Product Owner - Business Analyst

Southern Company Gas; Naperville (IL); On-site; USD 89,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Southern Company Gas is seeking a Product Owner / Business Analyst to define the product vision, strategy, and roadmap in an Agile environment. You will partner with business stakeholders, engineering teams, UX designers, and Scrum teams to deliver measurable customer and business value.

You will manage the product backlog, write user stories and acceptance criteria, and ensure alignment with strategic objectives and organizational goals throughout the product lifecycle.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Technology, Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in Product Management, Product Ownership, Business Analysis, or a related discipline.
• Experience working within Agile and Scrum frameworks.
• Strong understanding of product lifecycle management principles and methodologies.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with the capability to make informed business decisions.
• Experience using Agile project management tools such as Azure DevOps, Jira, or similar platforms.

Responsibilities

• Define and communicate the product vision, goals, and roadmap.
• Align product objectives with business strategy and customer needs.
• Identify market opportunities, industry trends, and customer pain points.
• Develop and maintain product plans based on data analysis, stakeholder feedback, and business priorities.
• Create, prioritize, and maintain the product backlog.
• Develop clear user stories, requirements, and acceptance criteria.
• Ensure backlog items are refined, estimated, and development ready.
• Make prioritization decisions based on customer value, business impact, risk, and technical considerations.
• Participate in Agile and Scrum ceremonies, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
• Collaborate with Scrum Masters and development teams to support successful sprint execution.
• Clarify business requirements and eliminate ambiguity throughout the development lifecycle.
• Validate delivered functionality to ensure alignment with business requirements and acceptance criteria.
• Partner with business leaders, customers, and cross-functional teams to gather requirements, define solutions, and collect feedback.
• Communicate product status, risks, dependencies, and roadmap updates to stakeholders.
• Facilitate alignment across teams to support successful delivery of business objectives.
• Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to drive collaboration and engagement.
• Analyze customer feedback, product usage data, and market trends.
• Defining, monitor, and report on key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Use data-driven insights to guide product decisions and prioritization.
• Advocate for customer-centric solutions and continuous user experience improvements.
• Manage product initiatives from concept through implementation, release, and ongoing optimization.
• Support release planning and go-to-market activities, as applicable.
• Monitor product performance and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Ensure products evolve in alignment with changing business and customer needs.

Skills

Communication & Stakeholder Management

Analytical Thinking

Agile & Scrum Experience

Requirements Gathering

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, IT, Engineering, CS, or related field

Tools

Azure DevOps

Jira

Job description

The Product Owner / Business Analyst is responsible for defining product vision, strategy, and roadmap while serving as the voice of the customer. Working within an Agile environment, this role partners closely with business stakeholders, engineering teams, UX designers, and Scrum teams to deliver solutions that provide measurable customer and business value. The Product Manager / Business Analyst prioritizes work, manages the product backlog, and ensures product delivery aligns with strategic objectives and organizational goals.

Key Responsibilities

Product Strategy & Vision

• Define and communicate the product vision, goals, and roadmap.
• Align product objectives with business strategy and customer needs.
• Identify market opportunities, industry trends, and customer pain points.
• Develop and maintain product plans based on data analysis, stakeholder feedback, and business priorities.

Backlog Management

• Create, prioritize, and maintain the product backlog.
• Develop clear user stories, requirements, and acceptance criteria.
• Ensure backlog items are refined, estimated, and development ready.
• Make prioritization decisions based on customer value, business impact, risk, and technical considerations.

Agile Delivery

• Participate in Agile and Scrum ceremonies, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
• Collaborate with Scrum Masters and development teams to support successful sprint execution.
• Clarify business requirements and eliminate ambiguity throughout the development lifecycle.
• Validate delivered functionality to ensure alignment with business requirements and acceptance criteria.

Stakeholder Management

• Partner with business leaders, customers, and cross-functional teams to gather requirements, define solutions, and collect feedback.
• Communicate product status, risks, dependencies, and roadmap updates to stakeholders.
• Facilitate alignment across teams to support successful delivery of business objectives.
• Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to drive collaboration and engagement.

Customer & Data Focus

• Analyze customer feedback, product usage data, and market trends.
• Defining, monitor, and report on key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Use data-driven insights to guide product decisions and prioritization.
• Advocate for customer-centric solutions and continuous user experience improvements.

Product Lifecycle Management

• Manage product initiatives from concept through implementation, release, and ongoing optimization.
• Support release planning and go-to-market activities, as applicable.
• Monitor product performance and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Ensure products evolve in alignment with changing business and customer needs.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Technology, Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in Product Management, Product Ownership, Business Analysis, or a related discipline.
• Experience working within Agile and Scrum frameworks.
• Strong understanding of product lifecycle management principles and methodologies.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with the capability to make informed business decisions.
• Experience using Agile project management tools such as Azure DevOps, Jira, or similar platforms.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting digital products, SaaS platforms, or enterprise applications.
• Knowledge of UX/UI design principles and customer journey mapping.
• Familiarity with analytics, reporting, and business intelligence tools.
• Experience working in cross-functional product development environments.

About Southern Company Gas

Southern Company Gas is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE:SO), America’s premier energy company. Southern Company Gas serves approximately 4.2 million natural gas utility customers through its regulated distribution companies in four states and approximately 600,000 retail customers through its companies that market natural gas. Other nonutility businesses include investments in interstate pipelines and ownership and operation of natural gas storage facilities. For more information, visit southerncompanygas.com. 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: 21101

Job Category: Information Technology

Job Schedule: Full time

Company: AGL Services Company

Pay Range: $88,850.00 - $139,620.80 USD Annually: Base salary varies depending on a wide array of factors, which may include but are not limited to the specific office location, role, skill set, and level of experience. As required by local law, and at the time of this posting, this is the reasonable salary range for this role.