Position Summary

• We are looking for a proactive and business-oriented Product Owner to bridge the gap between business stakeholders and the development team.
• This is a hybrid role that combines the core responsibilities of a Product Owner with selected Product Management responsibilities. While the primary focus is managing product delivery and maximizing product value, the role also contributes to product discovery, roadmap planning, market validation, and product strategy.
• The Product Owner will own the Product Backlog, define clear product requirements, prioritize business value, and ensure the team delivers solutions that solve real customer problems while supporting VeraCodia's business objectives.

Key Responsibilities

1. Product Vision & Strategy

• Understand business objectives, customer needs, and market opportunities.
• Contribute to defining and refining the product vision and roadmap.
• Support product discovery through customer feedback, market research, and competitor analysis.
• Help identify opportunities for product improvement and innovation.
• Ensure product decisions align with company goals and customer value.

2. Product Backlog Management

• Own and continuously maintain the Product Backlog.
• Prioritize backlog items based on business value, customer impact, technical considerations, and strategic priorities.
• Break down high-level requirements into Epics, Features, User Stories, and Tasks when needed.
• Continuously refine backlog items to ensure they are ready for development.
• Define clear business requirements, functional requirements, and user stories.
• Write measurable and testable Acceptance Criteria.
• Ensure backlog items are sufficiently detailed before implementation.

3. Product Planning & Delivery

• Collaborate with the Technical Project Manager and development team during planning activities.
• Define sprint, iteration, or release priorities depending on the project's delivery approach.
• Participate in Sprint Planning, Backlog Refinement, Sprint Review, and Retrospective meetings when applicable.
• Review completed work against Acceptance Criteria and Definition of Done before accepting completed backlog items.
• Support release planning and incremental product delivery.
• Balance short-term delivery goals with long-term product objectives.

4. Stakeholder Management

• Act as the primary representative of business and customer needs.
• Collaborate closely with internal stakeholders to gather, clarify, and validate requirements.
• Manage stakeholder expectations regarding scope, priorities, and product capabilities.
• Present new features and gather feedback to support continuous product improvement.
• Facilitate effective communication between business stakeholders and technical teams.

5. Product Analysis

• Analyze customer feedback, product usage, and business data to improve decision-making.
• Define and monitor product success metrics.
• Support prioritization using customer value, business impact, effort, and risk.
• Participate in product validation before major investments.
• Recommend improvements based on measurable outcomes.

6. Cross-functional Collaboration

• Work closely with developers, designers, QA engineers, business stakeholders, and the Technical Project Manager.
• Support clarification of functional requirements throughout development.
• Help resolve business-related questions and product decisions during implementation.
• Collaborate with the Scrum Master (where applicable) to support successful Agile delivery.

Qualifications & Requirements

Experience

• 3+ years of experience as a Product Owner, Product Manager, Business Analyst, or similar product-focused role within software development.
• Experience working in Agile software development environments.
• Experience working with web and mobile application projects is preferred.

Technical Knowledge

• Strong understanding of Agile principles and adaptive product development approaches.
• Practical experience working with Scrum, Kanban, Iterative, and Incremental delivery approaches.
• Ability to understand APIs, system integrations, databases, and software architecture at a functional level.
• Familiarity with software development lifecycle (SDLC).
• Ability to write high-quality User Stories and Acceptance Criteria.
• Experience using Jira, Confluence, Miro, Lucidchart, or similar collaboration tools.

Business & Product Skills

• Strong product thinking and customer-centric mindset.
• Ability to prioritize work based on business value.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to make informed product decisions using qualitative and quantitative information.
• Understanding of product discovery and product validation techniques is an advantage.

Soft Skills

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong decision-making and prioritization abilities.
• Ability to negotiate priorities while balancing business and technical needs.
• Self-motivated, proactive, and adaptable in a fast-paced startup environment.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.

Certifications

• Professional certifications such as PSPO, CSPO, PMI-PBA, or other Product Management or Agile certifications are considered an advantage but are not required.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Performance will be measured using a combination of business and product outcomes, including:

• Product Goal Achievement
• Business Value Delivered
• Product Backlog Health
• Sprint / Iteration Goal Success Rate
• Feature Adoption Rate
• Customer Satisfaction
• Stakeholder Satisfaction
• Release Predictability
• Time-to-Market
• Product Quality and Defect Trends
• Requirements Quality and Readiness
• Continuous Product Improvement Contributions