Senior Product Owner

Apollo Professional Solutions, Inc. is hiring a Senior Product Owner to lead backlog strategy, customer discovery, and delivery execution for a software development team using an Agile delivery model. This hybrid role in Newport News, VA includes regular onsite time with customers and stakeholders, helping you translate real operational needs into high-value product outcomes. The position also supports hands-on Agile maturity uplift across the portfolio and includes medical, vision, dental, and 401(k) options.

What you’ll do

• Own, maintain, and continuously refine the delivery team’s backlog so priorities reflect the highest value outcomes.
• Translate business and portfolio priorities into clear, actionable user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Ensure backlog items are sufficiently detailed, well understood, and ready before sprint work begins.
• Lead backlog refinement and actively participate in sprint planning, reviews/demos, and other Agile ceremonies.
• Serve as the team’s content authority by providing timely answers, direction, and decisions.
• Identify and manage upstream and downstream dependencies and drive alignment with adjacent product teams.
• Collaborate with architects to ensure backlog items adhere to enterprise architecture requirements.
• Conduct regular direct engagement with customers and end users to understand workflows, pain points, and operational needs.
• Spend meaningful onsite time at customer/worksites to observe how work is performed and identify improvement opportunities.
• Validate completed work with customers and gather feedback to confirm the solution meets the intended need.
• Use feedback and delivery results to refine future backlog items and continuously improve product outcomes.
• Run continuous discovery activities such as interviews, surveys, and workflow observation to uncover evolving customer needs.
• Build strong collaboration across developers, testers, architects, business stakeholders, and customers.
• Model strong SAFe/Agile Product Owner behaviors and uplift PO capability across the portfolio.
• Promote backlog discipline, transparency, effective customer engagement, and continuous improvement.
• Maintain an Agile team culture aligned with organizational values and modern delivery practices.
• Lead and empower team members without formal management authority.
• Identify risks, unclear requirements, or delivery issues early and work proactively to resolve them.
• Bring a data-driven approach to prioritization, tradeoffs, and decision-making.
• Influence stakeholders at all levels, including senior leaders.
• Deliver against specific and measurable OKRs and KPIs.
• Work effectively with ambiguous requirements and multi-disciplinary teams in a fast-paced, change-heavy environment.

What you bring

• Proven experience as a Product Owner in a software development environment, ideally at a senior level.
• SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager (POPM) certification or Certified Product Owner certification.
• Demonstrated success owning and refining Agile delivery team backlogs.
• Experience collaborating directly with customers and end users.
• Strong facilitation, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Comfort leading, directing, and empowering team members without formal management authority.
• Experience working with developers, testers, and architects.
• Large enterprise experience preferred.
• SAP experience desired but not required.
• Azure DevOps experience preferred.
• Must be a U.S. Person for purposes of Export Compliance.
• Agile product development: 5 years (Required)
• Software project management: 5 years (Required)
• Agile: 5 years (Required)
• Project management: 5 years (Required)
• Customer support: 1 year (Required)
• Newport News, VA 23606: Required
• Minimum experience: 1 year
• Education: Bachelor’s (Preferred)

Tools and technologies

• SAFe
• Agile
• SAP
• Azure DevOps

Contract details and compensation

Location: Hybrid remote in Newport News, VA 23606

Pay: $55.00 - $69.00 per hour

Contract type: Contract

Contractor benefits

• Medical
• Vision
• Dental
• 401(k)