Technical Product Owner
About The Position
The Technical Product Owner at Pennymac is embedded within an Agile development team, serving as the definitive authority on backlog prioritization and acceptance criteria. This role maintains technical proficiency across backend services, APIs, and user-facing features to ensure the team consistently delivers maximum value to end-users, developer consumers, and the business. The Technical Product Owner will: Own and prioritize the team's product backlog (UI features, API enhancements, infrastructure work, technical debt) balancing feature velocity, platform stability, scalability, and security Translate strategic initiatives into actionable user stories with testable acceptance criteria for UI and backend tasks Serve as sole authority for defining "done" criteria and accepting completed work Lead Agile ceremonies including backlog refinement and sprint planning, articulating the "why" behind priorities Collaborate with technical leads to manage API and service lifecycles including versioning, deprecation, and consumer communication Champion user experience for both end-users and developer consumers Partner with Product Managers to align team execution with broader product strategy Coordinate with UX designers and API consumers to manage dependencies and expectations Identify and mitigate impediments threatening sprint or release commitments Maintain a pipeline of refined, ready stories at least two sprints ahead Research industry patterns and emerging technologies relevant to the team's domain Stay current with Agile best practices and API design standards Demonstrate behaviors aligned with Pennymac's culture of excellence and collaboration
Requirements
- 5+ years as a Product Owner in Agile/Scrum environments with proven success managing backlogs and shipping products
- Strong technical foundation in software architecture, backend services, microservices, and RESTful API design
- Prior hands-on engineering experience (minimum 1-2 years) enabling credible technical discussions with senior engineers
- Proven experience managing dual-focus products serving both end-users and developer-consumers
- Expertise writing user stories that capture functional and non-functional requirements (performance, scalability, reliability)
- Demonstrated ability making complex prioritization decisions and articulating rationale to stakeholders
- Ability to translate between technical and business domains with engineers, designers, and executives
- Working knowledge of SQL, data modeling, and data-driven decision making
- Experience in system design discussions including data models, service boundaries, and integration patterns
- Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) or Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO)
Nice To Haves
- Experience in FinTech, mortgage lending, banking, or regulated financial services
- Familiarity with OpenAPI/Swagger and API documentation standards
- Experience with cloud-native architectures (AWS, Azure, GCP)
- Understanding of mortgage industry systems and regulatory requirements
- Background with platform teams building services for internal developer consumption
- Experience with observability tools, SLA/SLO definition, and service reliability
- Knowledge of security and compliance in financial services
- Exposure to event-driven architectures or message queuing systems
- Passion for developer experience and building products developers love
Responsibilities
- Own and prioritize the team's product backlog (UI features, API enhancements, infrastructure work, technical debt) balancing feature velocity, platform stability, scalability, and security
- Translate strategic initiatives into actionable user stories with testable acceptance criteria for UI and backend tasks
- Serve as sole authority for defining "done" criteria and accepting completed work
- Lead Agile ceremonies including backlog refinement and sprint planning, articulating the "why" behind priorities
- Collaborate with technical leads to manage API and service lifecycles including versioning, deprecation, and consumer communication
- Champion user experience for both end-users and developer consumers
- Partner with Product Managers to align team execution with broader product strategy
- Coordinate with UX designers and API consumers to manage dependencies and expectations
- Identify and mitigate impediments threatening sprint or release commitments
- Maintain a pipeline of refined, ready stories at least two sprints ahead
- Research industry patterns and emerging technologies relevant to the team's domain
- Stay current with Agile best practices and API design standards
- Demonstrate behaviors aligned with Pennymac's culture of excellence and collaboration
Benefits
- Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision
- Paid Time Off Programs including vacation, holidays, illness, and parental leave
- Wellness Programs, Employee Recognition Programs, and onsite gyms and cafe style dining (select locations)
- Retirement benefits, life insurance, 401k match, and tuition reimbursement
- Philanthropy Programs including matching gifts, volunteer grants, charitable grants and corporate sponsorships
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Education Level
No Education Listed
Number of Employees
5,001-10,000 employees
