Product Owner
Role details
Job location
Tech stack
Job description
Makai Labs is seeking a Product Owner with a strong sense of ownership, urgency, and communication. You'll play a critical role translating business strategy into actionable development work - managing product backlogs, defining clear user stories, and ensuring that engineering and design teams have what they need to execute efficiently. The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, thrives in fast-paced environments, and excels at keeping cross-functional teams aligned through crisp documentation and proactive communication., * Collaborate with stakeholders and Product Managers to define and prioritize product features and user stories.
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Write detailed specs, acceptance criteria, and documentation that remove ambiguity and guide development.
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Analyze and document business requirements, ensuring that technical teams understand the why behind every feature.
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Communicate proactively - especially through email and asynchronous channels - keeping teams aligned and informed.
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Identify opportunities for process improvement and efficiency across teams and workflows.
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Balance urgency with precision, ensuring high-quality execution under tight timelines., * Own the product backlog and keep priorities clear, current, and actionable. Facilitate Agile ceremonies: backlog grooming, sprint planning, stand-ups, and retrospectives.
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Track progress against goals, communicating updates clearly to stakeholders.
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Oversee testing and validation to ensure features meet acceptance criteria.
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Collaborate with UX/UI designers to align user experience with business intent.
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Document, analyze, and iterate based on user feedback and performance metrics.
Requirements
- 5+ years of direct Product Owner or similar experience.
- Strong understanding of Scrum and Agile product delivery.
- Proven success writing clear, detailed user stories and functional specs.
- Excellent communication and documentation skills - responsive and concise.
- Highly organized and proactive, with strong follow-through.
- Experience working cross-functionally in fast-moving or startup environments.
- Familiarity with Jira, Confluence, and Figma preferred.
Nice-to-haves
- Experience with SaaS, AI, or ML
- Experience with product marketing and crafting go-to-market strategies
Core values for Makai employees
- Be a flexible, innovative and creative thinker
- Be congenial and a team player
- Be self-sufficient
- Be self-driven with an ownership mentality
- Have a strong work ethic
Benefits & conditions
Pulled from the full job description
- Health insurance
- 401(k) matching
- Paid time off
- Flexible schedule, * Fully remote role, Eastern time zone
- Opportunities to work in-person with local colleagues
- Generous PTO
- Flexible work schedule
- Free health insurance
- 401(k) matching
- Career growth & development opportunities
Compensation Range: $120K - $130K