Business Analyst/Product Owner ( Contract to Hire) ( 4 days onsite in Lawrenceville, NJ)

Career Developers Inc., a distinguished staffing and consulting firm, is proud to celebrate 30 years of service excellence. As a GSA Contract holder, we offer comprehensive staffing solutions for both commercial and government sectors nationwide. By selectively partnering with clients who share our values, we ensure productive collaborations that set us apart in the industry. Our dedication to candidates involves managing expectations with precision through business intelligence, thorough interview preparation, transparent communication, and exceptional feedback throughout the process.

We are committed to advancing your career and look forward to supporting your professional growth.

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Business Analyst/Product Owner ( Contract to Hire) ( 4 days onsite in Lawrenceville, NJ)
Location: 4 days onsite and 1 day remote in Lawrenceville, NJ
Rate: OPEN
Salary after conversation $105k - $116k

Must Haves:

• Strong domain knowledge of software development, financial systems, and project management
• Must be a resident of New Jersey and can work 4 days onsite and 1 day remote
• (3) years of experience in business analysis, process design, standardization, and/or process improvement roles.
• Excellent planning, organizational, and time management skills
• The ability to influence stakeholders and work closely with them to determine acceptable solutions
• Analytical mindset with a focus on data-driven decision-making
• Familiarity with product management tools and software (e.g., Jira, Confluence).
Competency in Microsoft applications including Word, Excel, Access, and Outlook

POSITION SUMMARY
The Business Analyst/Product Owner (BA/PO) collaborates with our Agile team and acts as Product Owner between the software development team.
The BA/PO prioritizes stakeholder requests and deconstructs the entire business process into objectives and user stories.
This process allows for creating and managing product backlog items (PBIs) while also facilitating task prioritization.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Application Product Owner

• Collaborate within an Agile methodology, closely partnering with stakeholders to achieve project goals and meet deadlines;
• Ensure the product meets the required quality standards and meets stakeholder needs.
• Lead in-depth reviews of business processes and develop optimization strategies while resolving conflicts between stakeholders and deliverable deadlines;
• Actively engage with various stakeholders to understand their needs, identify pain points, and capture innovative ideas for product enhancement;
• Understand the stakeholder perspectives and transform them into actionable user stories;
• Define clear acceptance criteria for each user story;
• Create a product roadmap, incorporating date ranges and probability of completion;
• Understand stakeholders' business goals, distinguishing between perceived wants and essential needs in alignment with the directives.
• Collaborate closely with the development team to ensure a shared understanding of requirements and expectations for each feature.
• Own the product backlog, translating unstructured or ambiguous requests into actionable user stories;
• Conduct functional testing of the PBIs before their release into production;
• Assist stakeholders with user testing and obtain signoffs for production release, addressing any bugs/issues as necessary;
• Adapt to changing requirements and priorities, making adjustments to the product backlog as needed, and
• Continuously evaluate, prepare, and meticulously plan PBIs for future development cycles.

Process Improvement

• Evaluate current business processes and requirements to identify opportunities for enhancement;
• Independently research and review processes to identify additional areas in need of correction or enhancement;
• Identify and address the reporting needs of the organization and
• Provide recommendations for improvements to the Chief Operating Officer and Senior Staff.

Program Education

• Participate in seminars and community outreach efforts to provide tutorials and walkthroughs of the web application;
• Host meetings and presentations to share application process ideas and findings; and
• Maintain a proactive approach to educating the user base on substantial program changes and updates.

Product Support

• Review support tickets or customer feedback to identify common issues or pain points experienced by users, generate user stories that address these issues, and
• Serve as Operations Department backup support when the Chief Operating Officer, Project Managers, or Administrative Assistant are unavailable.

REQUIREMENTS
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Strong domain knowledge of software development, financial systems, and project management
• Excellent planning, organizational, and time management skills
• The ability to influence stakeholders and work closely with them to determine acceptable solutions
• Analytical mindset with a focus on data-driven decision-making
• Familiarity with product management tools and software (e.g., Jira, Confluence).
• Competency in Microsoft applications including Word, Excel, Access, and Outlook

Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, User Experience, Informatics, or Industrial Engineering.
Experience: Three (3) years of experience in business analysis, process design, standardization, and/or process improvement roles.