Senior Principal Product Owner

ZipStaff Inc.; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

401(k) + matching

Paid time off

Referral Program

Job summary

ZipStaff Inc. is seeking a Senior Principal Product Owner – Cloud & Observability to drive the strategic evolution of enterprise platform services for a major transportation organization.

The role bridges business strategy, architecture, and cross-functional teams to move from project-based work to platform-as-a-product delivery with enterprise resiliency and compliance. You will own the product vision for Cloud & Observability, manage backlogs using SAFe, and collaborate with CloudOps,

Qualifications

• 5+ years as an Agile Product Owner or Product Manager in a large-scale enterprise.
• SAFe 6.0 POPM certification required (or equivalent 3+ years SAFe experience).
• Deep understanding of cloud infrastructure, observability, DR, ITSM.
• Hands-on experience managing enterprise backlogs and roadmaps using Jira, Confluence, FigJam, Jira Align.
• Bachelor’s degree in CS/IT/Business or related field; work experience accepted in lieu of degree.

Responsibilities

• Define, communicate, and execute the product vision and strategy for Cloud and Observability platforms.
• Own, prioritize, and refine the product backlog based on business value and FE portfolio goals using SAFe.
• Translate complex business needs into clear user stories and acceptance criteria for cross-functional teams.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to align cloud, observability, and DR as an integrated platform ecosystem.
• Contribute to multi-year platform roadmaps and establish KPIs for adoption and efficiency.

Skills

Agile PO

Stakeholder mgmt

Strategic planning

Cross-functional leadership

Analytical skills

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Relevant work experience accepted in lieu of degree

Tools

Jira Software

Confluence

FigJam

Jira Align

Job description

Job Title: Senior Principal Product Owner – Cloud & Observability.
Location: Washington, DC (On-site).
Employment Type: Contract (W2 through ZipStaff — No C2C or 1099).

About the Opportunity:
ZipStaff is seeking a Senior Principal Product Owner – Cloud & Observability to drive the strategic evolution of enterprise platform services for a major transportation organization.

Operating within the Enterprise Platforms & Enablement (EPE) portfolio, this high-impact role serves as the authoritative voice of the customer to champion “Platform as a Product” across Cloud, Observability, Disaster Recovery (DR), and CloudOps value streams. You will bridge business strategy, technical architecture, and cross-functional engineering teams, leading the transition from traditional project models to an agile, product-centric approach that ensures enterprise-grade resiliency, compliance, and operational excellence.

What You’ll Do:

• Define, communicate, and execute the product vision and strategy for Cloud and Observability platforms, establishing a robust “Platform as a Product” delivery model.
• Own, prioritize, and refine the product backlog based on business value, technical feasibility, and strategic EPE portfolio goals using the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).
• Act as the strategic liaison between business stakeholders, CloudOps, enterprise architecture, and technical teams to translate complex business needs into clear user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Champion deep technical alignment across cloud services, observability, and disaster recovery, treating them as an integrated ecosystem rather than isolated silos.
• Contribute to multi-year platform roadmaps and establish key performance metrics to continuously measure value delivery, platform adoption, and operational efficiency.
• Collaborate with Product Managers, portfolio leadership, and frontline technical teams to ensure continuous capability delivery supporting mission-critical enterprise operations.

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience as an Agile Product Owner or Product Manager in a large-scale enterprise environment, with proven experience leading cloud-focused or CloudOps teams.
• SAFe 6.0 Product Owner / Product Manager (POPM) certification required (or equivalent 3+ years of Scaled Agile experience in a large organization).
• Deep functional understanding of cloud infrastructure, observability frameworks, disaster recovery ecosystems, and IT Service Management (ITSM).
• Hands-on experience managing enterprise backlogs and roadmaps using Jira Software, Confluence, FigJam, and Jira Align.
• Exceptional leadership, stakeholder management, and analytical skills with a demonstrated ability to independently drive strategy and facilitate complex technical discussions.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business, or a related field; relevant work experience accepted in lieu of a degree.
• Ability to work on-site in Washington, DC.

Preferred Qualifications:

• ITIL certification.
• Prior experience driving Platform as a Product models for cloud, observability, or CloudOps platforms in a large enterprise or transportation environment.
• Background contributing to multi-year roadmaps and establishing platform metrics for adoption and operational efficiency.
• Experience facilitating complex technical discussions across architecture, operations, and business stakeholders.

Benefits

• Health Insurance.
• Dental Insurance.
• Vision Insurance.
• 401(k) + 401(k) matching.
• Paid time off.
• Referral Program.

About ZipStaff
ZipStaff partners with leading organizations to connect skilled technology professionals with high-impact contract opportunities. We focus on quality matches, clear communication, and long-term success for candidates and clients.

To apply, submit your resume highlighting your Agile Product Owner experience (especially SAFe POPM or equivalent), cloud/observability/DR domain knowledge, backlog and roadmap ownership, and stakeholder leadership. Pure research or junior experience will not be considered.