Attend PI planning, demos, and accept stories as done.
• Ensure transparent progress updates to stakeholders; manage expectations.
• Create product documentation and training materials.

Skills

Product Owner

Agile development

Backlog management

Stakeholder communication

Requirements analysis

Acceptance criteria

SDLC

SAFe

APIs

Middleware

Education

Bachelor's degree in business/IT/engineering/computer science

Tools

SAFe Framework

APIs

Middleware

Job description

Product Owner

Location: Atlanta, GA. or Birmingham, AL. ( must reside in GA or AL or be willing to relocate - Hybrid role)

JOB SUMMARY

As part of the Customer Engagement Portfolio within Southern Company’s Technology organization, the Product Owner is responsible for managing and supporting system product enhancements, maintenance, and requests, maintain a well-groomed back log for the Online Customer Care (OCC) suite of solutions including web, batch, and middleware applications. This role will need to collaborate with stakeholders, development teams, vendors, architects, and other cross-functional teams to ensure the successful delivery of a high-quality, scalable, and efficient solutions. This role will involve every aspect of the product development process from discovery, delivery, and support while following SAFe Agile Framework and focusing on upholding a high standard of quality.

This role will report to the Customer Engagement Supervisor in the Technology Organization’s Customer Engagement Portfolio.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Education:

B.S. degree in preferably in business, IT, engineering, computer science, or another technology-focused field.

Experience/Knowledge/Skills:

Required Skills:

• Must have at least 3 years of working experience as Product Owner in Agile development teams
• Knowledge and experience with transactional web sites, batch processes, databases, APIs and integrated middleware applications
• Strong analytical, root cause analysis, and problem-solving skills with ability to elicit and efficiently document business rules and research technical issues
• Ability to prioritize & maintain well-groomed backlogs comprising of new features, bugs, technical debt, and knowledge acquisition with good planning and organization skills
• Ability to define clear acceptance criteria, work with Developers, QA & UA testers to ensure the quality and accuracy of the assigned area in the OCC product.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and strong proactive communications skills including the ability to communicate complex concepts clearly across different audiences at varying levels
• Engage with key stakeholders, such as business owners, vendors, marketing teams, and leadership, to understand their needs and gather feedback. Communicate product updates, progress, and timelines to stakeholders
• Excellent presentation skills to facilitate demos and support the team to deliver high-quality releases on schedule
• Experience working in a fast paced, highly collaborative environment with cross-disciplinary teams (Quality Analysts, Developers, Architects, and Analysts) and business groups (technical and non-technical) to shepherd products through the SDLC
• Ability to identify and quickly implement process improvements, sound decision making skills and to work with minimal supervision

Preferred Skills:

• Working knowledge of utility operating company business unit rules and processes
• Prior experience in utility and/or large-scale complex customer facing web applications.
• Experience with Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
• Technical aptitude to understand web, batch, database, and middleware applications and architecture.
• Knowledge of current and relevant digital, mobile, and web best practices in design and implementation
• Skilled at leading software projects of varying sizes and degrees of complexity

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

General Roles and Responsibilities

• Define and communicate the product vision, strategy, and roadmap for solutions owned. Align the product roadmap with the overall business goals and objectives
• Be a primary resource and business/customer proxy and work closely with business units to ensure both common and specific business rules are identified and integrated into product design and development
• Develop, adapt and carry out product implementation plan throughout SDLC, supporting and championing the vision aligned with business goals
• Create, plan, and prioritize an effectively groomed backlog with clear acceptance criteria aligned with business objectives.
• Author epics, features and user story acceptance criteria and continuously refine and prioritize user stories based on business value, customer feedback, and market trends
• Obtain deep product and business knowledge to act as a subject matter expert for several roles including Dev and QA
• Define and instrument success criteria that is measured via qualitative and quantitative feedback and identify growth opportunities for the assigned functional area.
• Work with QA testers to ensure the quality and accuracy. Conduct user acceptance testing and validate that the product meets the specified requirements.
• Attend PI plannings, provide quality control, facilitate PI demos and review stories. Responsible for accepting stories as done.
• Be accountable for each stage of the development process and the final product while taking a primary role in inspecting and evaluating product progress & quality through each iteration.
• Manage business expectations, maintain communications, and bring issues to business’ attention proactively; offer solutions.
• Create and maintain product documentation, including user guides, release notes, and training materials. Ensure that documentation accurately reflects the features and functionalities of developed solutions

Other Requirements:

• Occasional night and weekend work may be necessary.
• Occasional travel may be necessary.

About Southern Company

Southern Company (NYSE: SO ) is a leading energy provider serving 9 million customers across the Southeast and beyond through its family of companies. Providing clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy with excellent service is our mission. The company has electric operating companies in three states, natural gas distribution companies in four states, a competitive generation company, a leading distributed energy solutions provider with national capabilities, a fiber optics network and telecommunications services. Through an industry-leading commitment to innovation, resilience and sustainability, we are taking action to meet customers' and communities' needs while advancing our goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Our uncompromising values ensure we put the needs of those we serve at the center of everything we do and are the key to our sustained success. We are transforming energy into economic, environmental and social progress for tomorrow. Our corporate culture has been recognized by a variety of organizations, earning the company awards and recognitions that reflect Our Values and dedication to service. To learn more, visit www.southerncompany.com .

Southern Company invests in the well-being of its employees and their families through a comprehensive total rewards strategy that includes competitive base salary, annual incentive awards for eligible employees and health, welfare and retirement benefits designed to support physical, financial, and emotional/social well-being. This position may also be eligible for additional compensation, such as an incentive program, with the amount of any bonus/awards subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable incentive plan(s). A summary of the benefits offered for this position can be found here https://seo.nlx.org/southernco/pdf/SOCO-Benefits.pdf . Additional and specific details about total compensation and benefits will also be provided during the hiring process.

Southern Company is an equal opportunity employer where an applicant's qualifications are considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other basis prohibited by law.

Job Identification: 21168

Job Category: Information Technology

Job Schedule: Full time

Company: Southern Company Services