Product Owner SME - FDA

The General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) team is seeking a dynamic and experienced Product Owner SME to lead critical projects for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This role emphasizes program and product management by balancing high-level strategic leadership with tactical implementation. The individual will work closely with diverse stakeholders to align business needs and product vision while driving operational excellence.

The Product Owner SME will be at the forefront of initiatives that combine program execution, process improvement, and product management to deliver results that meet FDA’s critical mission objectives. By engaging with customers and internal teams, the Product Owner SME will ensure alignment between business strategy and technology implementation, drive operational efficiency, and oversee the successful delivery of innovative solutions.

This role is fully remote with occasional onsite meetings - up to 3x a quarter.

Key Responsibilities:

Program Management

• Take ownership of program delivery by enabling cross-functional collaboration between diverse teams and stakeholders to meet strategic objectives.
• Lead client-facing initiatives, including project meetings, sprint reviews, and presentations to ensure positive customer interactions and outcomes.
• Provide consistent status updates, including key milestones, deliverables, and project risks, ensuring transparency and clear progress tracking.
• Mitigate risks, identify opportunities, and develop actionable strategies to support program success and address challenges.
• Oversee scope, resources, and timelines to keep projects aligned with customer priorities.
• Cultivate and maintain strong client relationships to ensure a seamless customer journey and promote high satisfaction levels.

Product Management

• Develop and maintain a comprehensive product roadmap in collaboration with external stakeholders, aligning the roadmap with the organization’s strategic objectives.
• Manage Agile product development processes, ensuring product backlogs are groomed, prioritized, and aligned with customer needs and business goals.
• Guide the analysis of customer business requirements to design and implement innovative and efficient solutions that solve mission-critical challenges.
• Drive continuous process improvement by identifying inefficiencies and recommending improvements to enhance product delivery and operational excellence.
• Actively engage in testing activities, including functional testing and user acceptance testing (UAT), to ensure quality and alignment with customer expectations.

Agile Leadership and Team Management

• Lead Agile project delivery, serving as a bridge between customers, the development team, and other business units.
• Partner with development teams to ensure alignment between technological investments and the long-term product strategy.
• Actively participate in Scrum ceremonies, acting as an advocate for cross-team coordination, and ensuring robust delivery of incrementally valuable solutions.
• Foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement across self-organized teams, promoting transparency, efficiency, and team empowerment.
• Monitor and enforce teams’ adherence to definitions of "done" at various levels (story, sprint, release).
• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leadership, providing recommendations and insights on delivery processes, risks, and opportunities.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 12+ years of professional experience, including 8+ years managing large-scale software development projects.
• Proven track record of successfully managing complex software application development programs with multiple stakeholders and dependencies.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams in a matrixed environment, including self-organized Agile teams.
• Knowledge of Agile values, principles, and methods such as Scrum, incremental development, test-driven development (TDD), and continuous integration.
• Proficiency with project tracking tools like JIRA.
• Experience working with the FDA.
• Ability to obtain Public Trust clearance.

Desired Qualifications

• PMP certification or advanced Scrum/Agile certifications (such as SAFe Agilist, SAFe Practitioner, or Certified Scrum Professional).
• Hands-on experience with product management frameworks and tools.
• Insight into FDA operations, gained through prior experience in a similar role.
• Hands-on product management experience
• Familiarity with Appian software or similar technologies.