Technical Product Owner, Data Management & Operations

Responsibilities

The Technical Product Owner will lead data management and operations strategy by collaborating with engineering teams to define roadmaps and technical specifications. They will act as a liaison between business and technology stakeholders to ensure scalable, high-quality data capabilities that support enterprise objectives.

Requirements

Candidates must have extensive experience in technical product ownership, data management, and working alongside data engineering teams. A bachelor's degree in a relevant field and a solid understanding of data architecture, governance, and cloud platforms are required.

Skills

• Data management
• Data operations
• Product ownership
• Data engineering
• Data governance
• ETL/ELT
• Data modeling
• Cloud data platforms
• SQL
• Python
• Portfolio management
• Strategic planning
• Agile
• Data quality
• Metadata management
• Stakeholder management

Benefits

• Discretionary incentive bonus program
• Total rewards package

About this role

We believe in the power and joy of learning
At Cengage, our employees have a direct impact in helping learners around the world discover the power and joy of learning. We are bonded by our shared purpose – driving innovation that helps millions of learners improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Make an impact by connecting business and technology needs with the data capabilities that drive Cengage.
In the role of Technical Product Owner for Data Management & Operations, you will partner with Data Engineering leaders and teams leading data operations across Cengage. You will direct priority setting, transform detailed data needs into feasible technical specifications, and help ensure the delivery and ongoing enhancement of dependable, scalable, and well-controlled data capabilities.
This position lies at the crossroads of data engineering, architecture, governance, operations, and the groups that use enterprise data. You will bring product ownership experience and subject matter knowledge to assist Cengage in improving the acquisition, integration, transformation, management, monitoring, and accessibility of data for business and technology objectives.

What You’ll Do
Develop Data Management & Operations Strategy and Priorities
Collaborate with Data Management & Operations leadership to develop functional strategy, priorities, roadmaps, and investment plans.
Turn strategy into a consistent portfolio of initiatives, capabilities, operational developments, and technology investments.
Evaluate emerging business and technology needs, find opportunities and gaps, and develop recommendations.
Help establish and maintain multi-year roadmaps.
Provide leadership with access to portfolio health, competing priorities, capacity constraints, dependencies, risks, and decisions requiring attention.
Serve as a Strategic Business and Technology Collaborator
Act as a reliable liaison with business and technology leaders.
Develop a solid understanding of Cengage business strategies, processes, technology landscape, and data needs.
Engage team members to frame business problems and desired outcomes.
Translate sophisticated data concepts for technical and non-technical audiences.
Represent leadership independently in forums and decision-making discussions.
Build relationships across business functions and technology organizations.
Strengthen Capabilities in Business Data Governance and Control
Partner with collaborators to shape and enable scalable data capabilities.
Champion the adoption and steady refinement of data management methods.
Drive adoption of data quality practices.
Drive alignment with data governance policies, standards, and practices.
Collaborate with technical teams to define clear business outcomes and requirements.
Identify systemic gaps and opportunities across data processes.
Encourage enterprise reuse and standardization.
Assist in establishing criteria for success regarding data capabilities and initiatives.
Drive Portfolio, Program, and Delivery Execution
Drive execution of the portfolio, ensuring priorities translate into coordinated initiatives.
Collaborate with program/project managers and technical teams to coordinate implementation.
Maintain portfolio-level access to delivery progress.
Ensure work entering delivery is sufficiently understood, prioritized, and aligned with outcomes.
Make timely prioritization and tradeoff decisions.
Provide product ownership and prioritization oversight for relevant backlogs.
Work jointly with other TPOs and technology leaders on cross-platform initiatives.
Support productive delivery approaches, clarity, answerability, and constant development.
Manage Data Operations and Continuous Advancement
Collaborate with leadership and technical teams to set and track expectations for data capabilities.
Use operational performance indicators to identify systemic improvement opportunities.
Drive prioritization of initiatives that reduce operational burden, increase automation, and improve maintainability.
Maintain a suitable balance among new capabilities, operational improvements, risk remediation, technical debt, and platform health.
Provide leadership and coordination for significant cross-functional operational issues.
Consistently advance Data Management & Operations workflows and indicators of success.

What You’ll Need
Extensive background in technical product ownership, technology business collaboration, portfolio/program oversight, data management, data operations, business analysis, or a related technology role.
Demonstrable experience working alongside data engineering teams and translating business and technical requirements into well-defined engineering assignments.
Solid understanding of data engineering concepts, including data pipelines, ETL/ELT, data integration, data modeling, data storage, APIs, data warehouses/lakes/lakehouses, cloud data platforms, and batch and/or real-time data processing.
Knowledge of data management areas including data quality, metadata, lineage, governance, security, access, and lifecycle management.
Experience with operational elements of data platforms, including monitoring, reliability, incident management, performance, scalability, and service-level expectations.
Proven capability to collaborate with senior leaders on strategy and convert strategic direction into actionable priorities.
Experience representing a technology or data function with senior business and technology collaborators.
Demonstrated experience managing sophisticated portfolios or roadmaps involving multiple initiatives, collaborators, dependencies, competing priorities, and constrained capacity.
Solid foundational knowledge of enterprise data management and data governance.
Experience with enterprise data platforms and applications; familiarity with Snowflake, SAP, Salesforce, or comparable technologies is preferred.
Practical understanding of operational and analytical data modeling concepts.
Strong analytical, syste...

About Cengage Group

E-Learning Providers · 1,001-5,000 employees · headquartered in Boston , MA