Product Owner

*** NO C2C!!!- USC and GC Holders only Senior Product Owner Location: Omaha, NE OR Marietta, GA OR Denver, CO OR Berkeley Heights, NJ Duration: 12-Month Contract-to-Hire Schedule: Fully Onsite We are seeking a highly skilled and collaborative Senior Product Owner to support Agile Release Train (ART) delivery within a SAFe environment. This role is responsible for managing the team backlog, defining user stories, and ensuring the development team delivers value aligned with the product vision and roadmap defined by the Product Manager. The ideal candidate will bring strong analytical skills, deep Agile experience, and a solid understanding of cloud technologies. Experience with government systems or highly regulated environments is preferred. The Senior Product Owner will work closely with cross-functional teams including architects, developers, business stakeholders, and leadership to drive product delivery and continuous improvement initiatives. This individual must thrive in a fast-paced Agile environment and possess strong communication and stakeholder management skills. Key ResponsibilitiesCollaborate with Product Managers and stakeholders to understand product vision, roadmap, and feature priorities.Own and manage the team backlog, ensuring priorities align with business value and strategic goals.Create detailed user stories, acceptance criteria, and functional requirements for Agile teams.Participate in PI Planning, sprint planning, system demos, retrospectives, and Inspect & Adapt workshops within a SAFe framework.Partner closely with engineering and architecture teams to ensure clarity and successful execution of requirements.Act as the voice of the customer to ensure delivered solutions meet business and operational needs.Support cross-functional collaboration across development, QA, DevOps, and business teams.Drive continuous improvement initiatives related to Agile processes, backlog management, and delivery efficiency.Assist with risk identification, dependency management, and release planning activities.Required Qualifications5+ years of experience as a Product Owner, Product Manager, or Business Analyst in a technical environment.Strong experience working within Agile/Scrum and SAFe methodologies.Experience supporting cloud-based applications and platforms utilizing Azure, AWS, or GCP.Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to work across technical and business teams.Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management abilities.Experience working in fast-paced enterprise environments with multiple competing priorities.Ability to translate complex business requirements into actionable technical stories.Preferred QualificationsExperience working with government systems or within regulated industries.Background supporting enterprise SaaS or platform-based products.SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager (POPM) certification or equivalent Agile certifications.Familiarity with DevOps methodologies and CI/CD pipelines.Experience working closely with cloud engineering or platform modernization initiatives.