Product Owner – Enterprise Data - College Park - KamisPro

Description

This is a long-term contract position (approx. 12 months.) Hybrid to Adelphi, MD is preferred but remote candidates will be considered if they reside in the US and work ET hours. A background check will be required.

The Product Owner is a key member of the Enterprise Data & AI team, working closely with business stakeholders, application developers, QA testers, and Scrum Masters to deliver business value through innovative data, analytics, and AI solutions.

As the primary product specialist for the scrum team, the Product Owner owns the product backlog, actively participates in all phases of development, and serves as a critical stakeholder in product decisions and release planning. This role bridges institutional strategy and technical execution to ensure the successful delivery and adoption of enterprise-grade Data & AI products.

Responsibilities

1. Product Vision & Strategy

• Define and maintain the product vision and backlog for the Enterprise Data & AI platform, aligned with institutional strategy and near-term priorities.
• Translate university objectives (e.g., student success, research advancement, operational efficiency) into clear, actionable product goals and roadmaps.

2. Stakeholder Engagement

• Collaborate with faculty, researchers, administrators, and IT leadership to gather requirements and identify high-impact data and AI use cases.
• Serve as the primary liaison between business stakeholders and the technical delivery teams.

3. Backlog Management & Prioritization

• Create, refine, and prioritize backlog items based on business value, compliance requirements, risk, and technical feasibility.
• Define clear acceptance criteria and ensure shared understanding for data, AI, and integration-focused user stories.

4. Delivery & Execution

• Partner with data engineers, AI/ML specialists, developers, and architects to deliver platform capabilities and enhancements.
• Actively participate in Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, reviews, and retrospectives.
• Ensure the team understands priorities, dependencies, and the business value behind each initiative.

5. Governance & Data Stewardship

• Partner with institutional data governance teams to ensure adherence to data security, privacy, quality, and stewardship standards.
• Ensure AI-enabled solutions comply with ethical and responsible AI principles relevant to higher education.

6. Analytics & AI Enablement

• Guide the development of BI dashboards, self-service analytics, and AI-powered applications for faculty, staff, and leadership.
• Identify opportunities to embed AI/ML capabilities such as student retention modeling, enrollment forecasting, and research analytics.

7. Change Management & Adoption

• Communicate platform capabilities, benefits, and roadmap updates to stakeholders.
• Drive adoption through demos, training sessions, and user enablement activities.
• Support value realization by defining success metrics and tracking outcomes of Data & AI initiatives.

8. Continuous Improvement

• Monitor product performance and stakeholder feedback to inform ongoing prioritization and enhancements.
• Stay current on Data, Analytics, and AI/ML trends and recommend innovations that advance institutional goals.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Information Science, Information Systems, Computer Science, Data Science, Business Administration, or a related field (Master's preferred).
• 5+ years of experience in product ownership, business analysis, or project management, preferably in data, analytics, or AI-driven environments.
• Experience in higher education, research, or public sector environments strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated success delivering enterprise-scale Data & AI platforms within SAFe Agile or similar frameworks.

Technical Knowledge

• Strong understanding of data and AI platforms, including data lakes/warehouses, ETL pipelines, APIs, and cloud environments (e.g., Databricks, AWS, Azure, GCP, Salesforce Data Cloud).
• Working knowledge of data governance (e.g., Azure Purview) and Master Data Management tools (e.g., Profisee).
• Familiarity with AI/ML concepts, predictive analytics, and responsible AI frameworks.
• Experience with BI and analytics tools such as Tableau, Power BI, Salesforce CRM Analytics, or Looker.
• Understanding of data privacy and compliance standards (FERPA, HIPAA, GDPR, etc.).

Skills & Competencies

• Strong product ownership skills, including backlog management, user story development, and acceptance criteria definition.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts into business value.
• Strategic mindset with the ability to align platform initiatives to institutional priorities.
• Proficiency in Agile/Scrum methodologies and tools such as Jira or Azure DevOps.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.
• Proven ability to drive adoption and change across diverse academic and administrative communities.

Preferred Certifications

• Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) or SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager.
• Data or cloud certifications (e.g., Databricks, Azure Data Fundamentals, Azure Purview, Profisee).
• AI/ML or analytics certifications (e.g., Databricks MLflow or equivalent).