Product Owner

Benchmark Analytics•Chicago, IL

9d•$100,000 - $160,000•Remote

About The Position

We are looking for a Product Owner who will take full ownership of a defined product surface within our platform — whether that is shared infrastructure, a new product being built from scratch, a specialized law enforcement workflow, or a data-driven analytics experience. You will work as a trio alongside a lead engineer and a junior engineer, using our AI-augmented software development lifecycle to deliver at a pace that traditionally required much larger teams. This is not a traditional product manager role: you own scope, priority, and delivery accountability in one seat, and you produce complete, engineering-ready specifications that your engineering pair can build from directly.

Requirements

5+ years of professional experience in product management, technical product management, engineering, design, or another role where you owned both the what and the how of a product or technical surface
Demonstrated ability to produce engineering-ready specifications — not just PRDs or user stories, but complete specifications including visual designs, user flows, data requirements, and acceptance criteria that engineering can build from directly
Fluency with AI-assisted workflows; you already use AI tools daily in your professional work and can demonstrate how they accelerate your output and raise the quality of your work
Strong written and verbal communication; you write clearly enough that engineers can build from your documents and customers or stakeholders can understand your roadmap
Experience working directly with engineering teams in an agile or continuous-delivery environment as a genuine partner, not just a requirements source
Strong analytical and quantitative skills — you think in terms of evidence, tradeoffs, and measurable outcomes; you use data to frame problems, evaluate options, and build the case for decisions
Ability to synthesize information from multiple sources — customer feedback, user research, internal expertise, data, competitive context — into clear product direction and actionable plans
Comfort with ambiguity and incomplete information; you make decisions with the data available rather than waiting for certainty
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience working in a software development environment
Intellectually curious self-starter who proactively identifies problems and opportunities without waiting to be asked

Nice To Haves

Experience with formal user research methods — interviews, usability testing, workflow observation, product analytics
Experience in law enforcement, public safety, or govtech domains
Experience with products that serve regulated industries or specialized professional audiences where domain credibility matters
Strong visual and interaction design skills — the ability to design clear, effective information displays and workflows, not just describe them
Technical fluency sufficient to participate in architecture conversations — you understand tradeoffs in data models, API design, and system integration
Experience taking a product from zero to one, not just iterating on an established product
Experience with cloud platforms (AWS preferred), modern web development stacks, and CI/CD practices
Experience working in an early- to growth-stage startup environment

Responsibilities

Own your product surface end to end — deciding what gets built, when it ships, and how it serves your users or consuming teams, with full accountability for scope, priority, and quality
Produce engineering-ready specifications for all features — complete user flows, visual designs, data requirements, edge cases, and acceptance criteria — using AI tools as a core part of your workflow; engineering builds from your specifications directly, without ambiguity about what the experience should be
Make priority decisions and defend them — customer success, sales, and leadership will bring you requests; you decide which enter the roadmap and which don’t, with clear reasoning and transparent communication
Maintain deep fluency with your customers — whether they are law enforcement practitioners, agency administrators, internal platform consumers, or data science teams — through direct engagement, user research, and ongoing relationship-building
Conduct or commission user research as needed — interviews, usability testing, workflow observation, product analytics review — and engage internal subject matter experts to ground product decisions in direct evidence rather than assumptions
Partner directly with your engineering pair as a trio; bring clarity on what to build and why while they bring clarity on how to build it and what is feasible
Own post-launch adoption and feedback — evangelize new capabilities, train internal teams, track feature adoption, gather user feedback, maintain documentation, and iterate based on real-world usage rather than handing off after launch
Support enterprise sales conversations with substantive product and domain knowledge when needed — not just feature lists, but the depth that builds customer confidence
Leverage AI tools and technologies across all aspects of your work — research, specification, design, analysis, prototyping, and documentation

Benefits

Competitive salary and benefits package
Unlimited Paid Time Off
Fully remote environment (must be based in the U.S. and willing to work in Central Time Zone)
Summer Half-Day Fridays
Freed Up Fridays during Spring, Fall, and Winter months
Medical, dental, and vision plan offerings
401(k)
Employer-paid Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, and Life Insurance
Other Voluntary Benefits include additional Life Insurance, Spouse Life Insurance, and Accident Insurance
The satisfaction that comes with being part of a solution that has real impact in the world
A diverse workforce and inclusive environment that embraces unique contributions and experiences
An empowered culture that encourages creativity and professional growth