Job Description

Job Description

Job Title : Associate Product Owner

Reports to : Product Manager

Intelligent Audit is a fast-growing freight audit & business analytics technology company helping our customers become smarter shippers - shipping to their customers faster, cheaper, and with less delivery exceptions. We use big data to help our customers remove inefficiencies in their global transportation spend. We are seeking a motivated and detail-oriented Associate Product Owner to join our dynamic UI/UX team. In this role, you will collaborate closely with Product Owners, stakeholders, and development teams to ensure the successful delivery of high-quality products.

What You Will Do:

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The individual with this position in our company will be expected, on a regular basis, to:

Under the guidance of the UI/UX Product Manager, you will play a pivotal role in assisting with product discovery, translating business needs into actionable requirements, driving UI/UX product enhancements, managing the product backlog, performing research, data analysis, quality assurance and supporting product onboarding.

Backlog Management:

1. Maintain a well-organized and prioritized product backlog that reflects the business's strategic goals and evolving needs.
2. Assist stakeholders in refining and updating backlog items, ensuring clarity and alignment with the product vision.
3. Define and document user stories, including acceptance criteria, ensuring they are actionable and meet the "Definition of Ready."
4. Regularly assist in reviewing and reprioritizing the backlog based on changing requirements, feedback, and project timelines.
5. Facilitate backlog grooming and refinement sessions as needed to ensure the development team understands the scope and purpose of items.

Testing and Quality Assurance:

1. Monitor active sprint tasks and issues, ensuring they meet quality standards and are progressing as planned.
2. Assist in verifying the completion of acceptance criteria and resolving ambiguities during development.
3. Track issue statuses, dependencies, and blockers, escalating as needed to maintain sprint timelines.
4. Support the team in maintaining accurate documentation and updates within project management tools.
5. Support user acceptance testing (UAT) protocols to validate that the product meets business requirements.
6. Collaborate with QA teams to validate fixes, verify functionality, and ensure sprint deliverables meet the "Definition of Done."
7. Assist in identifying and documenting issues, ensuring resolution before product release.

Market Research, Product Reporting, and Analytics:

1. Assist in researching market trends, user needs, and competitive products to inform product strategy.
2. Analyze data to measure product performance and identify opportunities for improvement.
3. Develop and maintain reports to monitor product performance, customer feedback, and business impact.
4. Use analytics to support decision-making, ensuring products are delivered on time and align with business goals.
5. Provide insights into engineering velocity, capacity, and resource allocation, helping optimize team workload and efficiency, identifying trends and areas for improvement to enhance sprint planning accuracy.
6. Prepare retrospective reports, summarizing achievements, challenges, and actionable takeaways from each sprint.

Product Discovery, Requirements Preparation, and Planning:

1. Assist in gathering and documenting business needs, ensuring alignment with broader product goals.
2. Work closely with stakeholders and users to identify opportunities and define requirements for new features and improvements.
3. Assist in creating and maintaining detailed product requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria.
4. Work with the development team to clarify requirements, resolve ambiguities, and ensure alignment with the product vision.
5. Participate in sprint planning, stand-ups, and retrospectives to track progress and address any challenges.

UI/UX Product Enhancements:

1. Collaborate with the UI/UX Product Manager and Designer to identify and implement enhancements that improve user experience and product design.
2. Actively participate in discussions and reviews of wireframes, prototypes, and design mockups to ensure alignment with user needs and business goals.
3. Assist in conducting usability testing and gathering user feedback to inform design improvements.

Stakeholder Communication:

1. Liaise between stakeholders and development teams, ensuring clear and consistent communication.
2. Assist in facilitating feedback sessions, gathering input, and incorporating insights into product planning.

Team Protocols and Onboarding:

1. Assist in creating and refining team protocols to improve efficiency, communication, and workflow processes.
2. Support the development of product onboarding communications, including user guides, FAQs, and training materials for stakeholders and end users.
3. Help implement monitoring tools to track product adoption, performance, and feedback post-launch.

Qualifications and Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Computer Science, or a related field.
• 1-3 years of experience in a product management or related role.
• Demonstrated ability to assist in managing and prioritizing a product backlog.
• Strong understanding of Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban) and the product development lifecycle.
• Proficiency in tools like JIRA, Trello, or similar project management software.
• Experience with data analysis and reporting tools to track metrics like velocity, capacity, and team performance.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Familiarity with quality assurance processes and issue tracking during active sprints.
• Understanding of UI/UX principles and experience collaborating on design enhancements.
• Familiarity with creating onboarding materials and monitoring tools.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple priorities.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with usability testing and feedback tools.
• Certifications such as Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) are a plus.
• Shipping/logistics industry knowledge/experience.
• SQL and relational database understanding.
• Experience with visualization tools like Tableau, Power BI, or similar.

Why Join Us?

• Be part of a collaborative and innovative team.
• Opportunity to grow within a rapidly evolving organization.
• Competitive salary and benefits package.
• Work on exciting projects that have a meaningful impact.

If you’re passionate about creating exceptional products, supporting team collaboration, ensuring quality during development, and enhancing onboarding processes, we’d love to hear from you!