Product Owner (Hybrid) - 26648

Job Description

Enlighten is seeking an experienced and mission-focused Senior Product Owner to lead the vision, development, and success of our next-generation Data Lakehouse platform. In this role, you will be the central figure driving a product designed to empower Department of War (DoW) cyber operators with unparalleled data access and analytical capabilities. You will immerse yourself in our customers' environment, translating their complex operational challenges into a strategic product roadmap and a prioritized backlog for our engineering teams. Your ultimate goal is to deliver products that provide a decisive information advantage for our nation's cyber defenders. Work is performed in a hybrid environment with some onsite work 1-2 days a week in Columbia, MD as well as travel up to 25% to support customers CONUS and OCONUS as necessary. 

#LI-KB2  #Mid-Senior Level

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Own the Product Vision: Define, own, and evangelize the product vision and roadmap, ensuring alignment with both customer mission needs and our company's strategic goals.
• Drive the Backlog: Develop, maintain, and prioritize the product backlog with detailed user stories, epics, and clear acceptance criteria. Your work will provide the engineering team with the clarity needed to build the right solution.
• Engage the User: Act as the primary interface with DoD cyber stakeholders. Conduct in-depth discovery to deeply understand the workflows, data challenges, and desired outcomes of cyber analysts, threat hunters, and mission commanders.
• Engage Product Owners (POs): Conduct regular engagements with other POs within the company Customer Experience Group (CEG). Gather and assess insights from other POs to correlate customer feedback on our products to help guide new feature development.
• Translate Mission to Code: Convert high-level mission requirements into actionable, technical product requirements. You will be comfortable discussing data ingestion patterns, query optimization, analytics integrations, and API specifications with the development team.
• Validate software: Thoroughly validate software changes against user stories, design documents, and acceptance criteria defined by POs. Ensure all developed features meet functional and non-functional requirements.
• Communicate Value: Articulate the platform's technical capabilities and their direct impact on mission outcomes to diverse audiences, from hands-on operators to senior military leadership.
• Support Go-to-Market Strategy: Collaborate with business development and marketing teams to shape product messaging, support proposals, and develop compelling demonstrations that resonate with the unique culture and requirements of the DoD.
• Measure Success: Define and analyze key metrics to measure product performance, user adoption, and mission impact, using the insights to guide future product iterations.
• Additional duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Security Clearance: A current Secret level U.S. Government security clearance is highly desired, but not required to start. Will need to be able to obtain a Secret clearance; U.S. citizenship required. 
• 9+ years in DoD cyber, agile development, and/or big data with a B.A. in Business, a technical field, or related; 7 years relevant experience with Masters in related field; or High School Diploma or equivalent and 13 years relevant experience.
• 5+ years of experience in a Product Owner, Product Manager, or Technical Program Manager role within an Agile software development environment.
• Demonstrated understanding of modern data architectures, including concepts like data lakes, data warehousing, and big data technologies.
• Professional experience within the cybersecurity domain (e.g., Security Operations Center (SOC), Cyber Threat Intelligence, Network Defense, Incident Response).
• Proven ability to work effectively with DoD or other Federal Government customers, with an understanding of their operational environment and procurement processes.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with a talent for making complex technical subjects accessible to varied audiences.
• Excellent organizational and attention to detail skills.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Ability and willingness to travel up to 25%, sometimes on short notice CONUS and OCONUS.
• Ability to work on customer site 1-2 days a week in Columbia, MD. Flexibility is essential to adapt to schedule changes as needed.

Preferred Requirements

• DoD 8140 / 8570 compliance certifications may be required in this position as directed by the customer.Hands-on experience with cloud-native data platforms such as
• Databricks, Snowflake, or AWS/Azure data services.
• Experience in a customer-facing technical role (e.g., Sales Engineer, Solutions Architect) within the GovCon IT space.
• A strong understanding of the data lifecycle within a typical cyber security context.