Product Owner (Hybrid in AZ or MI)

Agate Software • Okemos, MI

10d • Hybrid

About The Position

At Agate Software, we are building a better world by revolutionizing how government agencies and nonprofits manage their grant processes. Our solutions empower our customers to maximize their resources, drive compliance, and focus on their core missions of distributing millions of dollars in funding for critical social services. Our success is built on three pillars: Innovation, Integrity, and Impact. For over 20 years, Agate Software has been at the forefront of transformative innovation in the grant management industry. Our journey is marked by groundbreaking achievements and a commitment to pushing boundaries. By simplifying complex workflows, enhancing transparency, and turbo-charging efficiency, we enable our customers to maximize the impact of their funding. Always challenging the status quo, we strive to set new industry standards and we are seeking the brightest minds to join us in this mission. If you're ready to apply your expertise in a dynamic, growth-oriented, mission-driven environment, read on to see how this position aligns with your skills and interests! Please note that this position is eligible for a hybrid schedule with 3 days required onsite/2 days remote after the first 90 days. Agate is looking for a high-ownership Product Owner who can bring discipline, clarity, and execution control to complex customer delivery work. This is not a passive requirements role, a maintenance role, or a “take notes and hand them to engineering” role. The Product Owner owns the bridge between customer needs, internal delivery priorities, and development-ready work. You will make sure engineering teams know exactly what they are building, why it matters, what success looks like, and what tradeoffs must be made before work enters a sprint. Agate delivers highly configurable enterprise software for government and public-sector customers. The work is complex, the stakes are real, and ambiguity is constant. Our ideal candidates will be energized by that. They see disorder and instinctively create structure. They ask hard questions, force clarity, protect engineering focus, and keep delivery moving. This role sits inside Professional Services delivery, not abstract product strategy. You will be knee-deep in the work: customer implementations, platform configuration, backlog readiness, sprint planning, acceptance criteria, QA alignment, and delivery execution. The right person can operate in a fast-moving, imperfect environment where priorities shift, information is incomplete, and results still matter. You will not wait for perfect inputs. You will create clarity, drive decisions, and own outcomes.

Requirements

• 3+ years of experience as a Product Owner, Product Manager, or similar software delivery role.
• Proven experience owning, managing, and prioritizing product or delivery backlogs.
• Hands-on experience writing clear user stories, acceptance criteria, business requirements, and functional requirements.
• Experience supporting sprint planning, backlog refinement, sprint reviews, and Agile or iterative delivery processes.
• Strong ability to translate complex customer, business, and technical needs into development-ready work.
• Sound judgment when priorities conflict, capacity is limited, or decisions must be made with incomplete information.
• Strong collaboration skills with engineering, QA, configuration, delivery, customer-facing teams, and external stakeholders.
• A disciplined execution mindset: you follow through, close loops, escalate gaps early, and do not let unclear work drift downstream.

Nice To Haves

• Preferred experience in Professional Services, customer-specific software implementations, enterprise platform delivery, public sector/SLED, high-compliance environments, Agile Scrum, and Azure DevOps.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage a prioritized delivery backlog for customer implementation and platform configuration work.
• Translate customer and internal stakeholder needs into clear epics, user stories, acceptance criteria, and testable requirements.
• Ensure backlog items meet the Definition of Ready before they enter sprint planning.
• Drive clarity before development starts so engineering and QA are not forced to interpret intent mid-sprint.
• Partner with customers, delivery leaders, developers, QA analysts, configuration specialists, and internal stakeholders to resolve gaps and align priorities.
• Make prioritization calls when capacity is limited, requirements conflict, or tradeoffs are required.
• Support sprint planning, backlog refinement, sprint reviews, and Agile ceremonies with strong preparation and clear decision-making.
• Review completed work against acceptance criteria and confirm whether it meets the intended business need.
• Improve delivery predictability by reducing ambiguity, rework, stalled work, sprint churn, and preventable quality issues.

Benefits

• Agate Software you'll be part of a team that is dedicated to making a difference through cutting-edge technology and unwavering dedication to our impactful work.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed