Technical Product Owner

About Smile Train

Smile Train is changing the world one smile at a time. Our goal is to transform every person's life impacted by a cleft lip or palate. We train and support doctors and medical professionals to provide our beneficiaries with free, life- changing comprehensive cleft treatment. Our sustainable model has allowed us to reach 1.5 million children in 90 countries and we’re just starting. We are truly changing the world one smile at a time.

Smile Train is looking for exceptional people to join a worldwide team of dedicated, passionate professionals. Our team is creative and highly motivated individuals working to make a positive impact. Join us!

Smile Train is seeking a highly motivated and detail-oriented Technical Product Owner (TPO) to administer Smile Train’s proprietary cleft patient database, Smile Train Express (STX), and related products. The TPO will be responsible for defining system requirements, prioritizing the backlog, and ensuring seamless communication between stakeholders and the external system development team. The TPO will play a key role in driving STX’s success by understanding programmatic needs, user requirements, and technical constraints to deliver high-quality solutions
and be accountable for ensuring successful implementation, usability and alignment of those solutions with organizational goals.

Reports To: Technical Product Owner will report to the VP, Programs Data and Technology. This is a full-time staff position based out of Smile Train Headquarters in New York City, starting as soon as possible.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

·       Product Strategy & Vision: Work closely with Programs team, VP of Data & Technology, and Data Governance Committee to define the vision, goals, and roadmap for STX with a focus on stability, security, sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and scalability, and based on continuous functional and technological innovation.

·       Domain and Technical Expertise: Gain deep knowledge of STX product features, usage, and roles, and a solid understanding of the technologies on which STX is built.

Be able to write and maintain SQL queries, create simple product automations, and assist in efforts of integrating STX with other organizational systems.

·       Requirement Gathering: Translate high-level programmatic and compliance requirements into clear user stories and acceptance criteria for development team.

·       Stakeholder Communication and Collaboration: Act as the bridge between Programs team, field staff, partners, and development teams to ensure system relevance and adoption.

Actively engage and coordinate STX initiatives with Data Governance Committee and members of other departments and data teams across the organization to ensure effective technology, compliance, and data alignment across systems.

·       Delivery: Be accountable for ensuring timely delivery of key milestones and product performance aligned with organizational needs focusing on relevance, stability, security, sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and longevity of the system.

·       Integration: Lead and coordinate efforts to integrate STX with other critical organizational systems, including programmatic databases, CRM/ERP platforms, and external partner systems, ensuring seamless data flow and real-time synchronization.

·       User Experience and Product Adoption: Ensure that product features enhance user experience and are easily adopted in clinical settings. Create and continuously enhance training materials for the main audiences. Provide user support and basic technical troubleshooting. Be accountable for driving product adoption, collecting user feedback, and implementing improvements that lead to measurable user satisfaction.

·       Documentation: Collect, collate, and enhance product documentation of features, processes, and technologies for technical and non-technical audiences.

·       Data-Driven Decision Making: Ensure STX data is accessible to authorized users and supplies the critical information for ongoing operations, program evaluation, and strategic planning in ways that are understandable and actionable for diverse audiences.

Create reports and interpret data findings for various audiences including internal programmatic teams, donors, communications, and management. 

·       Risk & Issue Management: Identify potential system risks and work proactively with the development team and the Data Governance Committee to mitigate them while ensuring smooth product delivery and compliance.

·       System Performance: Maintain accountability for timelines, stakeholder satisfaction, product performance, and integration success with organizational data systems. Own product outcomes by ensuring that STX and related systems meet their strategic objectives, function reliably, and deliver value to end users.

Qualifications & Skills:

Education:

·       Bachelor’s degree in Business, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.

Professional Experience:

·       Proven experience as a Product Owner, Business Analyst, or a similar role (2 years).

·       Previous experience in managing technical products or platforms, ideally within a data-driven or clinical setting.

·       Experience with project management methodologies and tools.

Technical Proficiency:

·       Strong understanding of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), best practices, and stakeholder management tools, like AZDO or Jira.

·       Understanding of software architecture, APIs, and working knowledge of at least one coding language.

·       Experience with database management, schema, queries, and programming of a relational database, PostgreSQL preferred.

·       Familiarity with data management tools (Excel, Google Sheets) and data visualization tools (Qlik, Power BI, Tableau) is a plus.

Skills & Competencies:

·       Excellent communication, organizational, and stakeholder management skills.

·       Ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, actionable requirements.

·       Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with a keen eye for detail.

·       Demonstrated capacity to work independently and manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment.

·       The candidate is enthusiastic, forward-thinking, innovative, and excited to grow with our system and contribute meaningfully to our evolving organization.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, obligations, and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned at any time, with or without notice.

Application Information:

Smile Train is an equal opportunity employer, committed to inclusive hiring and dedicated to diversity in our work and staff. We strongly encourage candidates from all groups and communities to apply. To apply, please complete the application online. Include your CV, and a cover letter that describes why you believe you would be a good fit for Smile Train and this role. We encourage interested applicants to apply as soon as possible.

Salary : $100,000