Sr Product Owner (Hybrid Available) presso S&S Activewear

JOIN US AND "CREATE YOUR VISION" 

ABOUT US

S&S Activewear is a leading North American, tech-enabled specialty distributor of imprintable apparel, including t-shirts, fleece, athletic wear, headwear, workwear, scrubs and accessories. We pride ourselves on being the “critical link” that enables our 100+ brand partners such as Adidas, Columbia and Gildan to reach our hyper-fragmented base of customers, comprised of apparel decorators, eRetailers and promotional products distributors that embellish apparel items for diverse end consumer use cases (e.g., everyday wear, concerts, fitness attire, life events, team sports, etc.). At S&S, we differentiate in the market through a customer service focus, strategic product portfolio, world-class distribution infrastructure, a collaborative growth culture and a relentless focus on technology and innovation.  

Our success has compounded since the Company’s humble beginnings in 1988 as a regional t-shirt distributor to a leading, multi-billion-dollar value-added distribution platform that drives market penetration for our suppliers while enabling the growth, operations and fulfillment for a diverse range of customers across channels and business sizes. We strive to be the apparel distributor of choice while inspiring and fostering growth for customers, employees and suppliers through our core values of service, deep relationships, innovation, continuous improvement and accountability. 

ABOUT THE ROLE

S&S Activewear is seeking a motivated Product Owner to join our growing Software Engineering department and help implement technical solutions that give S&S Activewear a competitive advantage. These systems are the engine that drives the company and will continue the company's year-over-year growth.

As a Sr Product Owner, you will serve as the primary connection between business stakeholders and agile development teams bridging strategy and delivery execution across multiple product areas or over major product areas with high complexity. This includes helping to define, analyze, understand, and prioritize, strategic goals and supporting technology needs. While functioning as Sr. Product Owner on an agile scrum team, you will collaborate with both business partners and engineers to ensure product outcomes create measurable value for both customers and the business. Your work will focus on eCommerce platforms which cover business to business and business to consumer market segments.

SCHEDULE

Monday-Friday, Full-Time, Exempt 

Work Location: This position will report to the Director of Product and is a hybrid role located in Bolingbrook, Illinois.

Hybrid Location- 220 Remington Blvd Bolingbrook, IL  

WHAT YOU WILL DO     

• Serve as the voice of customer and the business within your agile development team, keeping development team informed of customers and business goals.
• Support product leaders and stakeholders in creation of product road maps while keeping development team informed of customer and business goals.
• Manage and prioritize the product backlog to ensure alignment with business priorities.
• Develop user stories and acceptance criteria for development teams and assist in resolution of requirements questions during development process.
• Participate and lead in agile ceremonies including grooming, planning, reviews and daily standups.
• Conduct user acceptance testing and facilitate stakeholder acceptance and feedback.
• Coordinate with other Product Owners and Software Engineering Managers to synchronize cross-functional dependencies.
• Support releases with development team through demos and stakeholder communications.
• Work with product leaders to translate strategic goals and objectives into product roadmaps. 
• Provide strategic clarity, while maintaining quality in execution throughout the build and delivery processes.
• Consistently demonstrate high level of product owner best practices and mentor other Product Owners.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

• 5+ years of experience working as product owner or similar role in product management.
• 3+ years of experience working with software development teams in agile environment.
• Strong understanding of agile methodologies, particularly scrum.
• Strong critical thinking skills, with ability to approach problems analytically, and evidence based when balancing customer needs with technical feasibility. 
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, including written and verbal communication skills, comfortable working with senior leadership.
• Ability to balance multiple competing priorities and requests, and work across multiple product areas.
• Expertise in problem framing, defining assumptions, and defining impact based on data and insights.
• Deep understanding of SDLC best practices and how they support product development.

Preferred skills 

• eCommerce and end to end supply chain background with knowledge of software development is a plus.
• Experience with product discovery process, including continuous discovery and delivery methods.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or listen. 

Working Environment

Currently, S&S has a remote work policy which provides for employees to be in the office Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and work from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is subject to change based on business need. Position location: Bolingbrook, IL.

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

S&S Activewear welcomes people of all backgrounds and experiences and are committed to creating a diverse culture and supporting human growth. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and are committed to providing equal opportunity for all employees and applicants. We conduct business without regard to sex, race, creed, color, religion, marital status, national origin, citizenship status, age, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability, military status, status as a veteran, or any other protected characteristic. Our policy is to recruit, hire, train, promote, assign, transfer, and terminate employees based on their own ability, achievement, experience and conduct and other legitimate business reasons. S&S participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm you are authorized to work in the U.S.  This job offer is contingent upon the completion of a satisfactory background check.