Technical Product Owner (IT Manager I) - 61150787

Full Job Description

The mission of the South Carolina Department of Education is to serve students, support teachers, empower parents, and engage the community so that every student graduates prepared to reach their full potential.

Job Purpose:

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) seeks a mission-driven Technical Product Owner (TPO) to lead the delivery of technology solutions that directly support students, educators, and school districts across South Carolina.

This role sits within the SCDE Office of Information Technology and serves as the primary bridge between SCDE program offices, technology teams, and implementation partners.

The TPO will own the product vision, backlog, and roadmap for one or more SCDE technology translating complex requirements into actionable technical deliverables.

This role requires an equally comfortable professional leading sprint planning with a development team and presenting a product roadmap to agency leadership.

Responsibilities:

• Own, maintain, and prioritize the product backlog for assigned SCDE technology platforms, ensuring each sprint delivers measurable value to agency programs and end users.
• Translate program requirements, regulatory mandates (FERPA, IDEA, Title I, EDFacts), and stakeholder feedback into well-defined epics, features, user stories, and acceptance criteria.
• Define and maintain the product roadmap, aligning short-term sprint goals with SCDE’s multi-year IT modernization strategy and managing OKRs in collaboration with IT leadership.
• Serve as the primary liaison between SCDE program divisions and the technology delivery team to facilitate requirements workshops, process mapping sessions, and gap analyses.
• Conduct user research and feedback sessions with teachers, district administrators, and SCDE staff to inform product decisions and prioritization; communicate status, decisions, and tradeoffs to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Lead or actively participate in all Agile/SAFe ceremonies — sprint planning, backlog refinement, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives — and coordinate with the SCDE PMO, OIT architects, and vendor partners to manage dependencies.
• Support UAT planning and execution; validate that delivered features meet acceptance criteria and agency requirements before release; monitor sprint performance and work with the Scrum Master to resolve blockers.
• Uphold data governance, privacy, and security standards across all product decisions; maintain awareness of platform release cycles and evaluate new features for agency applicability.
• Assist IT leadership with budget planning, tool procurement, and vendor SLA monitoring; evaluate vendor proposals and change orders against product scope; track burn rate relative to sprint velocity and flag risks.

This position is located in the Office of Information Technology.

Requirements

A bachelor's degree in communications, business administration, information technology, mathematics, statistics, management information science or a related field and experience in telecommunications, data processing and/or information technology. Relevant experience may substitute for the bachelor's degree on a year-for-year basis.

Qualifications

• Minimum of three to five (3–5) years of experience in product ownership, IT business analysis, project management, or a closely related technical role, with demonstrated experience owning and managing a technology product backlog in an Agile or SAFe delivery environment.
• Proven ability to translate policy, regulatory, or program requirements into technical specifications and user stories; experience with requirements documentation, process mapping, and gap analysis methodologies.
• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, Computer Science, Business Administration, Public Administration, Education, or a related field.
• At least one product owner or Agile certification required: Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Professional Scrum Product Owner I or II (PSPO I/II), SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager (SAFe POPM), or PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP).
• Experience working in government, education, healthcare, or another regulated public sector environment strongly preferred.
• Experience as a product owner or business analyst on a Salesforce implementation (Education Cloud, Public Sector Solutions, or NPSP); familiarity with MuleSoft Anypoint Platform integration architecture; knowledge of K-12 student information systems (PowerSchool, Skyward, Infinite Campus) and federal reporting requirements (EDFacts, IDEA, Title I).
• Proficiency with Jira or Azure DevOps for backlog management; experience with Power BI or Tableau for product metrics; prior SC state government IT experience; additional Salesforce certifications (Platform App Builder, Business Analyst, or Service Cloud Consultant).

Additional Information

As a part of a generous compensation package, we offer comprehensive benefits that include generous paid time off, preeminent health care benefits, professional development opportunities, pension, and a 401(k).

The South Carolina Department of Education offers an exceptional benefits package that includes:

• Health, Dental, Vision, Long Term Disability, and Life Insurance for Employee, Spouse, and Children.
• 15 days annual (vacation) leave per year.
• 15 days sick leave per year.
• 13 paid holidays.
• State Retirement Plan and Deferred Compensation Programs.
• Professional development support including Agile and Salesforce certification pathways.

ONLY THOSE APPLICANTS CHOSEN FOR AN INTERVIEW WILL BE NOTIFIED BY LETTER THAT THE POSITION HAS BEEN FILLED.

http://www.ed.sc.gov/jobs/human-resources/title-ix-nondiscrimination/