The Product Owner will manage the Marketplace platform, ensuring catalogue accuracy, pricing control, and process implementation to improve customer experience and order flow.
Job Overview
We are looking for a highly accountable, execution-driven Product Owner to take full ownership of our Marketplace platform. This role is critical in bringing structure, governance, and operational discipline to catalogue management, pricing control, and order flow.
You will be responsible for ensuring that every product listed on the platform is valid, serviceable, accurately priced, and aligned with business rules. This role requires a hands-on problem solver who can identify gaps, enforce processes, and drive measurable improvements across the marketplace ecosystem.
Key Responsibility
Marketplace Ownership
- Own the Marketplace platform end-to-end, including catalogue, pricing, availability, and operations
- Act as the single point of accountability for all marketplace-related issues and performance
- Drive platform reliability, accuracy, and business alignment
Catalogue Governance & Cleanup
- Audit and eliminate duplicate, irrelevant, or non-serviceable product listings
- Define and enforce catalogue quality standards and governance frameworks
- Implement structured workflows for product onboarding and approvals
- Ensure ongoing catalogue hygiene and consistency at scale
Pricing & Availability Control
- Ensure all product pricing is accurate, approved, and visible only where applicable
- Enforce strict controls to prevent incorrect or unauthorized pricing
- Align product availability with real-time inventory and fulfillment capabilities
- Eliminate listings that cannot be fulfilled or are out of stock
Process & Policy Implementation
- Establish and standardize SOPs for:
- Product listing and onboarding
- Pricing updates and approvals
- Order validation and processing
- Catalogue modifications
- Drive compliance across teams; eliminate ad-hoc or unstructured updates
- Introduce scalable, repeatable processes that improve efficiency and control
Order Flow & Customer Experience
- Reduce and eliminate order cancellations caused by invalid or incorrect listings
- Ensure alignment with PO-based ordering and business rules
- Partner with Sales, Operations, and Finance to streamline order workflows
- Improve customer experience by ensuring only valid and actionable orders are processed
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Work closely with Engineering to drive platform fixes, enhancements, and automation
- Partner with Sales and Operations to validate workflows and enforce governance
- Collaborate with Finance to ensure compliance with payment and ordering policies
- Act as the bridge between business stakeholders and technical teams
Monitoring & Reporting
- Define and track key performance metrics, including:
- Invalid orders and cancellation rates
- Catalogue accuracy and hygiene
- Product availability compliance
- Publish regular reports with insights, root cause analysis, and action plans
- Continuously identify improvement opportunities and drive execution
Must-Have
- 5–10+ years of experience in Product Ownership, Marketplace, or E-commerce platforms
- Strong expertise in catalogue management and product governance
- Solid technical understanding (APIs, backend systems, workflows, SaaS platforms)
- Proven track record of fixing broken processes and implementing scalable structures
- Strong ownership mindset with a focus on outcomes, not coordination
Good to Have
- Experience with B2B marketplaces or IT commerce platforms
- Exposure to inventory-linked or supply chain-integrated systems
- Experience working with distributed/global teams
What Makes You a Fit
- You take initiative and act without needing repeated direction
- You are decisive and comfortable making judgment calls in ambiguous situations
- You are process-driven with strong attention to detail
- You thrive in fixing inefficiencies and bringing structure to unorganized systems
- You take full accountability for outcomes and follow through on execution
Current Challenges You Will Solve
- Marketplace contains invalid, duplicate, and unnecessary product listings
- Pricing inconsistencies are leading to incorrect and non-compliant orders
- Orders are being placed for products that are not available or serviceable
- Lack of ownership and governance in catalogue updates and workflows
- Gaps between defined processes and actual execution
What you need to know about the Chicago Tech Scene
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Key Facts About Chicago Tech
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