Agile Product Owner - Monitor & Control Systems

Position Description:

Position Summary
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is an exciting and prestigious research facility that plays a vital role in the study of the universe. The Observatory operates a variety of radio telescopes that span the globe, including the famous Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico, the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, and the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). These telescopes are among the most advanced in the world, allowing astronomers to explore the universe in unprecedented detail. In addition, the NRAO is undertaking several large projects, including the next generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) and Radar projects.

NRAO is seeking a technically oriented Monitor & Control (M&C) Systems Product Owner to lead product strategy for the software systems that operate NRAO’s world-class radio telescope facilities. M&C software products are the operational backbone of the Observatory: they integrate hardware and software for mechanical telescope controls, translate high-level observing parameters into real-time commands, and underpin science operations for the VLA, GBT, VLBA, ngVLA, and Radar programs. The successful candidate will bring deep familiarity with hardware-software integration in control systems environments, paired with the organizational and communication skills needed to translate complex technical requirements into a prioritized, actionable development roadmap. Using Agile/Scrum as a delivery framework, this role drives alignment between the software development teams and the scientists, engineers, and operations staff who depend on M&C products every day.

The M&C Systems Product Owner will serve as the primary interface between the M&C software development team and a highly technical stakeholder community - including telescope engineers, observatory scientists, and operations staff - who have deep institutional knowledge of these systems. The M&C software team supports products spanning the entire Observatory portfolio, from legacy systems on established facilities to new development on ngVLA. To succeed in this role, the candidate must develop and maintain substantive knowledge of M&C system architectures, real-time control constraints, and hardware integration challenges. The Product Owner will translate that domain understanding into a clearly defined product backlog, collaborate with stakeholders to write meaningful user stories and acceptance criteria, and review completed work to ensure it meets real operational requirements. A working understanding of Agile frameworks and Scrum methodology is essential; Agile practice here is a means to deliver high-quality M&C software reliably, not an end in itself.

This position will be located at one of the NRAO facilities in Charlottesville (VA), Socorro (NM), Albuquerque (NM) or Green Bank (WV).

What You Will be Doing
• Develops deep working knowledge of M&C system architectures, hardware-software integration challenges, and real-time control constraints, and uses that domain understanding to articulate a clear, credible product vision to software development teams working within a Scrum framework.
• Engages deeply with a highly technical stakeholder community - including telescope engineers, observatory scientists, and operations staff - to translate complex M&C system requirements into well-defined user stories, acceptance criteria, and a clearly prioritized product backlog.
• Prioritizes the product backlog by weighing scientific and operational value against technical risk, system dependencies, and engineering feasibility - making informed tradeoff decisions that reflect both stakeholder needs and M&C system realities.
• Serves as the primary liaison between a skeptical, expert stakeholder community and the software development teams, earning trust through technical credibility and consistent follow-through on commitments; identifies and removes roadblocks that impede delivery of M&C system improvements.
• Gathers and organizes operational feedback from scientists and engineers across multiple NRAO facilities to continuously refine the M&C product roadmap, ensuring development priorities stay aligned with real-world observatory needs as telescope programs evolve.
• Reviews and accepts completed development work with sufficient technical depth to evaluate whether M&C system requirements have been correctly implemented, catching gaps before they reach operational systems.
• Participates in Scrum ceremonies, as appropriate, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, reviews, and retrospectives, adapting Agile product owner practices to the realities of complex M&C system development without losing the benefits of iterative delivery.
• Continuously evaluates Agil