We have a new Technical Product Owner opening supporting two engineering teams at Caterpillar. This person will own and prioritize the product backlog, work closely with developers and stakeholders, and lead Agile/Scrum activities including sprint planning, grooming, retrospectives, and demos.
local to Chicago or Peoria, the interview will be in person
Key Requirements:
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree and 8–10 years of experience
- Technical Product Owner experience with strong Agile/Scrum and backlog management
- Strong software development knowledge including Java 17+, REST APIs, databases, and AWS/cloud-native development
- Experience with Azure DevOps, JIRA, Rally, VSTS, Mingle, or similar tools
- Strong communication, decision-making, and ability to manage multiple technical projects
- GenAI experience with GitHub Copilot or Microsoft 365 Copilot is a plus
Location: Peoria preferred or Chicago | Hybrid, 2 days/week onsite
Travel: Up to 25% between Peoria and Chicago
Let me know if you have anyone who could be a fit!
Company Name:
Location:
Rate:
Duration:
Title:
Job Description
The Technical Product Owner works intimately with the Scrum Team with the primary task of creating and managing the Product Backlog and to ensure everyone knows the priorities and assisting the scrum team to meet the objectives of each sprint
Story Behind the Need – Business Group & Key Projects
• Position’s Contributions to Work Group
• Surrounding team & key projects
• Purpose of this team
• Reason for the request Position’s Contributions to Work Group:
- The Technical Product Owner works intimately with the Scrum Team with the primary task of creating and managing the Product Backlog and to ensure everyone knows the priorities and assisting the scrum team to meet the objectives of each sprint
Reason/motivation for request:
- Backfill
Candidate Value Proposition
• Why Caterpillar?
• For this role within your business group – what stands out about this opportunity (ex – exposure, skill development, etc)? Why Caterpillar? “Whether it be ground-breaking products, best in class solutions or a lifelong career, you can build what matters to you at Caterpillar. With 150 locations in countries around the world, what you create at Caterpillar travels and helps people around the world. You can collaborate with the best minds in the industry, complete meaningful work and continuously grow and develop through our various opportunities. Here, you can do the work that matters.”
Typical Day or Week in the Role
• Typical task breakdown and rhythm
• Interaction level with team
• Team Structure
• Work environment description Typical task breakdown:
• Responsible for maximizing the value of the product and the work of the
Development Team
• Responsible for acting as Product Owner for larger, more complex projects with high value to the organization.
• Responsible for creating, maintaining and prioritizing the Product Backlog according to business value for the life of the project
• Communicate Product Backlog priorities to the team.
• Act as the key decision-maker regarding what features the product will have.
• Responsible for the vision of what is to be built, and conveying that vision to the team.
• Collaborate with Lead Engineers on decomposition of epics and features into user stories that are small enough, or granular enough, to be achieved in a single sprint.
• Negotiate business requirements and their release dates with Product and development teams.
• Responsible for conveying the vision and goals at the beginning of every sprint.
• Responsible for defect management and prioritization.
• Work closely with key stakeholders throughout the organization.
• Responsible for making decisions on release dates and content.
• Represent the customer, interfacing and engaging with the customer.
• Leading the Daily Scrum.
• Lead the sprint planning, backlog grooming, retrospectives and sprint demos.
• Inspect the product progress at the end of every Sprint and accept or reject the work that has been done by the Development Team.
• Act as the voice of the team, communicating status externally.
• Be a good role model of Scrum values; understand the framework and the roles of each team member.
• Be a champion for the agile community and help to further the community within the organization.
Interaction with team:
- Team consists of 2 engineering teams, each team roughly 7-10 developers.
- Supporting multiple services
Work environment:
- 2x days in office
Candidate Requirements
• Years of experience required
• Degrees or certifications required
• Top 3 Skills
• Disqualifiers/Overqualifications
• Performance indicators Education & Experience Required:
- Bachelor’s and or Master’s degree required
- 8-10 years’ experience in this capacity
Required Technical Skills
(Required)
• Business Analysis: Knowledge of business analysis and the set of tasks, techniques and tools required to identify business needs; ability to recommend solutions that deliver value to stakeholders.
• Decision Making and Critical Thinking: Knowledge of the decision-making process and associated tools and techniques; ability to accurately analyze situations and reach productive decisions based on informed judgment.
• Effective Communications: Understanding of effective communication concepts, tools and techniques; ability to effectively transmit, receive, and accurately interpret ideas, information, and needs through the application of appropriate communication behaviors.
• Software Engineering: Knowledge of software engineering; ability to deliver new or enhanced fee-based software products.
• Software Product Business Knowledge: Knowledge of and experience with the business aspects and operation of a software product; ability to manage install base, current uses, future plans, and product vision.
Consideration For Top Candidates:
• Experience as a technical product owner
• Previous experience working with or leading a technical team while simultaneously managing multiple projects.
• Must have a strong understanding and proven experience in software development, including Java 17 or newer, RESTful APIs, databases, and AWS cloud development, with a focus on designing and developing cloud-native software solutions at scale.
• Experience managing product backlogs using Agile software tools such as Azure DevOps, JIRA, Mingle, VSTS, Team Services, Rally.
• Experience working with onshore/offshore team model.
• Experience using GenAI tools like GitHub Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, etc.
Disqualifiers/Red Flags/Overqualifications:
- Consistent job hopping/ choppy tenure
- If candidate is not local but open to relocation on their dime and being there in office day 1, please make that clear on the resume.
