UVA Health is seeking a Product Owner to join the Digital Solutions Team within Marketing & Communications. This role is responsible for the day-to-day health and execution of the product backlog - ensuring stories are well-defined, prioritized, and sprint-ready so the development team can deliver with clarity and confidence.
The Product Owner operates at the intersection of business, UX, and engineering, collaborating and partnering with internal stakeholders to ensure department wide needs are met. They translate organizational needs into actionable, clearly-scoped user stories, own prioritization decisions, and serve as the team's primary point of contact for scope and acceptance during active sprints. They also work closely with the Manager of Digital Solutions to support strategy and roadmap development by bringing insights that help inform and evolve priorities.
These roles are responsible for handling a range of tasks across various communications functions. Staff and leaders in these positions may engage in digital media management, graphic design, public relations, and other activities as needed to support comprehensive communications strategies.
Key Responsibilities Backlog Ownership & Story Development - Own, maintain , and prioritize the product backlog at all times , ensuring it is never empty or unsorted, and always reflects current team priorities.
- Write user stories with explicit, testable acceptance criteria; no story enters a sprint without them.
- Translate business requirements and stakeholder requests into actionable, appropriately-scoped backlog items.
- Prioritize the backlog based on user value, delivery effort, and strategic alignment - and defend those decisions clearly.
- Maintain and enforce the team's definition of done alongside the Delivery Lead.
Sprint Execution Support - Be available to developers during active sprints to answer scope and requirements questions without changing scope mid-sprint.
- Formally accept or reject sprint deliverables against acceptance criteria at review.
- Participate in sprint planning, backlog refinement, daily standup, sprint review, and retrospectives.
- Partner with the Delivery Lead during backlog refinement to ensure stories are estimated and sprint-ready .
Discovery & User Insight - Conduct discovery work in parallel with delivery , including user interviews, stakeholder sessions, and competitive landscape review , to ensure the backlog reflects validated user needs, not just internal requests.
- Work with the UX Designer to ensure research findings and usability insights inform backlog decisions.
- Track product outcome metrics alongside delivery metrics ( adoption, task completion, and user satisfaction ) to assess whether shipped work is creating real value.
Roadmap Contribution & Stakeholder Communication - Connects Epics and Stories to the overarching strategic intent in the backlog as it ladders up to departmental and organizational goals and roadmaps.
- Contribute to roadmap planning conversations by providing delivery -informed perspective, surfacing constraints, and identifying opportunities uncovered during discovery.
- Communicate planned work and delivery timelines to internal stakeholders; proactively manage expectations on scope and scheduling.
- Keep the Manager of Digital Solutions informed on backlog direction and flag potential pivots before they become surprises.
- Translate stakeholder goals into prioritized backlog items that balance business needs with team capacity.
Cross-Functional Collaboration - Collaborate closely with the UX Designer, Delivery Lead, and Web Develope r s to ensure stories are technically feasible and experientially sound before sprints begin.
- Participate in UX reviews and design critiques to ensure that what is being designed aligns with what can be built and what users need.
- Partner with the Delivery Lead to maintain accurate sprint boards and clear status reporting to leadership.
Required Qualifications - Bachelor's degree in Business , Information Systems, Communications, or a related field (or equivalent professional experience).
- Five years of experience in a Product Owner, Product Manager, Business Analyst, or related digital product role.
- Demonstrated experience writing user stories with clear, testable acceptance criteria.
- Strong backlog management skills - prioritization, grooming, and sprint readiness.
- Experience working within Agile/Scrum delivery teams.
- Ability to translate business goals and stakeholder needs into actionable, appropriately-scoped work.
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail; comfortable managing multiple concurrent priorities.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills; equally effective with technical developers and non-technical stakeholders.
- Experience conducting user research or stakeholder interviews to inform product decisions.
Preferred Qualifications - Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) or equivalent Agile certification.
- Experience in digital product, website, or web application development contexts.
- Familiarity with platforms such as Contentstack, Epic, Kyruus, or Coveo .
- Experience using Jira and/or Airtable for backlog management, intake workflows, and stakeholder reporting.
- Experience in healthcare, academic medicine, or other regulated industries.
- Familiarity with digital marketing, analytics, SEO, or conversion optimization as it relates to product decision-making.
- Experience coordinating work that involves third-party vendors or external development partners.
Success Measures Success in this role will be measured by:
- Backlog quality - stories are consistently well-defined, estimated, and sprint-ready with clear acceptance criteria.
- Sprint stability - developers can execute sprint commitments without mid-sprint scope ambiguity.
- Discovery cadence - discovery is happening in parallel with delivery, not after the fact.
- Stakeholder clarity - internal stakeholders have accurate , up-to-date visibility into planned work and delivery timelines.
- Outcome tracking - shipped work is evaluated against user and business value metrics, not just completion status.
- Roadmap contribution - insights from delivery and discovery are meaningfully feeding into planning conversations with the Manager.
Physical Demands & Work Location This is primarily a sedentary role involving extensive use of desktop computers. This position currently requires on -site presence in the Charlottesville office at least two days per week. Some travel to attend meetings or programs may occasionally be required .
The pay range for this role is $70,600.00 - $141,201.00 annually. Individual compensation will be determined by the selected candidate's qualifications, previous work experience, and/or education.
Benefits- Comprehensive Benefits Package: Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
- Paid Time Off, Long-term and Short-term Disability, Retirement Savings
- Health Saving Plans, and Flexible Spending Accounts
- Certification and education support
- Generous Paid Time Off
