IT Product Owner - Crossdock and Return Depots

Position Summary 

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.

The Product Owner on the Crossdock and Return Depot team will partner with the stakeholders to translate product strategy and problem-solving into a detailed, prioritized backlog of user stories. The Crossdock and Return Depot team is responsible for design, development, deployment, and support of IBMi AS400 enhancements and its interfaces with other products and packages. The Product Owner will collaborate with business teams to implement, measure, and learn from the improvements they have made. The Product Owner manages execution of the product features and delivery roadmap for Crossdock and Return Depot projects that are aligned to KPI's that measure the objectives of both Costco’s IT Division and line of business stakeholders. 

Job Duties/Essential Functions

• Defines and communicates the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for a given application/product and the supporting release plans.

• Defines the Portfolio Roadmap (e.g., Crossdock Depot, Return Depot, Distribution, Transportation) prioritized by business value.

• Supports business strategy by forming a prioritized backlog of features and user stories for use by the delivery team.

• Uses data and insights effectively from multiple sources to benefit the business and its members.

• Pursues continuous incremental delivery by finding ways to meet business goals learning from members and end-users through frequent, measurable enhancements.

• Creates and authors user stories with detailed acceptance criteria written in the "customer’s voice."

• Collaborates with business and technology stakeholders (e.g., Architects, Systems Architects, Engineers) to define new or enhanced product requirements and functionality.

• Supports the prioritization of feature enablers defined by Architects within the product roadmap.

• Refines product requirements based on feedback and input obtained through sprint showcases and demos.

• Collaborates with the team to prepare estimates for user stories within the product backlog.

• Works continuously/daily with teams to provide answers, feedback and direction on work items, enablers, user stories, etc. 

• Prioritizes the sprint backlog items (as part of the sprint planning ceremony) based on the sequencing and ranking of features defined in the product roadmap.

• Works collaboratively using agile best practices with the delivery team to support backlog refinement, sprint planning, and long-term release planning.

• Communicates effectively with team members, stakeholders, and all levels of management to identify solutions that support business requirements.

• Conducts formal reviews and acceptance of user stories implemented by the team within a sprint.

• Performs functional reviews of completed features as part of sprint demos and showcases (collaborating with the Delivery Manager where applicable).

• Ensures completed stories meet acceptance criteria by reviewing test plans and automated testing outputs, or by contributing to manual testing efforts when necessary.

• Drives the execution of User Acceptance Testing (UAT) activities with support from business and technology teams.

• Prioritizes and collaborates in the rapid resolution of issues and defects.

• Monitors and improves overall product health.

• Ensures all documentation is complete and accurate following the implementation of features.

• Collaborates and assists with release management tasks as needed (e.g., Business Demos, Outage Communications, RFC Creation, and Planning).

• Works with multiple in-house and external teams’ enterprise-wide to remove impediments and manage cross-team dependencies.

• Escalates and assists in the resolution of impediments to support the timely completion of features and stories.

• Seeks to improve processes across the entire product and delivery team by using sprint retrospectives to inspect and adapt.

• Stays current on Product Ownership trends and applies modern product development and agile delivery practices.

• Participate in rotating on-call 24/7 support

   

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.

Experience, Skills, Education & Licenses/Certifications

Required:

• Proven experience in developing Business/Product proposal documents and Portfolio Documents. 

• Proven experience with creating documentation for communication with varied audiences. 

• Proven experience working within a complex software development environment. 

• Deep understanding of business requirements elicitation pursuant to specific programs/projects involved. 

• Strong communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills. 

• Ability to travel to all appropriate locations as needed, including international travel.

Recommended: 

• 3+ years current experience as a Product Owner or similar role.

• 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. 

• Strong Retail Industry Product/management experience would be an added advantage. 

• Strong knowledge of the Distribution Industry as well as Supply Chain Management

• Proficient in creating and managing Epics, Features, User Story, and Tasks in ServiceNow.

• Proven experience working on a Scrum and/or Agile team.

• Experience using CARTS, ADO, ServiceNow, or similar Agile project delivery software.

• Strong knowledge of the Returns and Distribution Industry as well as ERP, WMS, TMS.

• Proficient in Google Workspace applications, including Sheets, Docs, Slides, and Gmail.

  
   

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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