About Strategic Data Systems

For more than three decades, Strategic Data Systems (SDS) has been a software consultancy specializing in strategy, technology, and business transformation for Fortune 100 companies, mid-sized firms, and startups. We empower our teams to address critical business challenges using cutting-edge technologies — and we recognize the contributions of every person who makes that possible.

Technical Product Owner / Analyst

📍 REMOTE (EST/CST) | Contract

About the Role

The Technical Product Owner/Analyst plays a key role in shaping and delivering features of a cloud hosting platform, with a strong emphasis on product analysis, delivery execution, governance, and internal customer experience.

This role is centered on facilitating collaboration across a Cloud Engineering squad and its internal customer teams, ensuring a shared understanding of goals, priorities, dependencies, and delivery outcomes. Acting as a key connector between stakeholders, engineering, and operations, the Technical Product Analyst may serve as a Product Owner proxy for the squad.

The ideal candidate excels at translating complex cloud capabilities into a well-structured, outcome-driven backlog, actively helping remove delivery impediments through facilitation and coordination. They leverage data-informed insights and visual storytelling to align the squad around direction and priorities, and to communicate progress to customers and stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

- Facilitate collaboration across internal customers, platform engineering, security, and operations to identify pain points, align priorities, and define platform enhancements

- Actively support the squad in identifying, escalating, and helping remove delivery blockers, coordinating with dependent teams as needed

- Elicit, analyze, and document requirements for cloud hosting capabilities, platform services, and operational enablement

- Draft clear, outcome-driven user stories, epics, and features with well-defined acceptance criteria

- Own and facilitate backlog management activities including refinement sessions, prioritization, dependency tracking, iteration readiness, and iteration reviews

- Partner with engineering and operations to produce technical and functional documentation that translates platform capabilities into clear guidance for internal customers, supporting adoption, onboarding, and self-service

- Support user acceptance testing (UAT) by clarifying requirements, validating outcomes against acceptance criteria, coordinating feedback, and supporting release readiness

- Leverage available delivery and platform data to analyze progress, risks, and trends, and use visual storytelling to align the squad around direction and priorities

- Continuously refine and communicate the product roadmap based on customer feedback, delivery capacity, architectural direction, and progress toward delivery commitments

- Create and maintain product artifacts that describe platform offerings, service boundaries, responsibilities, and dependencies

- Track work across delivery phases — discovery, design, build, and deployment — ensuring transparency and traceability

- Act as governance process lead for the squad, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards, delivery controls, and decision-making forums

- Ensure compliance with cloud security, risk, and regulatory requirements, particularly in regulated environments

- Support audit, risk review, and architecture review processes by providing backlog traceability, delivery artifacts, and supporting documentation

- Facilitate decision-making across stakeholders while managing scope, risk, and expectation alignment

- Promote consistent delivery practices, data-driven transparency, and continuous improvement

Required Skills & Experience

- 5+ years of experience in a Technical Product Analyst, Business Analyst, or similar role supporting cloud platforms, infrastructure, or technology-enabled products

- Proven experience supporting Product Owner or Product Owner proxy responsibilities in cloud platform or infrastructure domains

- Understanding of cloud services and hosting models including compute, networking, storage, identity, and security

- Hands-on experience with Agile delivery frameworks such as SAFe, Kanban, or Scrum

- Strong ability to write high-quality user stories, epics, and features with actionable acceptance criteria

- Experience managing backlogs using tools such as Jira, Digital.ai, or similar platforms

- Strong analytical and systems-thinking skills across complex technology ecosystems

- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to engage both technical and non-technical stakeholders

- Familiarity with cloud security, risk, and compliance concepts

Nice to Have

- Experience working in regulated or enterprise environments with formal change management processes (ServiceNow or equivalent ITSM tools)

- Understanding of cloud governance models including landing zones, account structures, and cost management practices

- Experience supporting cloud migration or platform modernization initiatives

- Exposure to AI-assisted technical documentation, product development, or analytics capabilities

What You'll Get

- Competitive base salary

- Medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage

- Optional life and disability insurance

- 401(k) with company match and optional profit sharing

- Paid vacation time

- Paid bench time

- Training allowance

- Referral bonus eligibility

Strategic Data Systems provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.