IT Product Owner - Corporate Solutions at Costco in Issaquah, WA

Costco IT is responsible for the technical future of Costco Wholesale, the third largest retailer in the world with wholesale operations in fourteen countries. Despite our size and explosive international expansion, we continue to provide a family, employee centric atmosphere in which our employees thrive and succeed.

This is an environment unlike anything in the high-tech world and the secret of Costco’s success is its culture. The value Costco puts on its employees is well documented in articles from a variety of publishers including Bloomberg and Forbes. Our employees and our members come FIRST. Costco is well known for its generosity and community service and has won many awards for its philanthropy. The company joins with its employees to take an active role in volunteering by sponsoring many opportunities to help others.

Come join the Costco Wholesale IT family. Costco IT is a dynamic, fast-paced environment, working through exciting transformation efforts. We are building the next generation retail environment where you will be surrounded by dedicated and highly professional employees.

Product Owners are responsible for defining requirements, assisting with the overall product roadmap/vision, and driving value at the scrum team level. Product Owners work closely with teams and are the “voice of the customer”, ensuring the needs of the end-user are incorporated into the product from design to deployment. Product Owners are responsible for the authoring of functional user stories which are used to support the day to day development of new features and capabilities.

The Corporate Admin Solutions & Costco Legal Solutions Product Owner is responsible for translating product strategy and solving business challenges into a detailed, prioritized backlog of user stories across legacy and current Financial, Real Estate and Legal applications as part of an ongoing effort to modernize business critical software as well as new cloud-based solutions to replace inadequate or deprecated systems. They will collaborate with an Agile delivery team to implement, measure, and iterate on improvements. In this role, the Product Owner manages the execution of value stream product features and the delivery roadmap for projects aligned with KPIs that meet the objectives of both Costco’s IT Division and key business stakeholders. This role supports business solutions for the U.S., Canada, and International Regions.

If you want to be a part of one of the worldwide BEST companies “to work for”, simply apply and let your career be reimagined.

ROLE

● Defines and communicates the minimum viable product (MVP) for a given application/product and the supporting release plans.

● Collaborates with Product Managers and Technology Stakeholders (e.g., Systems Architects) to define new and or enhanced product requirements and functionality.

● Collaborates with Product Managers to support the prioritization of feature enablers defined by Architects within the product roadmap.

● Works continuously/daily with teams to provide answers, feedback, and direction on work items, enablers, user stories, etc.

● Consults Product Managers for guidance and clarity on the product vision, roadmap, requirements, etc.

● Collaborates with Scrum Masters to ensure the work managed by teams achieves the highest value relative to

needs/priority of the business.

● Collaborates with Scrum Masters and teams to define the sprint plan based on the priority outlined within the overall product vision and roadmap.

● Prioritizes the sprint backlog (as part of the sprint planning ceremony) based on the sequencing/ranking of features defined in the product roadmap.

● Refines product requirements based on the input obtained through sprint showcases/demos.

● Creates and authors user stories with detailed acceptance criteria written in the customers’ voice.

● Collaborates with the team to prepare the estimates for the user stories within the product backlog.

● Conducts the formal review and acceptance of user stories implemented by a team within a sprint.

● Drives the execution of user acceptance testing (UAT) activities with support from business and technology team members.

● Supports and participates in program level ceremonies including product increment (PI) planning sessions with input and consultation from the Product Manager.

● Performs functional reviews as part of sprint demos and showcases along with the Product Manager and Delivery Manager.

● Supports business strategy by forming a backlog of features and user stories for use by the delivery team.

● Articulates requirements for each feature/user story with detailed acceptance criteria.

● Uses data and insights from multiple sources that benefits the business and our members.

● Works with stakeholders to identify solutions that support their business requirements.

● Works collaboratively and uses best practices with the Delivery team to support backlog refinement, sprint planning, and long-term release planning.

● Monitors and improves product health.

● Ensures completed stories meet acceptance criteria by reviewing test plans. Prioritizes and collaborates in resolution of issues and defects.

● Seeks and improves processes across the entire Product and Delivery team.

● Communicates with team members, stakeholders, and all levels of management.

REQUIRED

● 3+ years’ experience as a Product Owner.

● Strong understanding of product lifecycle management and Agile methodologies (Scrum, SAFe, or Kanban) as well as traditional Waterfall development approaches.

● Extensive experience in defining, organizing, and prioritizing a product backlog effectively.

● Strong expertise in creating detailed user stories, acceptance criteria, and product roadmaps.

● Ability to understand customer needs and translate them into product requirements.

● Proficiency in conducting market research, gathering user feedback, and analyzing customer data.

● Basic understanding of APIs, databases, and system architecture to communicate with Developers.

● Strong facilitation skills for leading workshops, sprint reviews, and cross-functional meetings.

● Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to negotiate and engage effectively with individuals at all organizational levels.

● Proven ability to communicate clearly and confidently, both verbally and in writing.

● Proven ability to collaborate with Developers, Functional Analysts and other Business stakeholders.

● Ability to analyze complex problems, identify root causes, and propose effective solutions.

● Strong decision-making skills in prioritizing competing demands while maintaining alignment with business goals.

● Experience in leading and motivating cross-functional teams without direct authority.

● Ability to build consensus and align stakeholders with the product vision.

● Highly capable of working independently while managing multiple projects and priorities simultaneously.

● Exhibits a strong work ethic, keen attention to detail, and exceptional time management skills.

● Proficiency in defining KPIs and using analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Power BI, etc.) to track product performance.

● Experience in leveraging data-driven insights for decision-making.

● Certifications like Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager, or Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO).

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