Product Owner, Data & Technology

CommonSpirit Health•Austin, TX

12h•$58,000 - $65,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Product Owner is a member of APA!'s Data & Technology Division and reports directly to the Senior Director of Data Strategy. This role owns the full product lifecycle and systems backlog for the Division's tools, platforms, and integrations, translating the Senior Director's strategic roadmap and the operational needs of executive leadership into clear, sequenced, and buildable work for the Data Analyst, Data Engineer, and the Division's contractor and volunteer bench. This is a hands-on, execution-focused role suited to someone who can serve as the bridge between the Division's technical strategy, the team building its systems, and the frontline staff using them every day. The ideal candidate brings structure and rigor to a division being rebuilt from the ground up and is comfortable working with ambiguity in a fast-paced nonprofit environment. The emphasis here is on implementation ownership, change management, and translating technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders - not on engineering depth. The Product Owner is responsible for on-the-ground implementation, working directly alongside each department, key stakeholders, and the Data & Tech team as needed, including learning new software and tools as they are built and rolled out, as well as running ongoing feedback loops with the departments that use those tools. The Product Owner will be able to work independently as well as collaboratively with stakeholders of all levels, and will meet timely goals and milestones set with the Senior Director. The Product Owner will own the full product lifecycle from stakeholder discovery sessions to team training and tool launch, to collecting and integrating user feedback. The Product Owner, Data & Technology is responsible for managing their daily responsibilities, maintaining clear priorities, and delivering consistent, high-quality work that aligns with APA!’s values and goals. This includes staying organized, using data or feedback to inform decisions, and following through on key tasks and responsibilities with minimal oversight. This is a hands-on, mission-driven role focused on results, reliability, and teamwork. APA! is a volunteer-powered organization, so every staff member is expected to work alongside and support volunteers. The Product Owner, Data & Technology collaborates closely with volunteers to complete day-to-day tasks, helps create a positive and inclusive environment, and actively contributes to a culture of shared effort and mutual respect. This position may involve shift flexibility, weekend hours, and responsiveness during times of high need. Every individual at APA! is responsible for working in collaboration with volunteers, making sure volunteers are recruited, trained, and feel impactful through their efforts at APA!. A core part of this role is creating a welcoming and empowering experience for volunteers, including assisting with onboarding, training, and volunteer engagement as part of the day-to-day workflow.

Requirements

A bachelor's degree in a related field, or equivalent work experience.
Demonstrated adaptability and experience managing change across multiple systems and teams simultaneously, including building buy-in on new processes and workflows.
1+ years of experience in a product owner, product manager, business analyst, systems/program lead, or related role responsible for defining and prioritizing technical work.
1+ years of experience in animal shelter operations as staff or in a volunteer capacity.
Demonstrated experience translating ambiguous organizational needs into clear requirements or specifications for a technical team.
Comfortable working hands-on through implementation. This may include configuration, testing, product training, and live troubleshooting with relevant stakeholders - not solely defining requirements from a distance.
Experience running structured feedback loops or user research with non-technical stakeholders, and translating that input into backlog priorities.
Demonstrated experience in change management, training, customer service, and building buy-in on new processes and workflows.
Effective written and verbal communication skills; able to interpret rules, procedures, and instructional materials with the ability to work effectively with both technical staff and non-technical stakeholders.
Ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities across a small, resource-constrained team.
Excellent problem-solving skills; well-organized and detail-oriented.
Comfort with common project/work-tracking tools (e.g., monday.com or similar).
Familiarity with data platforms, CRMs, or shelter/animal welfare management systems.
Demonstrated aptitude for learning new processes and software quickly.
Ability to travel for special projects as needed up to 15% of the time.
Committed to embodying APA!’s Core Values: Innovation, Respect, Drive, Resourcefulness, and Inclusion and cultural values: Humble, Hungry, Smart
Commitment to APA!'s customer experience expectations
Passion for working well with staff, volunteers, and customers—helping all individuals feel successful, appreciated, and connected to APA!’s mission
Strong commitment to volunteer engagement and support; dedicated to working well with volunteers across all roles
Comfortable working cross-functionally and serving as a liaison between volunteers, customers, and team members
Self-starter with strong time management; able to work independently and collaboratively
Excellent interpersonal skills; maintains a calm and professional presence in all situations
Strong attention to detail and high standards for quality
Adaptable to change and able to perform related duties as needed
Dedicated to delivering an exceptional and inclusive customer experience

Nice To Haves

Working knowledge of agile/scrum or kanban delivery practices, and comfort adapting them to a small, resource-constrained team.
2+ years of experience in a nonprofit, animal welfare, healthcare, or other mission-driven organization.
Experience with, or demonstrated strong aptitude for, data integration or multi-tenant systems work.
Product owner or Scrum certification (e.g., CSPO, PSPO) is a plus but not required
Lean Six Sigma certification at any level is a plus but not required.

Responsibilities

Actively contribute to a volunteer-powered culture by partnering with volunteers during every shift and helping create an inclusive, welcoming environment
Work alongside volunteers to complete daily tasks, ensuring the work is shared and collaborative—not siloed
Support the recruitment and onboarding process by welcoming new volunteers and helping them get oriented to the program
Help retain volunteers by offering encouragement, guidance, and feedback during shared work
Recommend strong volunteers for deeper involvement or specialized roles to your supervisor or volunteer manager
Contribute to a positive culture by recognizing volunteer contributions through appreciation, gratitude, and shoutouts
Help set volunteers up for success by clearly explaining tasks, providing hands-on guidance, and offering in-the-moment support
Partner with the Senior Director to translate APA!'s 3-year data and technology roadmap into an executable, sequenced product backlog, ensuring every piece of work is tied to specific operational priorities.
Own day-to-day prioritization and sequencing of the Data & Technology Division's project portfolio, data pipelines, dashboards, integrations, and platform initiatives, in partnership with the Data & Tech team.
Serve as the connective tissue between the Senior Director's strategic priorities, end-user priorities, and daily execution by the Division's contractor and volunteer bench.
Stay hands-on through implementation - this goes beyond defining requirements, to working alongside the teams building and using them, so gaps between spec and reality get caught early.
Build standing feedback loops with each department that uses Division tools (shelter operations, medical, behavior, development, community programs, human resources, volunteer management, and others), so real usage and pain points directly shape what gets built next.
Support the internal specification for the Shelter Operating System, APA!'s data and systems replication framework, in partnership with the Data & Tech team.
Lead change management around data compliance and usage at all levels of the organization.
Support sequencing of data integration work tied to APA!'s growing organization.
Support data integrity and governance standards across delivered systems, in partnership with the Senior Director's data cleanliness and governance work.
Own the product backlog for the Data & Technology Division's systems, tools, and internal platforms, translating stakeholder needs into clear next steps.
Maintain a living product roadmap that reflects current priorities, dependencies, and constraints, and communicate changes clearly to the Senior Director and stakeholders.
Translate the requirements of APA! Operations teams, Programs, and executive leadership into concrete specifications for the Data Analyst and Data Engineer to build against.
Oversee contractors and volunteers as needed across multiple product development initiatives to ensure specs and timelines are met.
Maintain relationships with relevant software vendors.
Stay up to date on industry best practices to ensure APA! is using the most up-to-date data and tech for this rapidly growing field.
Work directly alongside the Data Analyst, Data Engineer, and contractors during build and rollout - testing features, troubleshooting issues, and helping close gaps between what was specified and what actually ships.
Work directly alongside on-the-ground teams and relevant stakeholders throughout the full product life cycle. This includes but is not limited to developing and executing staff training for implementation of new tools, quality assurance and standardization of data collection carried out by relevant teams, and troubleshooting roadblocks in real time.
Participate hands-on in configuration, QA/user-acceptance testing, and rollout logistics for new tools and workflows, rather than handing off requirements and stepping back.
Be present for go-lives and early adoption periods to catch friction quickly and route fixes back into the backlog.
Run a regular, structured feedback cadence with each department that uses Division tools - shelter operations, medical, behavior, development, community programs, and others - to hear directly what is and isn't working.
Turn department feedback into prioritized backlog items, and close the loop back to those departments on what changed and why.
Act as the on-the-ground point of contact for staff and volunteers reporting tool issues or workflow friction.
Define and track success metrics for delivered systems and features; report progress to the Senior Director on a regular cadence.
Identify risks, dependencies, and blockers early, and escalate to the Senior Director with clear options rather than open-ended problems.
Coordinate with external vendors, partner organizations, and contractors involved in systems integration or platform work.
Maintain accurate, up-to-date documentation of systems, workflows, and decisions to support a rapidly growing and changing team.
Work collaboratively with APA!'s Education Department to ensure relevant SOPs, courses, and training materials are up to date with the most current tool usage and functions.
Must demonstrate dependability, accountability, time management, use of reasoning, and good judgment skills
Attend and participate in all required training sessions and meetings
Maintain open and consistent communication with Program Manager or designee, supervisor, and other colleagues
Partner with Volunteer Managers to learn about the volunteer programs and support volunteers interested in your department on an ongoing basis
Able to react to change productively and perform other related duties as assigned
Able to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed
Able to work in a high-volume, fast-paced, high-stress environment
Comfortable working autonomously when given goals and deadlines