Technical Product Owner

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About Us:  

We deliver the most advanced and flexible learning experience for certification, credentialing, test prep, continuing education, and training.  Our cloud-based learning platform is designed to help education and training organizations deliver a highly engaging and effective learning experience for users who are trying to advance their careers. We incorporate the latest in learner-centered technology, including personalization, gamification, data science, usability and omni-channel delivery.  

We’re sitting in a pivotal time in the BenchPrep history, having achieved significant growth year-over-year and nearly doubling in employee size! The number of learners on our cloud-based learning platform has reached 6 million in 2019, up 30 percent versus the prior year.

We’re committed to helping students learn better, and that starts in our own office. 


About the role: We are looking for a dynamic and talented Technical Product Owner to join our growing team.  As a key player on our Product team, you are prepared to build productive cross-functional relationships and leverage your technical expertise to advance an ambitious product roadmap. You’re a critical thinker who is analytical and collaborative, and you thrive on understanding and translating business objectives to inform and communicate clearly defined and strategically prioritized stories and acceptance criteria.  You have experience working in an agile SaaS product development environment, and concurrently leading frequent discovery, ideation, and development initiatives across multiple teams.


What you'll do as a Technical Product Owner:

  • Manage epics//feature backlog grooming and prioritization
  • Manage user story development, sprint planning, and sprint reviews for 2+ developer teams and provide support for highly technical projects
  • Develop user stories for assigned projects, ensure user stories are “ready” for development to start work, that each story has the correct acceptance criteria 
  • Provide support for client-facing teams and own major escalations and high value projects
  • Train internal teams on new features and products 
  • Work with development teams to ensure committed user stories are completed
  • Collaborate with Product Management leadership to understand and translate business objectives into actionable user stories and acceptance criteria
  • Provide regular development updates and insights to Product Management leadership 
  • Collaborate with Customer Success, Sales, and Development  team members, defining requirements for customer SOW engagements 
  • Engage with customers to gain a better understanding of their work and how BenchPrep products can assist them
  • Retroactively review development initiatives and celebrate team successes


About the team: Here at BenchPrep, the Product Management team is responsible for the growth of our business. We are strong, dynamic, and wear many hats. True to startup culture, we aren’t afraid to roll up our sleeves to get the job done. We are inspired by a shared mission to help millions learn better and faster through our unique platform.


You should have: 

  • 3-5 years of experience in a technical product owner role
  • A demonstrated history of agile development methodologies
  • A demonstrated history of backlog management 
  • A demonstrated history of user story authoring
  • A demonstrated history of project management skills
  • Experienced in the coordination of usability sessions
  • Experienced with training of internal stakeholders
  • Cross-functional communication skills
  • Familiarity with customer/market research 
  • Experience with MS Office, JIRA, Confluence, GSuite


Life at BenchPrep:  

We work at BenchPrep because we’re dedicated to the mission and each day have an opportunity to be challenged and learn.  We work hard, eat well, and have lots of fun. Culture is our lifeline at BenchPrep.  We celebrate our people, both professionally and personally. We focus on flexibility - both in work/life balance, but also everyday in operating with agility. We care about professional development so much that we offer employees $1,200 annually to build their skills.  And of course, even though we’re currently remote, our inclusive work culture has been built to withstand challenges, as we stay connected and ensure all of our employees have the resources and tools they need to stay successful in this new environment. It’s no wonder we were selected in Inc’s Best Workplaces of 2020 and Crain’s 2020 Best Places to Work in Chicago lists.  


We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.


We are looking for high performing and motivated professionals who are excited about the chance to leverage technology to impact the lives of millions of learners.

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Technology we use

  • Engineering
  • Product
  • Sales & Marketing
  • People Operations
    • CSSLanguages
    • JavaLanguages
    • JavascriptLanguages
    • KotlinLanguages
    • RubyLanguages
    • SassLanguages
    • SqlLanguages
    • SwiftLanguages
    • TypeScriptLanguages
    • Backbone.jsFrameworks
    • Node.jsFrameworks
    • Ruby on RailsFrameworks
    • vue.jsFrameworks
    • PostgreSQLDatabases
    • RedisDatabases
    • Google AnalyticsAnalytics
    • ConfluenceManagement
    • JIRAManagement
    • HubSpotCRM
    • SalesforceCRM
    • SlackCollaboration
    • ZoomCollaboration
    • TrelloProject Management

Location

Our company is located in the heart of downtown Chicago, Illinois. The office is part of the city's central business district and is known for its vibrant urban atmosphere. It is located not far from the Chicago River, providing opportunities for scenic riverfront walks and activities.

An Insider's view of BenchPrep

How would you describe the company’s work-life balance?

For the last 4 years I have been with BenchPrep, the company has given me everything I need to find balance in my life. Having the freedom and control over the hours I work, while still meeting agreed-upon deadlines and work expectations is extremely important. BenchPrep does an amazing job at prioritizing a flexible and inclusive work environment.

Zheni Mihaylova

QA Manager

What kinds of technical challenges do you and your team face?

Everyone is very passionate about others succeeding and are so helpful when you come to them with a question, whether it’s about functionality, process, how something works or anything in between. I have never felt like I have asked a silly question, and everyone always makes time for others.

Nicole White

Product Manager

How does the company support your career growth?

During my time here at BenchPrep, management has identified skills that led me from my previous role to the position that I am in today. Because of this, I have been able to help lead a collaborative relationship between my current and previous departments, which has helped me make a positive impact throughout the company.

Hector Uriostegui

Senior QA Engineer

What unique initiatives do you have that encourage innovation?

We are lucky to be able to incorporate a developer experience week at the end of our sprints. This allows engineers to work on professional development, experimentation, and engineering quality of life projects. As a result engineers have been able to experiment with new technologies and delivered many process improvements through automation.

John Gill

Senior Engineering Manager

What are some social events your company does?

At BenchPrep we always put people first. We make social functions a priority because our community is at the core of our company, and provides an opportunity to bond and build stronger relationships with our colleagues. Whether it’s painting pumpkins, cruising on the Chicago River, or even going curling, we are always focused on staying connected.

Sam Lebewitz

Accounting Manager

What are BenchPrep Perks + Benefits

BenchPrep Benefits Overview

BenchPrep provides a full suite and a wide variety of benefits and perks. While our competitive medical benefits and 401(k) contribution are nothing to dismiss, it’s the extras that really set us apart. We provide an annual $1,200 learning stipend, Flex PTO (our version of unlimited PTO), Summer Hour Fridays, 8 wellness days to focus on physical health AND mental health, a $500 new hire stipend to set up your home office, and $25 each month after that. We also have a generous parental leave program, and have no meeting days each sprint, and no meeting periods Friday afternoons during non-Summer Hours to ensure deep focus time.

Lastly, we are a remote-first organization, giving our employees the flexibility to work from wherever in the U.S. makes most sense for them. Although we are remote-first, we do still have an office space for employees to use should it be preferable to them. Finally - twice a year we bring the entire team into our space in Chicago for a 3 day office retreat, where we spend time on collaboration, learning, and simply having fun with each other. Scroll down to learn more about those items and see what else BenchPrep has to offer.

Culture
Volunteer in local community
Partners with nonprofits
Open door policy
Team based strategic planning
Pair programming
Open office floor plan
Day off for your birthday
We acknowledge and celebrate employees on their special day, and encourage them to utilize this special benefit by spending quality time with loved ones, and/or doing the things they enjoy the most.
Hybrid work model
Summer hours
Flexible work schedule
BenchPrep offers flexible work schedules as needed for employees. It allows for greater work-life balance and can lead to increased job satisfaction and productivity.
Remote work program
BenchPrep offers Remote Work as an option for employees. This also allows employees to better balance their work commitments with personal and family needs.
Diversity
Highly diverse management team
Mandated unconscious bias training
Hiring practices that promote diversity
Diversity recruitment program
Health Insurance & Wellness Benefits
Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
Pre-tax dollars can be set aside for medical, dental, and vision ($2,750/yr) for employees or dependents with or w/o enrolling in our insurance program. Daycare & elder care allows for up to $5,000/yr
Disability insurance
Our plan coverage offers employees Short Term Disability coverage at 60% of their weekly salary with a $2,500 weekly max. Long Term = 60% of their monthly salary with a $10,000 monthly max.
Dental insurance
BenchPrep offer 3 dental plans.
Vision insurance
BenchPrep’s vision insurance plans provide annual eye exams for a $10 copay and a $130 allowance toward frames and/or contacts.
Health insurance
BenchPrep’s health insurance plan with BCBS of IL has a low deductible and BenchPrep pays 90% of the monthly premium for employees AND their dependents.
Life insurance
Up to 3x annual salary, $750K max of voluntary life insurance & accidental death & dismemberment insurance. Spouse & dependent children plans available too.
Pet insurance
Wellness programs
Mental health benefits
Wellness days
These days are designed to allow employees to take time off for self-care and to focus on their physical and mental health.
Financial & Retirement
401(K)
BenchPrep’s 401k retirement plan offers a a cost effective employee retirement plan. The plan offers Roth and Pre-tax Investment options.
401(K) matching
BenchPrep contributes 3% of an employee’s annual base salary, regardless of how much the employee contributes, which is immediately vested.
Performance bonus
Child Care & Parental Leave Benefits
Generous parental leave
BenchPrep offers generous paid parental leave for new parents with at least 1 month of service, including a paid leave policy for foster parents.
Family medical leave
Return-to-work program post parental leave
Vacation & Time Off Benefits
Unlimited vacation policy
Paid volunteer time
Paid holidays
BenchPrep closes its office for all major holidays, including MLK day, Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas THROUGH New Years Day.
Paid sick days
BenchPrep employees receive 5 sick days per year.
Flexible time off
Bereavement leave benefits
Company-wide vacation
The company is closed during the week between Christmas and New Year's to allow employees to relax, spend quality time with family/friends, and recharge, and contribute to their overall well-being.
Office Perks
Commuter benefits
Transit and Parking benefits: Employees may elect up to $260/month for pre-tax allocation for mass transit & parking expenses for commuting to BenchPrep, including Metra, Ventra and parking facilities
Company-sponsored outings
BenchPrep has regular outings that include Cubs rooftops, boat trips on Lake Michigan, off-site happy hours, poker nights, game nights, foodie dinners, and a holiday party, among other events.
Free daily meals
We provide a $12.50 daily stipend for employees every day via Fooda (https://www.fooda.com/resources/case-study/how-tech-startup-benchprep-made-lunch-powerful-part-its-culture).
Free snacks and drinks
FULLY stocked! Beverages = Soda, Coffee, Tea, RedBull, Juice, Vitamin Water, etc. Food = if you can think of the snack, we probably have it or some variation. Employees will never go hungry here.
Some meals provided
Company-sponsored happy hours
Home-office stipend for remote employees
New hires will receive a one time payment of $500 (after 90 days, and grossed up for taxes) and a $25 monthly recurring payment (grossed up for taxes) to aid in monthly home expenses.
Meditation space
Mother's room
Onsite gym
Professional Development Benefits
Job training & conferences
Employees are provided an annual stipend to attend external training events or conferences.
Lunch and learns
Promote from within
Continuing education stipend
Continuing education available during work hours
Online course subscriptions available
Customized development tracks
Paid industry certifications

Additional Perks + Benefits

Competitive salary, company sponsored 401(k) • Fun, meritocratic, mission driven, dynamic work culture • Commitment to fostering positive office culture (included, but not limited to, monthly company dinners, quarterly outings, an in-office ping pong table, cocktail hours, poker nights, etc.)

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