Senior Product Owner

Babel Street is the trusted technology partner for the world’s most advanced identity intelligence and risk operations. We deliver advanced AI and data analytics solutions providing unmatched, analysis-ready data regardless of language, proactive risk identification, 360-degree insights, high-speed automation, and seamless integration into existing systems. Babel Street empowers government and commercial organizations to transform high-stakes identity and risk operations into a strategic advantage.  The actionable insights we deliver safeguard lives and protect critical assets around the world.  Babel Street is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with regional offices in Boston, MA and Cleveland, OH, and international offices in Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, and the U.K. For more information, visit www.babelstreet.com. 

Babel Street is currently seeking a Product Owner for our DoD team.  The Product Owner is a crucial role responsible for organizing, prioritizing, and assessing work for our development team, ensuring that our products align with the team and government’s vision and meet customer expectations. You will be the primary for defining our product vision, roadmap, and growth opportunities- collaborating between internal and external contacts to align our product with strategic goals. 

What you will do:

• Collaborate between Product Manager and Developers:
  • Communicate clearly: The Product Owner must act as a bridge between the Government Product Manager, the Development Team Lead, and Senior Management. 
  • Navigate Bureaucracy and Regulations: The PO will face a rule-bound environment and must navigate through red tape, politics, and bureaucracy in a way that ensures the development process aligns with transparency and fair process.
  • Act as an Advocate for Development Team: The PO communicates effectively with senior managers and end users, acting as an advocate for the development team by promoting the project, ensuring that the team's efforts are recognized and supported, and raising concerns early if the project veers off target.
  • Maintain Focus and Prioritization: The PO may have to make on-the-spot lower-level decisions that do not require escalation, ensuring that the development team remains focused on the most critical tasks and that the project stays on track by prioritizing features and user stories based on the product vision and product manager needs. 
• Product Development and Feature Backlog:
  • Communicate with Product Manager:  Be the link between the Government Product Manager and the Development Team Lead to gather insights on feature requests, user needs, and end goals. A collaborative approach ensures that the product backlog reflects a comprehensive understanding of the vision.
  • Maintain an Accurate Backlog: Regularly update the product backlog so it remains relevant and focused in delivering the most valuable functionalities within a set timeframe.
  • Roadmap Integration: Integrate feature ideas or broader initiatives into a roadmap, while keeping the product backlog focused on immediate development tasks. This approach provides a clear, strategic overview of long-term visions alongside a manageable list of immediate priorities.
  • Review and Adjust: Regularly review and adjust the product backlog based on feedback from stakeholders and the evolving needs of the product.
  • Communicate Priorities: Clearly communicate the prioritized backlog to the development team and other stakeholders to ensure everyone is aligned on the product's direction and understands the rationale behind the chosen priorities. 
•  Create Agile Ceremonies:
  • Facilitate Sprint Planning Meetings: The PO is responsible for preparing and leading sprint planning meetings, where the team collaborates to define the sprint goals and select items from the product backlog to work on during the sprint by understanding the product vision, prioritizing backlog items, and ensuring the team has a clear understanding of what needs to be achieved.
  • Organize Sprint Reviews and Demos: The PO organizes sprint review meetings, where the team presents the work completed during the sprint to the product manager, stakeholders, and senior management by ensuring that the product functionality, user experience, and business value are showcased effectively, an