Senior Product Owner

Custom Software Systems, Inc. (CSS) is seeking an experienced Senior Product Owner (Technical Product Owner) to support our client's Business and Technology Modernization (BTM) Program in Washington, DC. The ideal candidate will bring strong technical product ownership experience, leading product strategy, defining requirements, and developing roadmaps for research collaboration platforms and tools. This role requires close collaboration with business stakeholders, DevSecOps engineers, and platform architects to evaluate technical feasibility, prioritize enhancements, and deliver scalable solutions. Qualified candidates must have a strong understanding of Agile methodologies, developer collaboration tools, and enterprise platform integrations, and the ability to translate complex business needs into actionable technical requirements.  

Responsibilities 

• Prepare for and participate in Sprint Planning. 
• Collaborate with the team to detail story acceptance criteria and examples in the form of acceptance tests. 
• Communicate story detail and priorities and ensure the team aligns and agrees on a final iteration plan. 
• Experience using Agile tracking tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence, Azure and DevOps). 
• Develop an expert understanding of business and user needs and champion these in the definition of the product. 
• A product vision, prioritized roadmap, and technical specifications for research collaboration tooling, traceable from business need through technical delivery.  
• Feasibility and integration-approach assessments for research-collaboration platform initiatives, guided by insight from business analysts and economists and developed jointly with engineering and platform architects.  
• Decision logs, meeting minutes, and other process documentation supporting the product workstream. 

Product Vision & Requirements Definition  

• Define product vision and priorities for research-collaboration tooling and technologies, elicited and validated directly with business stakeholders, architects, and technical SMEs. 
• Convert business and research-collaboration needs into clear, actionable technical specifications and user stories. 
• Prioritize features and enhancements based on both business value and technical feasibility. 
• Maintain requirements traceability from business need through to technical delivery. 

Platform & Technical Awareness  

• Maintain working knowledge of the platforms relevant to external research collaboration—source-control/developer platforms, technical authoring and research-collaboration platforms, and file-collaboration/research-sharing platforms—sufficient to assess integration options and flag technical constraints early. 
• Partner with engineering and platform architects to evaluate feasibility and integration approaches (e.g., authoring-platform-to-source-control sync, repository/access models for external collaborators) before decisions are finalized. 
• Stay current on the research-collaboration tooling landscape as it evolves and re-scope the roadmap accordingly. 

Technical Leadership  

• Evaluate architectural decisions and technical tradeoffs with engineering and platform architects. 
• Assess scalability and performance implications of product and tooling choices. 
• Make informed decisions on technology stack and integration approaches (e.g., authoring-platform-to-source-control sync, repository/access models for external collaborators). 

Cross-Functional Communication  

• Serve as the primary translator between business stakeholders and DevSecOps engineering and platform leads. 
• Communicate technical constraints, tradeoffs, and timelines to non-technical stakeholders in plain language. 
• Communicate business priorities and external collaborator needs to the engineering teams in actionable terms. 

Process & Delivery Support  

• Apply fundamentals of project management, organization, and process mapping to keep product and requirements work on track. 
• Maintain clear documentation of decisions, open questions, and requirement changes (e.g., meeting minutes, decision logs). 
• Support planning and prioritization discussions with program leadership. 

Citizenship 

• US Citizenship  

Required Qualifications 

• Ten (10 ) years of experience in product ownership, technical business analysis, or a related role, ideally in a platform, tooling, or developer-collaboration context. 
• Minimum of seven (7) years managing IT projects and performing quality assurance tasks such as user acceptance testing. 
• Strong knowledge of DevOps tools and processes. 
• Proven track record defining product vision and translating business/stakeholder needs into technical specifications and user stories. 
• Experience working directly with business analysts, senior leadership, engineers, or architects to validate feasibility and make technology decisions. 
• Working knowledge of source-control/developer-collaboration platforms (e.g., GitHub), technical authoring and research-collaboration platforms (e.g., Overleaf), and file-collaboration/research-sharing platforms. 
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; proven ability to translate between technical and non-technical audiences. 
• Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Cursor) preferred. 
• Ability to manage competing priorities across multiple stakeholders. 
• Experience using Agile tracking tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence, Azure and DevOps). 

Education 

• Bachelor's degree in a related field, or equivalent experience. 

Certification 

• At least one of the following certifications: 
• Scrum Alliance Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) or equivalent PO certification 
• SAFe Agile Certification 
• Certified SAFe Product Owner / Product Manager 
• Certified Scrum Professional 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience supporting a research-collaboration, academic-partnership, or external-stakeholder engagement effort. 
• Familiarity with Agile delivery practices (Scrum/Kanban). 
• Federal government experience. 
• Experience in a DevSecOps or platform engineering environment. 

Compensation & Benefits12 

• Wage Range: Negotiable 
• General Benefits: Custom Software Systems, Inc. offers our employees a competitive benefits package that may include: 

• Health insurance plans  
• Health Savings Account (HSA) 
• Dental 
• Vision 
• Long-term disability 
• Short-term disability 
• Basic term life insurance 
• Supplemental term life insurance for employees, spouses, and dependents 
• Simple IRA 
• Parking/Commuting expense reimbursement 
• Training/Education 

Company Background:
Headquartered in Leesburg, Virginia, Custom Software Systems, Inc. (CSS) is a Woman-Owned (WOSB) and HUBZone certified small business. Built on a foundation of trusted client partnerships, CSS has fostered a stakeholder-centric yet disciplined approach to IT solutions development. This ensures our ability to consistently meet or exceed our customers' expectations.

Benefits:
CSS is a very employee oriented company knowing that well trained, professional associates are what make our company great. We offer a competitive benefits package that includes: paid holidays and paid time off; medical insurance that includes vision; dental insurance; company paid long and short-term disability and life insurance; a Simple IRA plan (similar to 401k); parking and commuter reimbursement. We also work with our employees on training and professional certification plans that benefit the employee, the client and CSS - a win-win-win strategy.

Equal Opportunity Employer:
CSS provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. CSS complies with applicable state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

CSS expressly prohibits any form of unlawful employee harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. Improper interference with the ability of CSS employees to perform their expected job duties is absolutely not tolerated.