Job Title: Senior Product Owner

1. General Information:

Ø Immediate Manager: Product Manager

Ø Employment Type: Full Time 

Ø Career Level : Senior 

Ø Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2. JOB SUMMARY:

Senior Product Owner plays a critical role in driving the vision, strategy, and delivery of a product or product portfolio. They act as the primary liaison between stakeholders and development teams, ensuring that the product    ​roadmap aligns with business objectives and customer needs. With a strong focus on maximizing value, the Senior Product Owner manages the product backlog, prioritizes features, and ensures seamless communication across ​teams to deliver high-quality solutions.

3. Key Responsibilities

i. Product Strategy and Vision

•  Define and communicate the product vision and strategy in alignment with organizational goals.
• Develop and manage a detailed product roadmap that reflects stakeholder priorities and market demands.
•  Analyze market trends, competitor activities, and customer feedback to identify opportunities for growth.

ii. Backlog Management

• Own and prioritize the product backlog, ensuring it is well-organized and up to date.
• Write, refine, and prioritize epics, user stories, and acceptance criteria to guide the development team.
• Balance technical debt, feature requests, and bug fixes to optimize team productivity and product quality.

iii. Stakeholder Collaboration

• Act as the primary point of contact for stakeholders, gathering requirements and translating them into actionable tasks.
• Collaborate with executives, business units, and customers to align the product with business needs and value propositions.
• Facilitate discussions to manage conflicting priorities and build consensus.

iv. Development Team Collaboration

• Work closely with development teams to ensure a clear understanding of requirements and priorities.
• Participate in sprint planning, stand-ups, and retrospectives to ensure alignment and address challenges.
• Provide timely feedback and clarifications to unblock the development process.

v. Delivery and Performance Management

• Monitor and evaluate product performance through KPIs and analytics, identifying areas for improvement.
• Ensure the timely delivery of features and releases that meet quality standards and stakeholder expectations.
• Support user acceptance testing (UAT) and ensure that delivered features align with acceptance criteria.

vi. Leadership and Mentorship

•  Provide guidance and mentorship to Junior Product Owners and other team members.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement within the product management team.
• Share best practices and contribute to the development of product management methodologies.

4.Qualifications

    Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in business, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience as a Product Owner, Product Manager, or in a similar role.

   Skills and Competencies

• Deep understanding of Agile frameworks such as Scrum or SAFe.
•  Expertise in managing product backlogs, writing epics, and defining user stories.
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills to align product goals with business objectives.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities.
• Proficiency in product management tools like Jira, Azure DevOps, or others
• Technical knowledge to effectively collaborate with development teams (e.g., APIs, data models, or system architecture).

  Preferred Qualifications

• Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager, or similar certifications
• Experience managing large-scale or complex products with cross-functional teams.
• Familiarity with customer journey mapping and UX/UI principles.