Product Owner

Civitech is a public benefit corporation dedicated to creating a fairer and more equitable democracy by building the tools and infrastructure needed to increase civic participation, empower Democratic candidates to win, and support the success of progressive causes. Since its founding in 2019, over 500 partners -- a range of nonprofit organizations, national political committees, and individual campaigns -- have utilized Civitech’s tools to reach tens of millions of voters to help create a more equitable and progressive democracy. 

The Product Owner will support the development and enhancement of Civitech’s flagship product, RunningMate and other priority products in the future. In this role, you will work closely with our senior product manager, UX/UI designer, technical project manager, and engineers to help the team execute RunningMate’s roadmap during our 2-week sprint cycle. Civitech is a remote-first company hiring within our current footprint of 11 states (CA, CO, FL, IL, MA, NJ, NY, OH, TX, VA, WA); Civitech does have an office in Austin, TX.

It is important that our team reflects the diversity of the organizations we seek to serve. We strongly encourage women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, and others otherwise underrepresented in the technology sector to apply.

About our Product Team: The Product team partners with Civitech’s stakeholders to build an understanding of the challenges and opportunities customers face while participating in the political process. We research and synthesize the user experience and identify opportunities to build impactful, commercially viable products that support Democratic and progressive causes. We work with all teams to build and support a vision for each product to guide development from conception through delivery.

The Product Owner is on our Product Team and reports to our Product Manager. The Product Owner is an individual contributor.

• Partner with the Product Manager to deeply understand the product vision, strategy, and roadmap for RunningMate and other priority products in the future
• Create and refine product requirements and acceptance criteria to ensure a shared understanding of requirements for team and stakeholders
• Attend daily stand-up and be the main contact for engineers and UI/UX staff to guide product design implementation
• Use metrics, customer feedback, and market research to understand the political/campaign industry and optimize the development of features and enhancements to solve real user problems in ways that optimize our user’s experiences and personas
• Actively participate in sprint planning, reviews, and retros
• Track key product performance metrics to guide product decisions and roadmap
• Work with customer success and marketing teams to communicate product updates to customers
• Participate in political events that promote, train, and/or directly use our tools and systems
• Document internal and external feedback in the product backlog for future consideration
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with cross-functional teams to ensure clear and efficient communication during all phases of the product development cycle.

• 3+ years of relevant experience in product or related field
• Strong understanding of product development processes and Agile methodologies
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to articulate complex ideas into tangible requirements
• Possess basic knowledge of Figma and Miro for prototyping and collaboration 
• Deeply collaborative approach to problem-solving that generates buy-in and clear product direction 
• Shown ability to work within fast-paced cross-functional teams with demonstrated flexibility to get things done
• Passion for creative problem solving and iterative approach to development
• Demonstrated ability to work through ambiguity to detailed solutions
• Committed to leveraging technology and data products to help Democratic candidates run for office and win, empower progressive causes, and increase civic participation
• Must be available to attend daily stand-up meetings at 9:00a MT/8:00a PT

• Experience in the political tech ecosystem
• Hands-on experience or knowledge of U.S. elections administration and/or campaign operations
• Experience working with startup companies 
• Ability to provide a portfolio with sample work product

• Medical, Vision, & Dental Insurance
• 401(k) plan
• Employee Stock Options
• Employer-paid Life Insurance
• Optional Short/Long Term Disability Insurance
• Flexible Time Off & Paid Company Holidays
• Flexible Spending Account
• Parental Leave
• Flexible Schedules

• We act with Integrity – At Civitech, we hold ourselves to the highest standards and value open and transparent communications with all of our stakeholders. Our rigorous approach to product design, testing, and data science leads to accurate assessments of our outcomes and challenges us to constantly improve our tools.
• We are Changemakers – As a team, Civitech seeks to make transformational change in our democracy by eliminating obstacles meant to hamper contribution from every member of the community.
• We are Collaborators - Buoyed by our mission, we look for opportunities to partner with everyone committed to making democracy easier to participate in. We seek to understand the challenges our partners face and use our skills and creativity to help them solve them.
• We are Bold – We recognize that disruptive change won’t come with doing business as usual. Civitech seeks to revolutionize civic participation by bringing innovation and creativity to politics.

Civitech is headquartered in Austin, TX, with employees in 11 states across the country. The Product Owner can work from our Austin co-working space or remotely in any of the 11 states currently in Civitech’s footprint (CA, CO, FL, IL, MA, NJ, NY, OH, TX, VA, WA).

Civitech is not able to provide visa sponsorship at this time.

Civitech provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. 

No recruiters or agencies, please!