Technical Product Owner

About the Role

Description:

Position Title: Technical Product Owner

Location: Denver (6360 S Fiddlers Green Cir) or STL (13736 Riverport Dr) - no preference

Rate: $55/hr max

Duration: on-going contract

WFH/On-site Schedule: 4/1

Team Overview

Sits within Mobile SDIT and has 2 teams. The main team is an MIS Python/ETL based tool team, and the new one is a re-write of a customer-based tool. His team is not core Java Development, its working with very large data sets, with a big focus on AI. Team is a mix of on-shore/off-shore developers, including a Scrum Master and a TPO on-shore. This is a brand new need to support the re-write project.

Manager notes/questions:

Needs someone with a technical background that can bridge the gap between the business requests to the technical stories into acceptance criteria. He wants to see someone that started their career as a developer and progressed into a TPO role. However, he needs a heavy hitter with 5-8 years of core TPO experience. The basic requirements for the Usage Platform re-write project are created already with an end of year deadline (for now). This TPO will be the spokesperson for the team, with specific duties including:

Prioritizing the backlog

- Defining the roadmap

- Writing technical stories

- Creating the acceptance criteria for the team

- Driving/Leading discussions with leadership stakeholders then translating those asks into criteria for architecture and development

- Driving the work, alongside the Scrum Master

The team is also very heavily using AI, Kiro. Hed like to see someone that has 1-2 years of utilizing AI in their daily work, no preference on which AI tool, but must have an AI mindset.

From a personality standpoint, he doesnt want a yes person. The expectation is for the TPO to lead the discussions and challenge as needed, using their technical and business knowledge.

Top 3 Must-have hard skills:

1. Development background with progression to a Product Owner role 5-8 years as a core TPO.

2. Driving the work (backlog, creating acceptance criteria, defining the roadmap), not a behind the scenes type person.

3. 1-2 years of AI experience

TTelcom domain knowledge- it's too much to teach from scratch for these tight deadlines

Job Description:

Key Responsibilities:

Own and maintain the product backlog across an enterprise-scale requirement set

Translate business requirements into user stories with clear acceptance criteria

Prioritize based on phase dependencies, critical path, and business value

Coordinate cross-POD dependencies across backend and UI teams

Track phase exit criteria and escalate when delivery is at risk

Serve as primary interface between development team and business stakeholders

Coordinate planning and execution

Required:

510 years as a Technical Product Owner, Product Manager, or BA on enterprise platform builds

Experience managing large-scale backlogs (100+ requirements) across multiple teams

Strong Agile/Scrum and backlog management (Jira preferred)

Experience with data processing platforms, ETL/ELT pipelines, or streaming architectures

Understanding of Kafka / event-driven architecture concepts

Experience managing distributed/offshore teams

Familiarity with AI-assisted development workflows

Professional experience using AI tools (Kiro, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, or similar) in a work setting

Preferred:

Telecom usage data processing experience.

Familiarity with Kubernetes/containerization at a high level

Development model is AI-assisted using Kiro.

Key Responsibilities & Skills

• Technical Product Ownership
• Backlog Management & Prioritization
• Roadmap Definition
• Acceptance Criteria Creation
• Stakeholder Management
• Cross-Functional Team Coordination
• Enterprise-Scale Requirement Management
• AI-Assisted Development Mindset
• Telecom Usage Data Expertise
• Large Data Set Handling

Technical Skills

• Python / ETL / ELT Pipelines
• Kafka / Event-Driven Architecture
• AI Tools (Kiro / Cursor / GitHub Copilot)
• Kubernetes / Containerization
• Jira (Agile & Scrum)
• SQL (Data Querying)
• Distributed / Offshore Team Collaboration

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, Business Administration, Telecommunications Engineering. Preferred: MBA, Master's in Computer Science, Master's in Data Science, Master's in Telecommunications Engineering.

Industry Experience

• Telecommunications
• AI / Machine Learning
• Data Engineering
• Enterprise Software Platforms
• Cloud Services