Product Owner

ICF; Reston (VA); Remote; USD 81,000 - 139,000; Full time

Job summary

ICF is seeking a Product Owner to drive contractor-side backlog readiness for a delivery domain within our Digital Modernization division.

You will ensure features and stories meet acceptance criteria and support discovery and backlog grooming with cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• U.S. Citizenship required due to federal contract.
• Must reside in the U.S. and be authorized to work in the U.S.
• Bachelor's degree in a related field or four additional years of relevant experience in lieu of degree.
• Minimum 6 years of relevant experience; Master's may substitute for two years.

Responsibilities

• Owns contractor-side backlog readiness for an assigned delivery domain and translates approved needs into features, user stories, requirements, and testable acceptance criteria before refinement.
• Leads discovery, stakeholder clarification, backlog grooming, dependency identification, decision tracking, and sprint-ready story preparation with the Functional Lead and Agile Delivery Manager.
• Supports the Senior Product Manager and VA Product Owner but does not replace Government authority for priority, sequencing, approval, or acceptance.
• Apply Agile product management, requirements analysis, user stories, acceptance criteria, backlog refinement, stakeholder facilitation, domain discovery, and dependency management.
• Collaborate with product, engineering, security, governance, quality, and customer-facing stakeholders as required.
• Document work products, decisions, risks, and delivery evidence to support traceability and continuous improvement.

Skills

Product Owner

Backlog management

Agile delivery

Stakeholder facilitation

Education

Bachelor's degree in PM/IS/CS

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Azure DevOps

Miro

Job description

Description

Please note: This role is contingent upon a contract award. While it is not an immediate opening, we are actively conducting interviews and extending offers in anticipation of the award.

The Work

At ICF our Digital Modernization Division is an information technology and management consulting organization that delivers integrated, strategic solutions to federal clients. We bring expertise in cloud, cybersecurity, enterprise architecture, data modernization, and digital transformation to support mission-critical government programs.

Join a team accelerating the modernization of a large federal agency's enterprise data and analytics ecosystem. This cloud-based platform provides data storage, analytics, governance, and AI/ML capabilities that enable thousands of users to transform data into actionable insights. As demand continues to grow, the team is focused on migrating legacy workloads, streamlining onboarding and support, expanding platform capabilities, and helping organizations across the enterprise adopt modern data and AI solutions at scale.

The Product Owner owns contractor-side backlog readiness for an assigned delivery domain and ensures approved needs are translated into features, user stories, requirements, and testable acceptance criteria before refinement. Leads discovery, stakeholder clarification, backlog grooming, dependency identification, decision tracking, and sprint-ready story preparation with the Functional Lead and Agile Delivery Manager. Supports the Senior Product Manager and VA Product Owner but does not replace Government authority for priority, sequencing, approval, or acceptance.

Job Location: Remote, however, strong preference for candidates who live in the Washington DC Metro Area. There will be occasional onsite meetings on the client site in Washington, DC.

• If you accept this position, you should note that ICF does monitor employee work locations, blocks access from foreign locations/foreign IP addresses, and prohibits personal VPN connections.

What You Will Do

• Owns contractor-side backlog readiness for an assigned delivery domain and ensures approved needs are translated into features, user stories, requirements, and testable acceptance criteria before refinement.
• Leads discovery, stakeholder clarification, backlog grooming, dependency identification, decision tracking, and sprint-ready story preparation with the Functional Lead and Agile Delivery Manager.
• Supports the Senior Product Manager and VA Product Owner but does not replace Government authority for priority, sequencing, approval, or acceptance.
• Apply Agile product management, requirements analysis, user stories, acceptance criteria, backlog refinement, stakeholder facilitation, domain discovery, and dependency management to support role delivery.
• Collaborate with relevant product, engineering, security, governance, quality, and customer-facing stakeholders as required by the role.
• Document work products, decisions, risks, and delivery evidence to support traceability and continuous improvement.

Basic Qualifications

• U.S. Citizenship is required due to federal contract requirements.
• Candidate must reside in the U.S., be authorized to work in the U.S., and all work must be performed in the U.S.
• Candidate must have lived in the U.S. for three (3) full years out of the last five (5) years.
• Bachelor's degree in Product Management, Business Administration, Information Systems, Computer Science, Data Analytics, Data Science, Engineering, or related field; or a high school diploma with four (4) additional years of relevant experience in lieu of a bachelor's degree.
• Minimum 6 years of relevant experience aligned to the responsibilities of this role.
• Master's degree may substitute for two (2) years of relevant experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience serving as a Product Owner, Technical Product Owner, Business Analyst, Solutions Analyst, or similar role supporting cloud, data, analytics, AI/ML, or enterprise platform modernization initiatives.
• Experience translating complex business, platform, architecture, governance, and operational requirements into epics, features, user stories, acceptance criteria, and sprint-ready backlog items.
• Experience facilitating discovery sessions, requirements workshops, backlog refinement, stakeholder alignment, dependency management, and release planning activities.
• Strong understanding of modern cloud data platform architectures, Lakehouse concepts, data engineering workflows, data governance practices, and enterprise analytics ecosystems.
• Experience working with Databricks, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Azure Data Factory, Azure Machine Learning, Power BI, or comparable cloud-based analytics and AI platforms.
• Familiarity with AI/ML concepts including predictive analytics, machine learning lifecycle management, MLOps, NLP, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), generative AI, and responsible AI principles.
• Experience supporting enterprise data warehouse modernization, cloud migration, analytics enablement, self-service analytics platforms, or data product delivery initiatives.
• Experience collaborating closely with Data Engineers, AI Engineers, Data Scientists, Architects, Security teams, Governance teams, and Product Managers to define and prioritize technology solutions.
• Experience managing technical dependencies, architectural decisions, platform capabilities, non-functional requirements, and cross-team delivery coordination.
• Experience defining and validating functional requirements, technical requirements, operational readiness criteria, and testable acceptance criteria for platform, data, analytics, and AI solutions.
• Familiarity with enterprise data governance concepts including metadata management, data quality, data stewardship, lineage, Collibra EDC, Immuta, Unity Catalog, or comparable governance capabilities.
• Experience utilizing Agile delivery tools such as Jira, Confluence, Azure DevOps, Miro, or similar platforms.
• Experience developing roadmaps, release plans, backlog priorities, and delivery metrics in Agile, Scrum, or SAFe environments.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain technical concepts, architectural tradeoffs, and platform capabilities to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience supporting Federal government, healthcare, or other highly regulated environments preferred.
• Experience working in Agile, Scrum, SAFe, or cross-functional technology delivery teams.

Professional Skills

• Highly effective analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong organization, attention to detail, and the ability to prioritize and manage multiple responsibilities.
• Collaborative approach with a commitment to quality, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Working at ICF

ICF is a global advisory and technology services provider, but we’re not your typical consultants. We combine unmatched expertise with cutting-edge technology to help clients solve their most complex challenges, navigate change, and shape the future.

We can only solve the world's toughest challenges by building a workplace that allows everyone to thrive. We are an equal opportunity employer. Together, our employees are empowered to share their expertise and collaborate with others to achieve personal and professional goals. For more information, please read ourEEO policy.

We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Reasonable Accommodations are available, including, but not limited to, for disabled veterans, individuals with disabilities, and individuals with sincerely held religious beliefs, in all phases of the application and employment process. To request an accommodation, please [e-mail] we will be happy to assist. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.

Read more aboutworkplacediscriminationrights or our benefit offerings which are included in theTransparency in (Benefits) Coverage Act.

Candidate AI Usage Policy

At ICF, we are committed to ensuring a fair interview process for all candidates based on their own skills and knowledge. As part of this commitment, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate or assist with responses during interviews (whether in-person or virtual) is not permitted. This policy is in place to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the interview process.

However, we understand that some candidates may require accommodation that involves the use of AI. If such an accommodation is needed, candidates are instructed to contact us in advance [e-mail]. We are dedicated to providing the necessary support to ensure that all candidates have an equal opportunity to succeed.

Pay Range

There are multiple factors that are considered in determining final pay for a position, including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and competencies that align to the specified role, geographic location, education and certifications as well as contract provisions regarding labor categories that are specific to the position.

The pay range for this position based on full-time employment is:

$81,499.00 - $138,549.00

Nationwide Remote Office (US99)