Rockwell Automation is a global technology leader focused on helping the world’s manufacturers be more productive, sustainable, and agile. With more than 28,000 employees who make the world better every day, we know we have something special. Behind our customers - amazing companies that help feed the world, provide life-saving medicine on a global scale, and focus on clean water and green mobility - our people are energized problem solvers that take pride in how the work we do changes the world for the better.
We welcome all makers, forward thinkers, and problem solvers who are looking for a place to do their best work. And if that’s you we would love to have you join us!
Job Description
At ASEM, we are looking for a Technical Product Owner (Optix Engineering) to drive the translation of product intent and architectural direction into clear, actionable, and execution-ready work for software teams.
You will act as the technical owner of the engineering backlog for one or more products or capabilities, ensuring that development teams can deliver high-quality outcomes predictably and sustainably in a complex, integration-heavy environment.
You will work at the intersection of Product Management, Architecture, and Software Engineering, with strong accountability for backlog quality, technical coherence, and delivery readiness across distributed, multi-campus teams.
Our products are characterized by in-house hardware, firmware, software, mechanical, and system design capability.
As a Technical Product Owner you will report to the MANAGER, SOFTWARE ENGINEERING and have a hybrid schedule working in Verona.
Your Responsibilities:
Engineering Backlog Ownership & Readiness
- Own and maintain the engineering backlog (epics, capabilities, enablers, and stories), ensuring items are well-defined, prioritized, estimated, and ready for execution by Scrum/Kanban teams.
- Translate product requirements, architectural intent, and non-functional requirements into technically sound backlog items with clear acceptance criteria.
- Ensure traceability across requirements, design, implementation, and test where required (e.g., regulated or integration-heavy contexts).
Technical Alignment & Collaboration
- Work with Product Managers to agree on product goals, scope, and priorities, while representing engineering feasibility, sequencing, and dependencies.
- Collaborate with Architects and Technical Leads to understand and evolve the technical vision, system architecture, and cross-component dependencies.
- Build understanding of how different technology layers, services, and components interact, and reflect this understanding in backlog structure and sequencing.
Team Enablement & Delivery Support
- Support 2–3 cross-functional software teams by providing continuous clarification, fast feedback, on technical scope and trade-offs.
- Actively participate in Backlog Refinement, Sprint Planning, Reviews, and release-related activities to ensure shared understanding and focus.
- Partner with Scrum Masters to improve flow, predictability, and delivery transparency, without overlapping servant-leadership responsibilities.
Quality, Risk, and Dependency Management
- Ensure that quality, security, performance, and operability concerns are addressed early ("shift-left") and explicitly captured in backlog items.
- Identify and manage technical risks, dependencies, and integration constraints, escalating and aligning across teams and stakeholders when required.
- Support release readiness by validating that scope, documentation, and technical prerequisites are in place.
Multi‑Campus & Stakeholder Alignment
- Support planning and synchronization across distributed, multi-campus teams, contributing to shared milestones, demos, and integration checkpoints.
- Communicate with engineering, product, QA, DevSecOps, and documentation stakeholders using common collaboration tools and shared spaces.
The Essentials - You Will Have:
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
- 3+ years of experience as a Technical Product Owner, Product Owner, System Analyst, or similar role in software-intensive products or platforms.
- Strong understanding of software architecture, system integration, and the full software delivery lifecycle, including validation and quality practices.
- Proven ability to work with architects, senior engineers, and cross-functional teams to shape technically coherent solutions.
- Experience writing clear, testable backlog items with meaningful acceptance criteria and non-functional requirements.
- Fluent in English (multi-campus / distributed environment).
- Familiarity with Agile and ALM tools (e.g., Jira, Jama, Jira Align, Azure DevOps, Teams).
The Preferred - You Might Also Have:
- Experience in industrial software domains (e.g., HMI, SCADA, IIoT, edge/industrial platforms).
- Background in integration-heavy, platform, or system-of-systems products.
- Familiarity with release governance, dependency management, or regulated environments.
- Italian language skills.
What We Offer:
Our benefits package includes …
- Volunteer Paid Time off available after 6 months of employment for eligible employees
- Company volunteer and donation matching program – Your volunteer hours or personal cash donations to an eligible charity can be matched with a charitable donation.
- On-demand digital course library for professional development
- Comprehensive mindfulness programs with a premium membership to Calm
- Employee Assistance Program
- Personalized wellbeing programs through our OnTrack program
... and other local benefits!
At Rockwell Automation we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right person for this or other roles.
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