Product Owner / Product Manager Data & AI (Contract) Houston, TX (4 Days Onsite, 1 Day Remote).

Duration: 12+ Months (Contract, potential to extend)

Location: Houston, Texas 4 days onsite, 1 day remote

Experience: 10+ Years (Product Ownership/Management, Data/AI Solutions, Oil & Gas preferred)

Start Date: ASAP

About the Role

We are seeking a Product Owner / Product Manager (Contract) to drive the strategy, delivery, and continuous improvement of our next-generation data and AI platform initiatives, with a strong focus on the Oil & Gas trading domain. This is a highly cross-functional and business-facing role, sitting at the intersection of technology, data, and business value delivery.

You will own the product vision and roadmap for advanced analytics, data cataloging, AI/ML-powered data discovery, and natural language search solutions. You will partner closely with data engineering, architecture, business stakeholders, and leadership to ensure product success and measurable impact.

Key Responsibilities

Define, prioritize, and manage the product roadmap for data engineering, analytics, and AI/ML-driven data cataloging initiatives.

Gather and refine requirements from business stakeholders (trading, operations, IT, etc.), with a focus on business outcomes and user value.

Develop and articulate product vision, strategy, and business cases for new features and enhancements particularly natural language search and AI/ML data solutions.

Create and maintain detailed user stories, acceptance criteria, and product documentation.

Collaborate with data engineering, BI, and AI/ML teams to ensure successful product delivery, adoption, and iteration.

Act as the primary point of contact between business and technical teams, translating business needs into actionable development work.

Lead product demos, backlog grooming, sprint planning, and regular stakeholder communications.

Measure and report on product success (adoption, user satisfaction, business impact).

Stay current on market trends, best practices, and emerging technologies in data, cloud, and AI/ML.

Champion user experience, change management, and continuous improvement.

Required Skills & Qualifications

10+ years of experience as a Product Owner, Product Manager, or similar role in enterprise data/analytics, cloud, or AI/ML-driven product environments.

Proven track record of delivering data, analytics, or AI/ML products (end-to-end ownership).

Experience working with technical teams building solutions on Azure, AWS, Databricks, ADF, Microsoft Fabric, and related modern data stacks.

Strong background in Oil & Gas trading, energy, or commodities sectors (essential).

Deep understanding of data cataloging, metadata management, and/or AI/ML-powered data discovery (including natural language search).

Ability to translate business needs and pain points into clear product requirements and priorities.

Strong facilitation, stakeholder management, and communication skills comfortable engaging business and technical leaders alike.

Experience with agile/scrum practices, backlog management, and product lifecycle management.

Analytical, outcome-driven mindset with experience tracking product KPIs, ROI, and business impact.

Bachelor s or Master s degree in Business, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.

Preferred/Bonus Skills

Hands-on exposure to AI/ML, NLP, or GenAI use cases for enterprise data products.

Certifications in Product Management (CSPO, SAFe PO/PM, etc.) or Agile methodologies.

Experience with product launches, go-to-market, or customer enablement.

Prior work with data mesh, data fabric, or federated data architectures.

Note: This is an immediate requirement. Candidates must be local or willing to relocate to Houston, TX. Sponsorship not available for this contract role.