Lead Product Owner Waters Connect

Overview

The Product Owner is responsible for articulating the vision of a specific product to the engineering team and relevant stakeholders within their business unit. They are accountable for the definition and prioritization of the product backlog that will meet stakeholder expectations and deliver business value, aligning with current business goals.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities:

Product Vision and Strategy

• Define, own, and communicate the product vision, strategy, and roadmap from concept through delivery, growth, and continuous optimization.
• Leverage market research, competitive analysis, customer insights, beta programs, and collaboration with the Experience Design Centre (XDC) to shape product direction and strategic priorities.
• Conduct thorough problem discovery and user needs analysis to ensure product investments address the right problems and deliver maximum value to customers and the business.
• Align product decisions with the broader product, program, and portfolio strategy while considering long-term roadmap implications.
• Utilize customer feedback, analytics, and market insights to continuously refine product priorities and optimization initiatives.

Product Roadmap Management

• Develop, maintain, and govern a strategic product roadmap that aligns with business objectives and engineering capacity.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to establish high-level delivery forecasts and roadmap milestones.
• Ensure product information, documentation, and data within product management tools remain accurate, complete, and up to date.

Product Backlog Ownership and Prioritization

• Translate the product vision into a well-defined, prioritized, and actionable product backlog that maximizes business value.
• Own business requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, and scope definition within an Agile delivery framework.
• Partner closely with engineering, architecture, UX, and quality teams to ensure backlog items are clearly defined, technically feasible, and measurable.
• Balance customer needs, business priorities, technical debt, engineering initiatives, and user experience improvements when prioritizing backlog items.
• Continuously refine and reprioritize the backlog based on stakeholder feedback, changing business priorities, and product performance.

Cross-functional Collaboration and Stakeholder Management

• Serve as the primary liaison between business stakeholders and engineering teams, ensuring alignment on product goals, priorities, timelines, and delivery expectations.
• Foster strong stakeholder engagement by incorporating customer and business feedback into product planning and backlog refinement.
• Communicate roadmap progress, delivery status, dependencies, and risks proactively to leadership and stakeholders to maintain transparency and alignment.

Agile Delivery and Continuous Improvement

• Work closely with engineering teams throughout the Agile development lifecycle to support planning, execution, and successful product delivery.
• Participate in sprint ceremonies, backlog refinement, and retrospectives to drive continuous improvement and team effectiveness.
• Monitor product outcomes, delivery performance, and customer feedback to identify opportunities for continuous product enhancement and value realization.

Qualifications

Qualifications / Education required:

 

Bachelor’s degree in chemistry/pharma or a related discipline and or Domain knowledge of chemistry/pharma are preferred.

Master's degree (MBA or equivalent) is desirable.

Professional Agile certification such as Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO), or equivalent is preferred.

Additional certifications in Agile, Product Management, or Lean methodologies are advantageous.

Experience required:

 

6+ years of experience in software product development, product management, business analysis, or Agile delivery, including 3–4 years in a Product Owner

Proven experience defining and executing product vision, strategy, and roadmaps for enterprise software products throughout the product lifecycle

Demonstrated success managing and prioritizing complex product backlogs within Agile/Scrum environments.

Experience translating customer and business requirements into clear user stories, acceptance criteria, and prioritized product features.

Strong track record of collaborating with cross-functional teams including Engineering, UX/UI, Architecture, Quality Assurance, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success.

Experience working directly with customers, stakeholders, and executive leadership to gather requirements, manage expectations, and drive product decisions.

Proven ability to use customer feedback, analytics, market research, and competitive insights to influence product strategy and continuous improvement.

Experience balancing business priorities, customer value, technical debt, regulatory requirements, and engineering constraints to optimize product delivery.

Demonstrated leadership in Agile ceremonies, release planning, backlog refinement, sprint planning, and product increment reviews.

Experience working with distributed and cross-functional teams in a global software development environment.

Technical and Professional Competencies:

Strong understanding of Agile, Scrum, Lean, and product management best practices.

Proficiency with product management and Agile tools such as Jira, Azure DevOps, Confluence, Aha!, or similar platforms.

Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills with a data-driven approach.

Strong stakeholder management, negotiation, influencing, and conflict resolution skills.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present effectively to technical and non-technical audiences.

Strong strategic thinking, customer focus, business acumen, and ability to balance short-term delivery with long-term product objectives.

Ability to lead without direct authority, influence cross-functional teams, and drive organizational alignment