Product Owner I

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Role Summary

The Product Owner I is responsible for the technical life cycle of assigned products, including coordinating development efforts, configuration changes, and support. This role documents technical requirements, builds product roadmaps, and manages budgeting. Collaboration with internal stakeholders, developers, and vendors is essential to deliver new products and enhance existing ones that meet documented business objectives, following Agile practices.

Responsibilities

• Understand business and end‑user needs, identify and prioritize features to meet those needs.
• Actively participate in Agile ceremonies to keep development aligned with business objectives, product vision, and user needs.
• Facilitate stakeholder inspections and reviews of delivered functionality, lead planning sessions to clarify priorities, and maintain transparent communication throughout the development lifecycle.
• Negotiate deliverables based on team capacity, adapt plans iteratively to reflect evolving priorities and validated outcomes.
• Develop near‑term rolling‑wave product roadmaps in close collaboration with business owners, continuously refining them based on stakeholder input, delivery data, and validated learnings.
• Define and track key product success metrics, using data and feedback to validate hypotheses, guide decisions, and improve product performance.
• Leverage understanding of product strengths and weaknesses to maximize value delivery, identify enhancement opportunities, and inform stakeholders of process improvements and strategic possibilities.
• Analyze end‑user feedback and operational metrics to identify and understand product needs.
• Direct and oversee the lifecycle of one or more products by independently managing and prioritizing product backlogs with business owners and technical stakeholders, ensuring a steady flow of user stories ready for development one to two weeks in advance.
• Collaborate with business owners and technical stakeholders to develop and document user stories from the user’s perspective, defining features and epics that align with business objectives.
• Collect and understand technical requirements for new implementations and enhancements to ensure sufficient technical runway, minimize technical debt, and maintain product relevance and stability.
• Proactively prioritize non‑functional backlog items such as performance, scalability, and maintainability to support sustainable development and long‑term product health.
• Manage vendor relationships, including assisting with contract reviews alongside business stakeholders.
• Ensure the product complies with regulatory and security requirements, and that upgrades are planned and completed in accordance with standards and control procedures.

About You

• Ability to understand complex business problems and interpret business needs.
• Capability to create a product strategy aligned with measurable business outcomes.
• Strong problem‑solving and analytical skills.
• Proven skill in communicating complex technical information concisely to diverse stakeholders, both verbally and in writing.
• Facilitation and influencing skills to drive decision‑making among stakeholders with varied perspectives.
• Experience working in an Agile environment (Kanban or Scrum).
• Strong organizational skills and ability to work independently as well as collaboratively.
• Knowledge of product management tools such as Azure DevOps or Jira.
• Willingness to travel for assigned responsibilities and attend approved professional seminars and education.

Qualifications

• Minimum of one (1) year of product ownership/management experience in an Agile environment (or at least three (3) years of business management experience as a substitute).
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration or a related field, or equivalent specialized courses, training, and/or related experience (High School diploma required).
• Knowledge of the financial industry, products, and services; credit union experience preferred.
• Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Professional Scrum Product Owner I (PSPO I), or equivalent foundational certification (preferred).

Benefits

• Competitive pay
• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance
• 20 days per year of paid time off plus 10 paid holidays
• 401(k) match
• Incentive program
• Tuition assistance and student loan repayment
• Commuter benefits
• Paid time off to volunteer in the community
• Product discounts
• Engaging work environment
• Rewards and recognition programs

Pay

Full Salary Range:
Richland, WA: $80,168.40 – $113,414.38
Spokane, WA: $80,168.40 – $113,414.38
Renton, WA: $87,023.73 – $145,039.55