Consultant – Product Owner – Portland or Remote

Background:

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.

MicroMentor’s free and easy to use online platform enables the world’s largest community of purpose-driven entrepreneurs and business mentors to create powerful connections, solve problems and build successful businesses together. We strive to overcome geographical limitations and deliver business resources at scale to underserved communities around the globe, in one-to-many mentoring forums and meaningful one-to-one relationships.

Project Description:

MicroMentor is looking for an experienced and self-directed Product Owner to lead client driven projects in getting the best possible value of the product through the development team’s work for MicroMentor’s international, industry-leading online B2B mentoring platform.

Objectives:

As the Product Owner, you need to understand the needs of the customers and communicate these requirements to their team, largely focusing on the development of our online mentoring platform to personalize user and client facing functionality requirements.

Consultant Activities:

• Serve as a product expert and the voice of the client
• Maintain a close relationship with the development team and the Product Manager
• Take the product manager’s plans and interpret them into actions that can be taken to realize the goals for the product and work with the development team to achieve those goals
• Own B2B product backlog decisions and create / coordinate epics and user stories for the design and development teams
• Explain product requirements through epics and user stories to make the backlog and its items transparent (we use Shortcut)

Consultant Deliverables:

New Product & Feature identification and prioritization

• Work with clients and focus groups to identify product enhancements and consolidate input
• Work with the revenue, support and development teams to identify and document user stories and requirements
• Managing and prioritizing a project’s backlog to maximize value and do feature prioritization to optimize the development process.
• Assist in product testing, analysis and diagnosis

Product Sprint Planning, Review & Documentation

• Document procedures, standards, best practices, configuration settings and sequences
• Lead the following meetings: Sprint Plannings, Daily Standups and Sprint Reviews

Minimum Qualification & requirements

• 5+ years experience in product development
• Bachelor’s degree in related discipline
• Excellent knowledge of user-centered design principles
• In-depth knowledge of agile process and principles
• Understanding of business value around feature/functions
• Outstanding communication, presentation, and leadership skills
• Sharp analytical and problem-solving skills
• Thrive and lead in a results-driven environment with data-driven approach
• Work with cross-functional teams to attain business goals
• Able to effectively manage conflicting stakeholder needs
• Able to collaborate and attend meetings during US Pacific Standard time

The Consultant will report to:

Product Manager

Timeframe / Schedule:

November 1, 2022- April 30, 2023

(between 10-16 days per month preferred)

The Consultant will work closely with:

MicroMentor Design, Developments and Revenue Teams

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.