SourceForge, Inc./Mountain View, CA (telecommute)

Job Description

The Product Owner is responsible for working with stakeholders to develop the project backlog that will set the cyclical and iterative development work streams. The Product Owner role requires a broad skill that ideally asks him/her to be able to look outward (understand customers needs) and be effective inward (manage the value stream that transforms needs into software that is ready for use).

As Product Owner, you must represent the real customer while also demonstrating that you are an equal member of the development team. As the business representative of the team, you are the authority on what is valued by the business and you should make business decisions and ensure that requirements are communicated clearly and understood. You should set high expectations and demand completed and demonstrable code at the end of every iteration. As a leading contributor to the process, you must assist the team by setting achievable goals and always be available to listen, negotiate and compromise.

As a key advocate of business initiatives, you will help stakeholders define clear priorities based in business value and guide the development team to deliver the highest value user stories first. You will also be an advocate of business planning to ensure that the work efforts stay in check with expected current and future priorities. As a key risk manager, you understand and assess the risks before passing judgment. As a key team member, you provide support, encouragement and recognition to the team both through your words and actions.

General Roles and Responsibilities:

 Team member responsible for representing the customer's needs
 Manages the project backlog
 Communicates the project vision to the team
 Responsible for working with the team when issues arise or trade-offs are needed
 Makes on-demand/immediate decisions about priority and meaning of items in the backlog.
 Drives communication and cross-group collaboration
 Owns and facilitates the agreed-upon stakeholder priority cycle
 Maintains current list of actionable project priorities
 Evangelist for Agile methodologies and processes
 Accountable for accepting or rejecting work results

Key attributes of success:

 Maintaining a thorough understanding of the customers needs
 Active stakeholder management
 Having intermediate knowledge of how software is developed and deployed
 Intermediate understanding of Agile methods and processes


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