Job Description

Are you passionate about guiding the development of innovative software solutions and being the voice of the customer? Riva is seeking a dynamic and detail-oriented Technical Product Owner to join our team. As a critical member of our organization, you will be responsible for steering all stages of software development, from user story creation to sprint planning and product backlog prioritization.

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING

Reporting to the VP of Product, you will be at the core of Riva's growth, shaping products that align with strategic goals and delight customers. You'll lead cross-functional teams in discovery, planning, development, and launch, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, impactful solutions. As a product owner, you will take ownership of each stage of the development lifecycle, from creating and prioritizing the product backlog to collaborating with developers on user stories and acceptance criteria. You'll leverage data insights, feedback, and operational metrics to refine and optimize the product. In addition to managing technical and AI-driven projects, you'll champion ethical and regulatory compliance while fostering innovation. You'll serve as a key liaison between stakeholders, developers, and customers, ensuring goals are clear, vision is aligned with business objectives, and the team remains motivated by your passion and vision. By effectively communicating and building relationships across the organization, you will help establish a culture of excellence and customer focus.

WHO ARE YOU

You've played a pivotal role in creating compelling, innovative products that enhance lives by making them more efficient, enjoyable, or connected. As a product owner, you set a high standard for customer experience and exhibit strong customer empathy, a bias for action, and a knack for strategic execution. You excel at balancing long-term vision with short-term goals and are a skilled communicator, adept at securing stakeholder buy-in while providing clear direction for developers. Your curiosity drives you to dig deep into customer needs, while your expertise ensures you can synthesize insights into actionable, impactful product solutions. You thrive at the intersection of business, technology, and user experience, leveraging your ability to bridge these areas to deliver exceptional results.


More specifically your responsibilities include:

Product Vision and Strategy

Act as the voice of the customer, aligning product vision with business objectives and stakeholder needs. Develop and maintain product roadmaps, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and priorities.

Stakeholder Collaboration

Work closely with stakeholders to understand business needs, identify product opportunities, and prioritize features. Set expectations for the delivery of new capabilities, features, and functionalities. Effectively communicate product goals, updates, and timelines across cross-functional teams.

Backlog Management

Create, prioritize, and maintain the product backlog, ensuring it reflects current priorities and business value. Collaborate with stakeholders to define user stories and acceptance criteria. Regularly review and refine backlog items based on feedback, operational metrics, and evolving needs.

Product Development and Delivery

Guide all stages of software development, from discovery and sprint planning to launch. Work with development teams to create detailed acceptance criteria and definitions of "done." Participate in sprint reviews, ensuring product increments meet quality and business standards.

AI-Driven Product Expertise

Leverage foundational AI knowledge to guide the development of AI-driven features. Collaborate with technical teams to ensure ethical and compliant AI implementation. Understand and communicate the value of AI advancements to stakeholders.

Documentation and Knowledge Sharing

Create and maintain comprehensive documentation for product features, user stories, and release schedules. Publish technical documents to knowledge bases and relevant platforms for stakeholder and end-user access.

Quality Assurance

Collaborate with testing teams to develop test cases, feature tests, and regression tests. Work with support teams to identify, replicate, and resolve bugs, ensuring a high-quality user experience.

Data-Driven Decision Making

Analyze user feedback, operational metrics, and other data to identify and prioritize product improvements. Communicate insights and recommendations to stakeholders and development teams.

Process Optimization

Identify gaps or inefficiencies in product workflows and develop or enhance processes to address them. Champion continuous improvement within product and development teams.

Technical Collaboration

Serve as a bridge between business and technical teams, ensuring mutual understanding of goals and challenges. Understand and support technical requirements, including AI/ML lifecycle needs and deployment processes.

Leadership and Advocacy

Motivate teams with a clear vision and passion for the product. Act as an advocate for the product, building strong relationships across the organization.

Learning and Adaptation

Stay updated on industry trends, especially advancements in AI, to ensure the product remains competitive. Continuously improve knowledge of domain-specific applications and emerging technologies.

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE ROLE

Bachelor's degree or higher. Experience as an agile Product Owner/Manager. Experience with B2B SaaS products. Experience with AI/ML models and APIs. Experience with admin-level access to Outlook, Microsoft 365 apps and add-ins in the Microsoft ecosystem. Experience using systems like Figma to create clickable prototypes and basic working knowledge of HTML/CSS/Javascript. Product owner certifications (e.g. Certified Scrum Product Owner, SAFe Product Owner Certification) a plus. Ability to understand technical challenges and make educated trade-offs with your team. Demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical information in a condensed manner to various stakeholders verbally and in writing. Strong business mindset to analyze data points to assess an opportunity, make prioritization recommendations, and craft a well thought out strategy and execution plan. Can speak intelligently and build credibility with designers, cross functional leadership, and engineers while always striving to learn or understand their domain. A self-starter attitude with proven ability to define an idea or goal and drive to completion no matter the obstacle. Strong active listening, collaboration, and trust building skills.

CORE COMPETENCIES FOR SUCCESS

Integrity & Accountability:

Acting with honesty and responsibility, taking ownership of actions and decisions. Navigating organizational dynamics.

Collaboration:

Inspires and motivates others, embraces diverse perspectives, and works effectively in teams to achieve shared goals.

Business Accumen:

Understanding key drivers of company success and applying knowledge to achieve goals.

Design Thinking:

Using creativity, new technologies, and customer-centered approaches to solve complex problems.

Analytical Thinking & Decision Making:

Analyzing data and situations to make well-informed decisions.

Achievement Focus:

Demonstrating a results-oriented mindset to accomplish objectives.

Leadership, Strategic Vision & Planning:

Guides the organization with a clear and actionable vision, develops plans based on long-term goals, adapts to change effectively, and inspires alignment with organizational strategy through data-driven decision-making.

Operational Alignment & Coordination:

Ensures that operational activities are coordinated, efficient, and focused on achieving strategic objectives.

Innovation:

Drives creative solutions, encourages experimentation, and fosters an environment where new ideas can thrive.

MORE ABOUT RIVA

We are an Edmonton-based software development company with a global footprint. Our Relationship Engine creates seamless data flow between applications like email, calendar, contacts, and tasks and CRM - synchronizing data and eliminating the need for task switching, application toggling, and data entry duplication across platforms.


We offer a work culture that fosters diversity, equity, inclusion, and fun. Where curiosity is rewarded, and each day offers the chance to learn, grow, and contribute to the efforts of people you like, respect, and value.

WHAT WE BRING TO THE TABLE

Total compensation package including;


RRSP/IRA matching. Paid vacation starting with 3-weeks. Paid wellness time allowing for flexible discretionary allocation for mental health, personal benefits, and personal time. Paid time off to volunteer with charities of your choice. Extended health care benefits, dental and life insurance. Professional development and training allowance for career advancement.
Must hold a valid work permit or be a permanent resident or citizen of Canada.

Riva is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.