Product Owner

Job Title: Product Owner
Location: Manchester
Day Rate: £469 Inside IR35
Job Type: Hybrid 2 days a week on site in Manchester

Role Overview

The Product Owner (PO) is responsible for maximizing the value delivered by Agile teams within a SAFe environment. Acting as the voice of the customer and business, the PO owns and prioritizes the team backlog, ensures alignment with Program Increment (PI) objectives, and works closely with stakeholders and Agile teams to deliver high-quality, value-driven increments. The role supports Agile ceremonies, enables transparency, manages dependencies and risks, and ensures delivery commitments are met within agreed scope, time, and quality.

Key Responsibilities

Product Ownership & Value Delivery

• Own and manage the Team Backlog, ensuring it is well-prioritized, refined, and aligned to Program and business objectives.

• Translate business and customer needs into clear user stories and acceptance criteria.

• Ensure delivered increments meet quality standards and business expectations.

• Own end-to-end delivery accountability for team commitments, ensuring scope, time, and quality objectives are achieved.

Agile & SAFe Enablement

• Actively participate in and support Agile ceremonies, including Sprint Planning, Reviews, Retrospectives, and Backlog Refinement.

• Support PI Planning and ART events, contributing to feature refinement, dependency identification, and commitment alignment.

• Ensure adherence to SAFe principles, Agile values, and Lean thinking across the team.

• Coach team members and stakeholders on Agile and SAFe practices to drive continuous improvement.

Stakeholder Collaboration & Alignment

• Collaborate closely with Product Management, Business Owners, System Architects, and other Product Owners to ensure alignment across the ART.

• Serve as the primary point of contact for stakeholders regarding scope, priorities, and delivery progress.

• Foster strong collaboration across teams, managing dependencies and shared deliverables effectively.

• Communicate progress, risks, and outcomes clearly and transparently.

• Risk, Dependency & Delivery Management
  
  

  • Proactively identify, manage, and escalate risks, impediments, and dependencies impacting delivery

Metrics & Tooling

• Maintain accurate backlog and delivery data in Agile tools such as Jira or Rally.

• Use Agile metrics (velocity, predictability, backlog health) to support planning and decision-making.

• Ensure transparency of progress and outcomes at team and ART levels.

Key Skills & Competencies

• Strong knowledge and practical experience with the SAFe framework and Agile delivery.

• Proven ability to coach and collaborate with cross-functional teams and stakeholders.

• Excellent facilitation, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

• Experience managing delivery risks, dependencies, and competing priorities.

• Proficiency in Agile tools such as Jira, Rally, and Confluence.

• Strong problem-solving, conflict resolution, and decision-making capabilities.

Experience & Qualifications

• Hands-on experience working within an Agile Release Train (ART).

• SAFe certification preferred (eg, SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager - POPM).

• Experience in large-scale or enterprise delivery environments is desirable.

Disclaimer
Notwithstanding any guidelines given to level of experience sought, we will consider candidates from outside this range if they can demonstrate the necessary competencies.
Square One is acting as both an employment agency and an employment business, and is an equal opportunities recruitment business. Square One embraces diversity and will treat everyone equally. Please see our website for our full diversity statement.