The Product Owner for Restaurant Technology role will be a key member of the scrum team, responsible for managing, prioritizing and grooming a product backlog of work to support the in restaurant technology initiatives of both of our brands (Applebee's and IHOP).
The Product Owner must create user stories and define acceptance criteria that are in alignment with the needs of the business and the vision of the Product Manager. The individual will need to work closely with a scrum team comprised of digital engineers, QA and augmented resources from the vendor to prioritize work within a sprint and assure that sprint deliverables are completed according to defined acceptance criteria.
The role will require continuous alignment with the Product Manager and collaboration with business stakeholders across the organization and numerous vendors to make sure the team is always focused on delivering the highest business value work. Having a deep understanding of Front of House (POS, KDS, payment platforms) and Back of House (reporting, inventory management, labor management) technology products and how new features get rolled out is critical.
Responsibilities:
Partner with the Product Manager for Restaurant Technology to prioritize major epics/features and break down these epics/features into smaller backlog items that can be delivered during 2-week sprints.
Participate in sprint planning and responsible for prioritizing the product backlog, clarifying user stories and acceptance criteria, and using collaboration tools (e.g. Jira, Confluence, and Smartsheets) to facilitate work in progress (WIP).
Write clear and detailed user stories and acceptance criteria that accurately reflects product and business requirements, and that provide the scrum team clarity on what needs to be delivered.
Persistent review and updating of the product backlog, making sure a recurring cadence is followed so the backlog is always fully groomed, reviewed with the business, and a pipeline of work is always available for the scrum team to work on.
Create documentation when required that articulates key product deliverables and features (e.g. product releases notes/briefs).
Collaborate closely with other Product Owners to assure a common approach to backlog development is hired and that any interdependencies are properly understood.
Present and articulate the work that has been completed in a sprint to an audience of business stakeholders during sprint reviews or host sessions to review requirements with the business.
Conduct analysis and audit of current features in our digital channels to identify new improvement areas could contribute to an improved guest experience.
Continuously gather feedback and update the product backlog so every possible product improvement is being captured, whether directly from a guest, franchisee, brand partner, or Product Manager.
Skills & Requirements:
3+ years of direct work experience as a Product Owner in a Scrum environment.
Experience in deploying POS features and enhancements as a Product Owner.
Experience working in the restaurant industry is a plus.
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) and/or Certified Scrum Master (CSM) is a plus.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
The ability to drive, be proactive, and follow through on tasks given.
Extremely detail oriented
An expert in collaborating with stakeholders and continually managing/updating the product backlog.
Highly team oriented. In scrum, it's all about the team, and a strong sense of team is critical to success in this role.
Strong sense of humility, openness and transparency.
Collaborative and open to new ideas, but willing to stand ground to make sure work gets done in a timely manner.
Problem solver and critical thinker.
Experience with Atlassian tools (e.g. Jira, Confluence), Smartsheets and Roadmunk.
Ability to work and be effective throughout all transformative phases of an organization (e.g. "storming") and having tenacity to unblock issues when approaches might be ambiguous.
