Product Owner

Consumers Energy•Jackson, MI

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

Consumers Energy is Michigan’s largest energy provider, providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.8 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties. Consumers Energy knows job number one is to keep the lights on for customers. We are committed to delivering reliable, clean, and affordable energy to our customers 24/7. This position is not eligible for immigration sponsorship, e.g., H-1B, TN, etc. Please do not apply if you will need immigration sponsorship for a work visa now or in the future, including sponsorship for H-1B, TN, etc., now or in the future. We are unable to hire individuals with CPT, OPT, or STEM OPT for this position as the position is not eligible for participation in the H-1B lottery program and is not eligible for current or future immigration sponsorship for a work visa. Location : This is a hybrid (virtual/onsite) position with required onsite days on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday assigned to the Parnall Service Center, or One Energy Plaza located in Jackson, MI.  The selected candidate must be within a commutable distance or willing to relocate (relocation package is available for those that qualify). General Summary of Job Responsibilities The Product Owner will gather and consider product input from research, stakeholders, past experience and Agile team members so potential work can be evaluated based on value. Accountable for defining new work and visions into a product backlog (list of new or changing features for a product) for Agile delivery teams, ensuring well-defined business value in each product backlog item. Develop and/or contribute to business cases/justification for product backlogs, including justification for annual/ongoing product funding as required for financial planning and/or regulatory approvals. Takes ownership over a product, often working with a Product Manager, to constantly analyze the product's current state, potential new work and completed work to determine the next step for improving the product and meeting business objectives. Additionally, the Product Owner is accountable for the end‑to-end ownership of a defined Electric Distribution function, ensuring digital solutions are delivered effectively and incrementally through agile execution. This role serves as the clear decision owner for product outcomes, maintaining the backlog for their assigned areas, enforcing quality and usability standards, and driving measurable value realization. The Product Owner partners closely with IT delivery teams to ensure work is ready for execution, business desired outcomes are achieved as intended, and delivered solutions balance near‑term value with sustainable product health.

Requirements

Business area and product knowledge
Analytical skills
Conflict and negotiation skills
Ability to understand, analyze and anticipating stakeholder needs
Ability to define a vision based on input from many stakeholders
Ability to navigate ambiguity
Verbal, Written and Facilitation Skills
Ability to quantify, evaluate and communicate product progress
Ability to manage and prioritize product backlog, according to operational/business priorities
Ability to act as primary liaison with decision-making authority
Bachelor's Degree in Product Management, Engineering, or Information Technology with 2 years of experience as a subject matter expert in product or industry/business area; this should include experience working directly with the product and stakeholders; experience analyzing, determining value and prioritizing of potential new improvements to product/area; experience communicating, negotiating and managing stakeholders expectation
Associate Degree in Product Management, Engineering, or Information Technology with 4 years of experience as a subject matter expert in product or industry/business area; this should include experience working directly with the product and stakeholders; experience analyzing, determining value and prioritizing of potential new improvements to product/area; experience communicating, negotiating and managing stakeholders expectation
High School Diploma with 6 years of experience as a subject matter expert in product or industry/business area; this should include experience working directly with the product and stakeholders; experience analyzing, determining value and prioritizing of potential new improvements to product/area; experience communicating, negotiating and managing stakeholders expectation

Responsibilities

Elicit and express customer/stakeholder needs into a product backlog.
Manage, prioritize and clarify backlog items according to evolving business and project conditions
Participate in Agile team events.
Make the decision on when items are "done" and in a state to begin realizing value/objectives
Manage customer and stakeholder expectations, including resolving ambiguous business priority conflicts.
Evaluate expectations against all work in a product backlog then clearly setting expectations with all known work in mind, this will include saying "no" in many cases
Approve work for release and identifies release timing needs with stakeholder input to ensure customer needs are met.
Align with stakeholders to ensure they are expecting the release and ready for new functionality as needed
Include technical debt in all priority considerations
Communicate as needed an overall product vision with a large focus on the what and why in regards to product work
Other duties as assigned or may be necessary