Product Owner (Media Services)

Position Summary

Our Client is seeking a Senior Product Owner to serve as the critical link between business stakeholders and software development teams supporting media management platforms, workflows, and systems. This role is evenly balanced between business-facing analysis and technical product ownership responsibilities.

The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in media asset management, metadata workflows, content acquisition, transformation, and distribution processes, while also demonstrating strong Agile product ownership capabilities. This individual will work closely with business users to identify opportunities for operational improvement and partner directly with architects, developers, and technical teams to translate business objectives into scalable technology solutions.

Success in this role requires the ability to communicate effectively with executive leadership, business stakeholders, and engineering teams while driving projects through the full software development lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities

Stakeholder Management (50%)

Project Discovery & Analysis

• Develop a deep understanding of customer needs, workflows, and business objectives.
• Lead workflow discovery sessions, stakeholder interviews, and requirements gathering workshops.
• Analyze and document business processes, pain points, and opportunities for improvement.
• Conduct gap analyses and recommend technology and process solutions.
• Create and maintain business documentation including:
  • Business requirements
  • Process flows
  • User journeys
  • Use cases
  • Data models
  • Business rules
• Act as the primary liaison between business users and technology teams.

Business Partnership

• Build strong relationships with business stakeholders across multiple divisions.
• Facilitate discussions with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Communicate project status, risks, and key decisions to stakeholders and leadership.
• Support organizational change management initiatives and user adoption efforts.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce operational costs, and optimize workflows.

Technical Delivery (50%)

Product Ownership

• Serve as Product Owner for assigned platforms and initiatives.
• Own and manage the product backlog.
• Translate business requirements into:
  • Epics
  • Features
  • User stories
  • Acceptance criteria
  • Functional specifications
• Prioritize backlog items based on business value and technical dependencies.
• Partner closely with developers, architects, QA teams, and leadership to deliver solutions aligned with business priorities.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies including:
  • Sprint Planning
  • Daily Standups
  • Backlog Grooming
  • Sprint Reviews
  • Retrospectives

Solution Delivery

• Lead functional design reviews and solution discussions.
• Collaborate with development teams to clarify requirements and remove delivery blockers.
• Assist in defining system integrations, interface specifications, and data requirements.
• Participate in vendor evaluations and software selection efforts as needed.
• Support end-to-end delivery throughout the SDLC using Agile methodologies.

Testing, Training & Support

• Develop test strategies, test plans, and test cases.
• Facilitate integration testing and User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
• Document testing results and validate business requirements.
• Develop user documentation and training materials.
• Conduct end-user and train-the-trainer sessions.
• Provide post-implementation support and functional troubleshooting.
• Participate in production support and change management processes.

Required Qualifications

Domain Expertise

• Hands-on experience supporting media asset management (MAM) platforms.
• Strong understanding of media workflows, metadata management, taxonomy, and content lifecycle processes.
• Knowledge of content acquisition, transformation, distribution, and delivery workflows.
• Understanding of audio/video encoding standards and metadata frameworks preferred.

Business Analysis Skills

• Proven experience eliciting and documenting complex business requirements.
• Expertise in process modeling, workflow analysis, and solution design.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Ability to translate business problems into actionable technical requirements.

Product Ownership & Technical Skills

• Experience serving as a Product Owner, Lead Business Analyst, or similar role working directly with software engineering teams.
• Strong understanding of Agile methodologies including Scrum and Kanban.
• Experience creating and managing product backlogs, user stories, and acceptance criteria.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with developers, architects, and QA teams.
• Experience supporting system integrations and interface design.

Tools & Technologies

Experience with:

• JIRA
• Confluence
• Visio
• Lucidchart
• Microsoft Office Suite
• Google Workspace
• InVision or similar prototyping tools

Desired Characteristics

• Strategic thinker with strong problem-solving skills.
• Equally comfortable engaging executive business stakeholders and software engineers.
• Exceptional presentation and facilitation skills.
• Self-driven with the ability to manage multiple competing priorities.
• Thrives in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Proactively identifies opportunities for innovation, efficiency, and modernization.