IT Product Owner

Hiring Agency: Health & Human Services - Agency 25
Location: Lincoln, NE
Hiring Rate: $34.970

About the Role

The Department of Health and Human Services' Division of Operations is looking for an IT Product Owner for DHHS iServe. This position will facilitate projects from conceptualization, planning, approval, execution, change management, and end user adoption for IT projects. This is a full-time, permanent role located in Lincoln, NE and is not eligible to be contracted or remote.

Responsibilities

• Develops and maintains the product vision, roadmap, and release plan aligned with DHHS mission, statutory requirements, and funding.
• Elicits and documents requirements from program staff, subject matter experts, end users, and stakeholders; translates program and policy needs into user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Prioritizes the product backlog by assessing statutory mandates, risk, accessibility, security, operational impact, and measurable value to clients and staff.
• Provides authoritative decisions on feature scope, sequencing, and acceptance of completed work; ensures delivery aligns with program outcomes and compliance standards.
• Partners with Scrum Masters, Business Analysts, technical Analysts, and security staff to support sprint planning, backlog refinement, and product increments.
• Coordinates with procurement, vendors, and external partners to manage integration, service levels, and contractual deliverables as applicable.
• Monitors product performance through data, user feedback, and operational metrics; identifies enhancements and corrective actions; prepares briefings and reports for leadership and oversight bodies.
• Supports organizational change management, including stakeholder communication, training materials, adoption strategies, and transition activities.
• Participates in audits, reviews, and governance forums; maintains artifacts (roadmaps, release notes, decision logs, risk registers) per DHHS standards.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in project management, business administration, public administration, business information systems, or a field related to the functions of the hiring agency AND two years of experience as a project manager with responsibility to oversee the coordination, planning, initiation, and completion of major/long-term projects.
• OR four years of experience and certification as a Project Management Professional (PMP).
• OR five years of experience working on medium-to-large projects.
• Any equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in systems analysis, research, business processes, and the creation of business process applications.
• 5+ years working on medium-to-large IT projects.
• Experience with a variety of software delivery lifecycles (SDLC), including Waterfall and Agile (preferably Scrum).
• Product Owner Certification.

Skills

• Strong interpersonal and analytical skills.
• Ability to clearly and concisely communicate (written and oral) technical information to non-technical audiences.
• Strong verbal/written communication and presentation skills.
• Experience working directly with various levels of business and technical staff to determine sound technical solutions for business requirements.
• Effectively communicate with internal and external clients, peers, and management.
• Self-motivated / self-starter with the ability to work individually.
• Strong organization, planning, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to multi-task with changing priorities and requirements.
• Experience in a fast-paced collaborative team environment.
• Ability to perform work assigned with minimal supervision, meeting deadlines for timely completion of concurrent projects.
• Experience in meeting facilitation, information gathering, research exploration, and problem resolution.

Other Requirements

• Regular and reliable attendance.
• Must report to the Nebraska State Office Building in Lincoln.

Benefits

We offer a comprehensive package of pay, benefits, paid time off, retirement, and professional development opportunities to help you get the most out of your career and life. Benefit eligibility may vary by position, agency, and employment status. For more information on benefits, please visit: State of Nebraska Benefits.