IT Product Owner - Platform Engineering - Costco Travel

Product Owners are responsible for defining requirements, assisting with the overall product roadmap /vision, and driving value at the scrum team level. Product Owners work closely with teams and are the “voice of the customer”, ensuring the needs of the end-user are incorporated into the product from design to deployment. Product owners are responsible for the authoring of functional user stories which are used to support the day to day development of new features and capabilities.

Platform Engineering is the starting point for our application modernization and Developer Experience improvements. We’re here to streamline the process of developing and deploying services through platform enablement, partnering closely with OPS and SRE’s to ensure a scalable reliable platform to support our rapidly growing travel business.

The IT Product Owner will partner with the IT Product Manager, Delivery Manager, and stakeholders to translate platform strategy into a detailed, prioritized backlog. The TPO will collaborate with an agile delivery team to implement, measure and learn from the improvements they have made, and manage the development of product features aligned to KPI's and Product Roadmap.

The IT Product Owner also serves as the scrum master for their delivery team by enabling the team to self-organize, remove impediments, and foster an environment for high-performing team dynamics, continuous delivery, and continuous improvement.

Job Duties/Essential Functions

• Works continuously / daily with teams to provide answers, feedback and direction on work items, enablers, user stories, etc
• Collaborates with Product Managers and technology stakeholders (e.g., Systems Architects) to define new and or enhanced product requirements and functionality.
• Supports business strategy by forming a backlog of features and user stories for use by the delivery team.
• Articulates requirements for each user story with detailed acceptance criteria.
• Uses data and insights from multiple sources that benefits the business and our members.
• Pursues incremental delivery by looking for ways to meet business goals and learn from members and end users through frequent, measurable enhancements.
• Works collaboratively and uses best practices with the delivery team to support backlog refinement, sprint planning, and long term release planning.
• Monitors and improves product health.
• Ensures completed stories meet acceptance criteria by reviewing test plans, the output of automated testing or, where necessary, contributing to manual testing efforts.
• Prioritizes and collaborates in resolution of issues and defects.
• Seeks and improves processes across the entire product team.
• Seeks and improves processes across the delivery team by using retrospectives to inspect and adapt.
• Communicates with team members, stakeholders and levels of management.
• Provides direction, mentorship, and coaching to junior Product Owners.
• Stays current on Product Ownership and applies product development and agile delivery practices.
• Regular and reliable workplace attendance at your assigned location.
  
  

Ability to operate vehicles, equipment or machinery.

• Computer, phone, printer, copier, fax
  
  

Non-Essential Functions

• Assists in other areas of the department as necessary.
• Assists in other areas of the company as necessary.
  
  

Ability to operate vehicles, equipment or machinery.

• Same as Essential Functions
  
  

Experience, Skills, Education & Licenses/Certifications

Required:

• 3 years current experience working on a Scrum and/or Agile team.
• 3 years current experience working on a Services Oriented or Microservice development platform.
• 3 years’ experience with creating documentation for communication with varied audiences.
• 2 years’ experience working on technical development projects.
• Deep understanding of business requirements elicitation.
• Proficient in business modeling, project scoping, and use case creation.
• Expertise in utilizing standard documentation tools/utilities.
  
  

Recommended

• Experience leading a Platform Engineering or Internal Developer Portal (IDP) team.
• Familiar with: Java, Hibernate, MS SQL, No SQL, REST, Docker, Kubernetes, Swagger, Helm, Istio, TKG, SRE, DevOps, IDP development.
• Deadline oriented and capable of self-management.
• Strong work ethic, demonstrated attention to detail, excellent time management and organizational skills.
• Ability to work both independently and within a close team environment.
• Ability to listen to and understand business needs. (Experience with a travel technology organization is a plus).
• Proficient in Microsoft Workspace applications, including Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
• Successful internal candidates will have spent one year or more on their current team.
  
  

Other Conditions

• Management will review the Job Analysis for this position prior to a job offer.
  
  

Required Documents

• Cover Letter
• Resume
• Last two performance reviews
• Attendance records for current year (Do not include absences covered by paid sick/personal time,
  
  

FMLA or other protected absences.)

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