Product Owner

What You’ll Do:

• You'll own the backlog for the GivingData scrum teams, keeping it clear, prioritized, and ready so engineers always know what's next and why it matters to the grantmakers who rely on the product.

• You'll lead story refinement and put AI to work in it, drafting and sharpening stories, synthesizing feedback, and building prototypes when seeing something will settle a conversation faster than describing it.

• You'll review and prioritize escalations, weighing client impact against planned work, and step in with clients directly when it matters so urgent issues get resolved without losing sight of the roadmap.

• You'll work shoulder to shoulder with engineering, joining scrum ceremonies as a day-to-day partner and keeping the team connected to the goals behind the work.

• You'll partner with the Director of Product and Product Design to define and prioritize the roadmap, giving teams clear vision into release management.

• You'll carry the voice of the client to our engineering teams, so what we build reflects how the giving community really works.

• You'll work with Product Education and CX to enable the company for new releases and changes, so clients hear about what's new from people who understand it.

As you settle in, there's room to take on more:

• You'll lead client discovery, running conversations and validating new concepts with clients before we build them.

• You'll follow up after release to see whether features are delivering for clients, looking at adoption, usage, and feedback, and feed what you learn into the next round of decisions.

• You'll build the business cases behind our bigger bets, making a clear, data-backed argument for what we build next.

• Other duties as assigned.

What You’ll Need:

• 4+ years of experience as a Product Owner (or equivalent product role) owning a backlog for agile teams.

• Experience working on B2B software products.

• Regular, hands-on use of AI tools in your product work, with concrete examples to share (for instance, drafting stories, synthesizing client feedback, or prototyping).

• Must be legally eligible to work in the United States.

Nice to have

• Experience in the philanthropic or nonprofit sector.

• Experience with Jira.

• Exposure to digital adoption tools.

What You’ll Bring to our Team Dynamics:

• Productive Collaboration: Builds trusting relationships with engineers, designers, and enablement partners, shares context early, and works through differences in priority with curiosity rather than defensiveness.

• Service Orientation: Listens closely in discovery sessions and escalations, understands that a client's outcome is Foundant's outcome, and brings what they learn back to the team so the right problems get solved.

• Business Insight: Connects backlog decisions to client outcomes and company goals, and uses adoption data, usage data, and client feedback to make a clear case for what to build next.

• Adaptive Achievement: Keeps the teams moving and quality high when escalations and shifting priorities land mid-sprint, and follows through on commitments.

• Active Learning: Stays curious about how AI can change the way product work gets done, tries new approaches, shares what works with the team, and builds deep fluency in GivingData and the giving community.

Why You’ll Love Working at Foundant:

• At the heart of everything we do is a commitment to innovation and making a positive impact. Whether you’re working on projects that empower not-for-profits, community foundations, or corporations, your contributions will help drive real-world change. 
• We offer competitive salary and benefits, including tuition, and lifestyle reimbursements, and bespoke mindfulness and fitness initiatives.  
• With our Flexible PTO policy, you’ll have the freedom to manage your time in a way that supports your personal well-being and professional success. 
• We’re committed to your professional and personal development.  With our merger, you'll have the chance to collaborate across teams, giving you exposure to diverse ideas, expertise, and projects that span multiple industries.  
• As part of a larger organization, you’ll have even more opportunities to grow your career. Whether it’s exploring new roles, leadership opportunities, or shifting to a different department, we support internal mobility to help you achieve your career goals 
• You’ll enjoy autonomy and responsibility, empowering you to approach your work creatively and independently, fostering innovation and independent thought. 
• Employee recognition is a core part of our culture. When you do a great job, we make sure everyone knows about it!  

Foundant is an equal opportunity employer, committed to building a diverse workforce that represents the communities we serve. We welcome and encourage applications from all qualified candidates, and will consider all applicants without regard to race, color, citizenship, religion, sex, marital/family status, sexual orientation, gender identity, Indigenous status, age, disability, or individuals who may require accommodation. 

Foundant is also committed to providing accommodations throughout the interview and employment process. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates participating in all aspects of the selection process. If you have accessibility requirements during the recruitment process and require accommodation, please contact hr@smartsimple.com.