Associate Product Owner

Lee Enterprises is seeking a motivated and detail-oriented Associate Product Owner to join our team and help drive the delivery of high-impact solutions. The Associate Product Owner will serve as the primary liaison between stakeholders and the development team, ensuring the product backlog is well-defined, prioritized, and aligned with business objectives. You'll play a critical role in translating requirements into actionable user stories and ensuring the team delivers maximum value in each sprint.

Key Responsibilities:

• Support the management and prioritization of the product backlog under the guidance of senior Product Owners and business leaders.
• Assist in gathering and documenting business requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria.
• Partner with stakeholders to understand business needs and translate them into actionable work items.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies including sprint planning, daily standups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
• Collaborate with development teams to clarify requirements and answer questions during sprint execution.
• Help maintain backlog health and ensure work items are sufficiently defined before development begins.
• Track progress, identify risks or blockers, and escalate issues as appropriate.
• Assist with user acceptance testing (UAT) and validation of completed functionality.
• Support product documentation and communication efforts using Jira, Confluence, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Learn and apply Agile and Product Management best practices.

Qualifications:

• 0-3 years of experience in Product Management, Business Analysis, Project Coordination, Software Development, or a related field.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related discipline preferred.
• Basic understanding of Agile/Scrum methodologies.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to work collaboratively with technical and non-technical teams.
• Familiarity with Jira, Confluence, Microsoft Office, or similar tools preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to learn quickly and adapt in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Traits:

• Curious and eager to learn.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Customer-focused mindset.
• Self-motivated with a willingness to take ownership of assigned work.
• Comfortable asking questions and seeking clarification when needed.

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