Technical Product Owner Application Framework (f/m/d)

Together with a cross-functional team, I will advance the Elia Group Application Framework (EGAF) product and provide valuable services for the application development activities within the Elia Group.

Why is this role interesting for me? Elia Group is at the forefront of the energy transition and therefore creating tailor-made software solutions for the security of supply and a digital energy transition. As we are transitioning towards a Cloud-Native company, we seek to optimize, rethink, and reinvent how we build applications at the functional layer, namely microservice, API first and loosely coupled bound domains and how we can improve the entire developer experience and productivity.

This is exactly where the EGAF product comes in and positions itself as the backbone of our future application landscape. EGAF will enable cloud-native applications to leverage modern frameworks and methodologies according to Elia Group IT standards and ensure scalability, resiliency, and agility. While doing so, the EGAF product will empower developers with self-service scaffolding and templates to ensure consistency and reusability across applications. In addition, EGAF will improve developer productivity with the help of its developer portal which will act as central source of for comprehensive documentation, tutorials, API catalogues and code samples, streamlining the development process for over 200 developers and helping to drive down developers' time to first commit.

As we are just getting started, the Technical Product Owner candidate will have a lot of room to shape the product from Day 1.

Roles and Responsibilities

Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with your Product Lead and key stakeholders to define the product vision, strategy, and roadmap for EGAF.
• Anticipate and understand customer needs, and technological evolvements to align the product direction accordingly.
• Elicit, analyze, and prioritize technical requirements from core users and stakeholders, including business teams, and enterprise architects to create features and the according release plan.
• Develop a deep understanding of developers' needs and workflows to enhance product usability and efficiency.
• Advocate for an excellent developer experience by understanding user needs and ensuring that the software products are intuitive, user-friendly, and aligned with your target audience.
• Own and maintain the product backlog, ensuring that it is well groomed, prioritized, and ready for development with detailed user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Continuously update and refine the backlog based on user feedback, changing business needs, and new developer experiences to build products that users love to use.
• Apply prioritization frameworks to manage your product backlog with data points, balancing short-term needs with long-term vision.
• Work closely with your cross-functional agile team to provide clear guidance and insights on the product vision, user stories, and acceptance criteria during the sprint planning and review meetings.
• Ensure timely delivery of high-quality software products that meet customer expectations.
• Communicate product updates, progress, and timelines effectively to stakeholders, including senior management and customers. Address inquiries and provide prompt resolution of issues.
• Identify potential risks and obstacles that may impact product development or delivery. Implement risk mitigation strategies and contingency plans to minimize any negative impact on the product.
• Monitor and analyze key product metrics and user feedback to identify opportunities for improvement and innovation. Use data-driven insights to make informed decisions about product enhancements.

Professional skills:

• A master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related technical field. If you show considerable experience in your field, the level of education remains flexible.
• At least 5 years of proven experience as a software developer or architect (ideally familiar with .NET, Python, Java and JS stacks) and very good knowledge about modern frameworks and architectures.
• At least 5 years of experience as a Product Owner or similar roles in managing SaaS / PaaS products.
• Proven experience or knowledge about internal developer portals, good understanding of platform engineering and strong technical background related to developer tools.
• Good understanding of agile methodologies and proven experience working with cross-functional agile teams.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to use data to drive decision-making and measure product success.
• Familiarity with the full software development life cycle (SDLC) and prioritization frameworks (e.g. RICE, Kano Model, MoSCoW. Cost of Delay).
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills to effectively engage with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Passion for software development and developer experiences and a strong customer-focused approach.

Communication skills:

• Able to communicate with all levels of the organization,
• Very good ability to break down complex technical and business concepts into understandable stories,
• Able to provide a positive and constructive feedback for improvement,
• Very good English skills are a must; knowledge of German, French and/or Dutch is an asset.

Flexikompass - so flexibel ist diese Stelle

• Arbeitszeit: 37 Wochenstunden (Vollzeit),
• Flexible Arbeitszeiten mit Langzeitkonto zur Unterstützung Ihrer Work-Life-Balance,
• 30 Tage Urlaub,
• Die Zahl der Gleittage ist nicht begrenzt,
• Keine Kernarbeitszeit,
• Mobiles Arbeiten (auch von zuhause) möglich.