Product Owner - Platform Modernization / Application Discovery

Product Owner - Platform Modernization / Application Discovery

Central Denver, CO (Hybrid--3 days)

Duration: initial 6-month contract (C2H)

Pay: $65-75/hr

We are seeking a highly technical Product Owner to lead discovery, documentation, and modernization efforts for a critical internal application platform built on a microservices architecture.

This role will focus on reverse engineering existing systems, analyzing C#/.NET applications and Azure Service Bus integrations, documenting architecture and workflows, identifying technical debt and operational risks, and developing a roadmap for stabilization and future enhancements in a complex environment with limited existing documentation.

Key Responsibilities

Product & System Discovery

• Assume ownership of an existing enterprise platform built on a distributed microservices architecture.
• Reverse engineer the current application ecosystem to understand system behavior, service dependencies, and business workflows.
• Analyze source code written in C#/.NET and collaborate with engineering teams to understand implementation patterns and business logic.
• Identify undocumented functionality, legacy workflows, and critical integration points.

Messaging & Integration Analysis

• Conduct deep analysis of message flows across Azure Service Bus and related event-driven systems.
• Trace queues, topics, subscriptions, retry logic, dead-letter handling, and asynchronous workflows.
• Document how data moves across services, APIs, downstream systems, and integrations.

Architecture Documentation

• Create comprehensive end-to-end platform documentation, including:
• Microservices architecture
• Service ownership and dependencies
• Event and message flows
• Data contracts and integrations
• Business process workflows
• Failure points and operational risks
• Develop architecture diagrams, process maps, and technical documentation to support ongoing engineering and modernization efforts.

Product Assessment & Modernization Strategy

• Assess the current platform to identify:
• Technical debt
• Redundant or obsolete services
• Scalability and performance concerns
• Security and operational gaps
• Opportunities for simplification or redesign
• Partner with engineering leadership to determine which components should be maintained, refactored, rebuilt, or retired.
• Develop and prioritize a modernization roadmap aligned with long-term business objectives.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Work closely with engineering, operations, business stakeholders, and leadership teams to gather institutional knowledge about the platform.
• Translate technical findings into actionable business recommendations.
• Drive prioritization of system improvements and future product investments.

Required Qualifications

• 5 years of experience as a Product Owner, Technical Product Owner, Software Engineer, Solutions Engineer, or similar technical role
• Strong technical understanding of C#/.NET applications with the ability to read and interpret code
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure cloud environments
• Deep understanding of Azure Service Bus, asynchronous messaging, and event-driven architectures
• Experience working within microservices-based systems
• Strong background documenting legacy systems, integrations, and application architecture
• Ability to work independently in ambiguous environments with limited documentation

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience modernizing legacy enterprise applications
• Familiarity with domain-driven design, event-driven architecture, and API ecosystems
• Background supporting manufacturing, supply chain, ERP, or operational business systems is a plus