Software Product Owner

About the Role

Join Neogen Corporation in a key role managing scrum teams comprising software developers, QA engineers, and product managers focused on delivering cutting-edge solutions for the food safety sector. As a Software Product Owner, you will be charged with defining project scope, prioritizing tasks, and orchestrating the delivery of Neogen's Analytics software platform.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Product Management, Engineering, QA, Customer Success, subject matter experts, and business stakeholders to ensure software solutions align with Neogen's strategic goals and customer requirements.
• Collect and analyze feedback from stakeholders and users, converting this into clear product requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, and comprehensive documentation.
• Maintain and prioritize the product backlog, balancing features, enhancements, defect fixes, and technical tasks by assessing customer value, business impact, risk, and available capacity.
• Break down the product roadmap into detailed epics, features, and user stories to facilitate software delivery within Agile teams.
• Work closely with engineering and QA to clarify requirements, assist with solution design, validate implementations, and ensure high-caliber releases.
• Engage actively in Agile team ceremonies such as sprint planning, backlog grooming, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
• Support comprehensive product launches by collaborating with engineering, support, training, and customer teams.
• Enhance user experiences and optimize product performance across Neogen's diverse software environments, including on-premises systems, integrated hardware, and performance-sensitive applications.
• Monitor product key performance indicators, gather customer insights, and identify opportunities for ongoing product improvements.
• Advocate for process enhancements and promote consistent, effective Agile product ownership practices across teams.
• Communicate clearly product priorities, progress updates, risks, and decisions to audiences with various technical backgrounds.
• Keep product artifacts up to date, including backlog items, release notes, workflows, requirement documents, and decision records.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, computer science, information systems, engineering, product management, or related disciplines; relevant experience may substitute.
• Between three to five years' experience in software product ownership, product development, business analysis or similar Agile software delivery roles.
• Strong grasp of Agile methodologies including Scrum, backlog oversight, sprint planning, and iterative product delivery.
• Proven capability in preparing clear user stories, acceptance criteria, and detailed product documentation.
• Experience with Azure DevOps or equivalent tools for backlog and sprint management, tracking work items and delivery.
• Skill in translating client, operational, and business needs into actionable technical requirements for development teams.
• Excellent communication skills, adept at conveying complex topics to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Highly organized and attentive to detail, capable of managing multiple priorities, schedules, and stakeholder demands.
• Strong team orientation, fostering effective collaboration across product, engineering, quality assurance, support, and business groups.
• Analytical problem-solving aptitude, able to investigate options, evaluate tradeoffs, and back decisions with data and stakeholder input.
• Proficient in Microsoft 365 suite including Teams, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, and other collaboration tools.
• Adaptable and flexible to shifting priorities and dynamic business environments.
• Eligibility to work in the United States under applicable employment regulations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with software in regulated or quality-focused industries such as food safety, animal health, life sciences, diagnostics, laboratory, manufacturing, or supply chain.
• Exposure to software integrating with hardware, instruments, on-premises systems, cloud platforms, or enterprise business systems.
• Understanding of user experience principles, usability testing, workflow optimization, and customer journey mapping.
• Participation in product launch preparations including release readiness, training, customer support enablement, and go-to-market activities.
• Knowledge of API integrations, data flows, system configuration, and technical architectural concepts.
• Experience working with distributed or cross-functional teams across various business units or geographic locations.
• Possession of certifications such as Product Owner, Scrum, Agile, or related disciplines.

What We Offer

• Chance to directly impact software products supporting Neogen’s mission and deliver value to customers and internal teams.
• A highly collaborative environment blending product, engineering, support, and operations teams to tackle significant challenges.
• Opportunities to enhance skills in product ownership, Agile delivery, stakeholder management, and software strategy.
• Visibility across multiple functional groups, with influence over product outcomes from conception through deployment.
• A workplace culture embracing equal employment opportunity, inclusion, and respectful teamwork.

About Neogen

Neogen protects global food supplies from farm gates to plates by providing products for animal health and food safety, addressing hazards like dangerous bacteria, allergens, toxins, and drug residues.