Project Manager- Product Owner
Founded in 2001, Adage is a web design and development firm that combines strategic thinking with a passion for technology to advance our client's purpose. We bring together a diverse team of creative and technical professionals who partner with our clients to create their digital strategy. It’s our people first approach that drives us to win awards, work with prestigious clients, and break ground with exciting technology. Adage has consistently been recognized as one of Chicago’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For, one of the Best Places to Work in Illinois, and on Crain's Best Places to Work in Chicago.
An Adage Project Owner is a unique hybrid of Project Manager, Product Owner, Account Manager, and Client Advocate. As the Project Owner, you will partner with clients to guide each project's vision and roadmap while managing scope, budget, and expectations to ensure a successful launch. You'll serve as the primary liaison between client stakeholders and your off-shore scrum team, representing needs and priorities so the team can develop and deliver meaningful solutions. This off-shore team is comprised of front-end and back-end Developers, a Project Manager and a QA Analyst.
You will work with a portfolio of clients spanning a variety of industries, creating digital platforms and applications that allow clients to better serve their customers, audiences, and members. This includes promoting and managing projects in just some of the things that we excel at, from website and mobile development, delivery of complex e-commerce solutions, integrations, implementation of content management systems, and more.
Our ideal candidate is a skilled project manager who can quickly grasp complex requests and craft creative approaches to digital solutions that exceed our clients’ expectations. Well-versed in big picture thinking and product ownership principles, the candidate possesses an effortless communication style that conveys curiosity, humility and confidence. They will also have experience with working closely with off-shore development teams and proven examples of processes that were developed to increase efficiencies between the client and the offshore team.
What you will be doing:
- Partner with clients to understand, analyze and prioritize goals and create well-defined user stories with acceptance criteria
- Collaborate with off-shore and Adage internal team and clients to prioritize the roadmap and champion the features which will provide the most value to all stakeholders
- Work closely with the off-shore Project Manager and off-shore development leads during off-shore crossover time to ensure that user stories are understood and that each sprint delivers its full potential
- Manage a portfolio of clients in different stages of project delivery and prioritize user stories based on individual client roadmaps
- Manage project forecasts and ensure that they are consistently updated
- Track project budgets, deadlines and general progress towards project completion
- Monitor threats, risks and opportunities that might affect the success of projects and hold accountability for the overall solution
- Maintain an open and honest line of communication with clients on project status
- Stay well-informed about clients’ business initiatives to conceptualize features that achieve their objectives
- Assist team to develop test plans, user scenarios and test conditions to ensure that the expected results meet functional and user experience requirements
- Participate in testing for quality assurance and user acceptance
- Provide digital strategy and leadership to the Adage team and your clients
We want someone who:
- Has at least 4 years' experience in a Product Owner, Project Manager, or Business Analyst role
- Has been in a client-facing role at a web/software development or digital marketing organization, or a consulting environment
- Has experience working with off-shore or remote teams, preferably in different time zones like Indochina Time or India Standard Time
- Has practiced agile scrum methodology and has experience using Jira to manage backlogs and roadmaps
- Ability to define requirements, manage schedule and delivery while interfacing with offshore project leadership to resolve any issues
- Has experience cultivating new work with existing clients, writing detailed statements of work and coordinating estimates of project cost and timeline
- Can effectively communicate vision to different levels of stakeholders and team members, including through video conference and email
- Enjoys working with developers and designers to understand and implement technology requirements
- Is naturally curious and able to explore answers to questions independently and as part of a team
- Is willing to challenge certain feature sets or ideas in a positive and collaborative manner
- Has a track record of successful delivery of medium and large-scale software development projects to production, preferably in working with offshore teams
What Adage Offers
Adage has consistently been recognized as one of Chicago's Best and Brightest Companies to Work For, one of the Best Places to Work in Illinois, and on the Crain's list of Best Places to Work in Chicago. We have a people-first approach and support our employees with the things that matter most. You'll enjoy work-life balance with flex schedules, remote work options, and 20+ days of paid time off annually. Adage offers great benefits with 85% employer-paid insurance, profit-sharing bonuses, 401k, and FSA. We have monthly happy hours, quarterly social events, an annual retreat, and a great office environment with a stocked kitchen.
Adage Technologies is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a team that represents and respects diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skillsets. All qualified candidates that share Adage's core values are strongly encouraged to apply.