Product Owner

Data Product Owner Location: Krakow, hybrid 3 days/week Type: Full-time / B2B Contract About the RoleWe are looking for a Data Product Owner to co-develop and execute the vision for scalable data products and analytics solutions. You will bridge Federal governance requirements with State-level adoption, managing backlogs in GitLab while driving OKRs and reusability across multiple Crews and Pods. This is a hands-on role requiring equal parts strategic thinking, stakeholder management, and backlog discipline. Key Responsibilities Product Strategy & Roadmap • Co-develop and maintain a clear product vision, strategy, and roadmap for data products and analytics solutions. • Define and maintain Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) aligned to product and business strategy. Collaboration & Adoption • Collaborate with other Crews and Pods to build a roadmap for adoption of data products and aggregated data products. • Support State teams with expertise and frameworks to drive broad adoption across Operations. Backlog & Governance • Maintain backlog for Federal Book of Work and related artefacts. • Obtain necessary governance approvals for new use cases / solutions. Value Assessment & Design • Assess potential use cases objectively and understand business value vs. cost of solution. • Look to reuse or extend existing capabilities where feasible. • Influence the design of new solutions to deliver benefit for multiple stakeholders where possible. Technical Execution • Maintain pod and iteration backlogs in GitLab to a high standard. • Assist with relevant data sourcing, ensuring compliance with firm policies. Industry & Impediment Management • Keep current with industry trends and emerging technologies in data stream / event-based architecture. • Apply external perspectives and insights to improve our offering. • Mitigate impediments to the team’s goals, align across pods and with other crews where needed. • Act as your pod’s ambassador towards internal stakeholders and clients. Technical Environment Proficiency Required GitLab Hands-on backlog & iteration management Event Streaming Kafka, Kinesis, or similar (conceptual understanding) Data Products Design, reuse, and adoption tracking OKRs Definition, tracking, and alignment Governance Federal/State compliance and approvals Required Qualifications • 5+ years as a Product Owner, Product Manager, or Data Product Manager. • Proven experience with data products and analytics solutions (not just software features). • Hands-on backlog management in GitLab (please highlight this in your CV). • Understanding of event-based / data streaming architectures. • Experience working with Federal or State government stakeholders (preferred). • Strong ability to assess business value vs. cost and prioritize reuse. • Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills. Nice to Have • Experience working across multiple Crews/Pods in a scaled Agile environment. • Prior work supporting State teams (e.g., health, human services, transport). • Certifications: SAFe PO/PM, CSPO, or equivalent.