Technical Product Owner

What We’re About at CentralSquare Technologies

At CentralSquare, we don’t just build software - we power public servants and uplift communities with Hero-Grade Technology. Every line of code, every feature we deliver helps heroes across North America protect, serve, and save lives. When you join us, you become part of a mission-driven team creating technology that makes communities safer and stronger.

Your Growth Matters. We believe heroes deserve opportunities to rise. That’s why we invest in your career with mentorship, learning programs, and clear paths for advancement. If you’re motivated, there’s no limit to how far you can go.

Your Commitment Deserves Reward. We offer competitive compensation and a benefits package designed to support your life inside and outside of work—tuition reimbursement, parental leave, paid volunteer hours, and unlimited PTO. Plus, our flexible work environment gives you the freedom to balance your heroic work with personal well-being, whether you’re in the office or remote.

Join us and help build the tools that power real-life heroes. Together, we make a difference.

The Opportunity for a Technical Product Owner

We are seeking an AI-proficient Technical Product Owner to act as the critical bridge between product strategy and engineering delivery. This role focuses on backlog ownership, delivery excellence, and sprint execution—translating product vision from Product Managers into well-defined, actionable, and testable work for development teams. The ideal candidate will generate comprehensive functional specifications to drive spec-driven development using AI-powered SDLC practices, leveraging AI tools to accelerate user story creation, test case generation, and documentation while maintaining accountability for quality, acceptance criteria, and successful sprint outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

Delivery Excellence & Backlog Ownership

• Own and prioritize the team backlog, ensuring work is clearly defined, properly prioritized, and ready for execution.
• Write clear user stories with well-defined acceptance criteria that translate product intent into actionable work.
• Maintain a healthy, prioritized, and well-groomed backlog with 2-3 sprints of ready work at all times.
• Lead backlog refinement sessions to break down features into deliverable increments.
• Ensure work aligns to broader product priorities and strategic objectives set by Product Management.

Sprint Execution & Team Collaboration

• Lead sprint planning sessions and establish clear sprint commitments with the development team.
• Represent the product in daily standups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
• Act as the day-to-day product representative for delivery teams, removing ambiguity and clarifying requirements.
• Collaborate closely with Engineering and QA teams to ensure shared understanding of work and acceptance criteria.
• Enable teams to deliver predictably each sprint by maintaining clarity and removing blockers.

Quality & Acceptance Management

• Coordinate UAT (User Acceptance Testing) with stakeholders and customers.
• Triage defects and coordinate with Support teams on production issues related to recent releases.
• Ensure delivered work meets acceptance criteria and satisfies user needs before release.
• Own quality at release time—accountable for ensuring features work as intended.
• Provide acceptance sign-offs and validate UAT outcomes before production deployment.

Documentation & Enablement

• Create wireframes, workflows, and functional specifications to guide development.
• Develop internal enablement materials and walkthrough documentation for new features.
• Generate user-facing documentation and release notes in collaboration with technical writers.
• Support Sales and Customer Success teams with technical demonstrations and feature explanations.

AI-Powered Efficiency & Acceleration

• Translate product vision into precise, testable specifications using AI assistance that eliminate ambiguity and enable parallel development workflows.
• Leverage AI throughout the specification lifecycle—from requirements gathering and edge case identification to test scenario generation, user stories, and specification refinement.
• Accelerate wireframe creation and user flow documentation using AI-assisted design tools.
• Analyze support tickets for defect trends and backlog prioritization insights with AI assistance.
• Generate first-pass documentation and release notes using AI, then refine for accuracy.
• Summarize backlog health and sprint readiness metrics for leadership updates.

Operational Partnership

• Partner with Product Managers to understand product strategy and translate it into executable work.
• Collaborate with Engineering leadership on delivery tradeoffs, technical feasibility, and sequencing.
• Communicate delivery status, risks, and blockers to stakeholders proactively.
• Facilitate alignment across Engineering, QA, Support, and Product Management teams.

What You'll Bring to CentralSquare Technologies

Requirements

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business, or related field.
• 3-5 years of experience as a Product Owner, Business Analyst, or similar role in software development.
• Strong background working with Agile/Scrum development teams.
• Experience with B2B SaaS or enterprise software strongly preferred; government sector experience a plus.
• Experience with Spec-Driven Development.

Technical Skills & Competencies

• Proficiency with AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, or similar) for user story creation, test case generation, and documentation.
• Expert-level experience with backlog management tools (Jira, Azure DevOps, or similar).
• Strong technical fluency to understand system architecture, APIs, databases, and integration patterns.
• Experience writing clear, testable acceptance criteria and defining edge cases.
• Ability to create wireframes, user flows, and functional specifications.
• Understanding of software testing methodologies and QA processes.

Key skills/competency

• Product Ownership
• Agile/Scrum
• AI Tools
• Spec-Driven Development
• Backlog Management
• User Stories
• Acceptance Criteria
• SDLC Practices
• Wireframing
• Quality Assurance