Technical Product Owner

Meijer•Grand Rapids, MI

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

This position is responsible for implementing and enhancing vendor software and hardware package applications, providing business-function knowledge to projects and support, and working within the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). The role collaborates with vendors, business customers, IT colleagues, and other stakeholders to understand customer requirements and system interfaces, assess available technologies and vendor packages, and present solutions. The position evaluates AI-enabled and generative AI vendor packages and platform capabilities as part of solution assessments, proofs of concept, and roadmap decisions. It partners with the AI & Automation team to shape AI-driven features, including acceptance criteria addressing prompt quality, retrieval grounding, evaluation, and responsible AI considerations. The role also coordinates with ITS Security and Infrastructure to support secure application deployment, contributes to systems analysis and business-process documentation, and assists with production support and maintenance as needed. The position follows a hybrid schedule: Monday through Wednesday at Meijer’s corporate office in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Thursday through Friday remotely. It participates in team Agile ceremonies and may facilitate activities for Meijer ITS Agile teams as an acting Scrum Master.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent.
Any SAFe certification, such as SSM, SASM, SA, SPC, or SPMPO.
ITIL Foundations Certification.
Knowledge of project management techniques.
Strong business knowledge and hands-on experience managing vendor packages for the business.
Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to express complex technical concepts in business terms.
Analytical, problem-solving, and conceptual skills.
Knowledge of secure code design principles and practices.
Solid teamwork and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively on cross-functional project teams and foster team commitment to tasks.
Ability to adapt effectively to rapidly changing technology and apply it to business needs.
Ability to establish and maintain a high level of customer trust and confidence.
Ability to provide a high level of quality and productivity.

Nice To Haves

Experience in business application design, development, installation, and modification.
Cross-functional experience; this is highly desirable for project-management work.
Familiarity with business systems.
Experience as a team member on project teams in a cross-functional environment.
Experience on Agile teams.
Working understanding of generative AI concepts, including large language models, prompt engineering, Retrieval-Augmented Generation, and agentic workflows, and of the Microsoft Azure AI ecosystem, including Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Foundry, and Microsoft Copilot Studio.
Familiarity with responsible AI practices, evaluating AI/LLM vendor packages, and defining measurable success criteria for AI-enabled features.
Exposure to AI-assisted delivery practices such as spec-driven development, context/prompt engineering, and GitHub Copilot.
Working knowledge of the SAFe Agile framework.
Knowledge of Agile practices in a cross-functional environment.

Responsibilities

Coordinate, implement, and configure vendor software applications.
Develop interfaces to vendor software applications and assist with deployment of solutions.
Optimize packages to meet service-level agreement and functional requirements.
Provide high-level technical consulting support on vendor applications and interfaces.
Evaluate AI-enabled and generative AI vendor packages and platform capabilities during solution assessments, proofs of concept, and roadmap decisions.
Partner with the AI & Automation team to shape AI-driven features and define acceptance criteria covering prompt quality, retrieval grounding, evaluation, and responsible AI considerations.
Coordinate with ITS Security and Infrastructure teams to ensure secure deployment of vendor applications.
Assist product owners with systems analysis and the creation or updating of business-process documentation.
Work with the Product Owner and IT partners to develop acceptance criteria for project features and user stories and ensure the criteria are met.
Work within the SAFe Agile framework and use ITIL best practices.
Participate with IT members, customers, and other stakeholders in new product reviews, tests, and pilots.
Conduct feasibility studies and proofs of concept to evaluate solutions.
Assist with application production support and maintenance in accordance with ITIL, as needed.
Participate actively in team Agile ceremonies and, when applicable, facilitate activities for Agile teams as an acting Scrum Master.
Perform other duties as assigned or required.