Technical Product Owner

HMH is a learning technology company committed to delivering connected solutions that engage learners, empower educators and improve student outcomes. As a leading provider of K–12 core curriculum, supplemental and intervention solutions, and professional learning services, HMH partners with educators and school districts to uncover solutions that unlock students’ potential and extend teachers’ capabilities. HMH serves more than 50 million students and 4 million educators in 150 countries. For more information, visit As a Technical Product Owner, you will work at the intersection of product and technology, translating product strategy and customer needs into clear, actionable work for engineering teams. You will own the definition, refinement, and prioritization of the product backlog and work closely with Product Management, Engineering, Design, and other partners to turn product opportunities into well-defined, technically feasible capabilities. You will bring strong product judgment, technical understanding, and execution discipline to the team—ensuring engineering teams understand not only what needs to be built, but the problem being solved and the intended outcome. What You'll Do Own and maintain a healthy, prioritized product backlog aligned with product strategy and roadmap priorities Translate product and business requirements into clearly defined features, user stories, acceptance criteria, and engineering-ready scope Partner closely with Product Managers to understand product intent, priorities, customer needs, and expected outcomes Work directly with Engineering and Architecture to shape solutions, clarify requirements, understand technical constraints, and make informed trade-offs Lead backlog refinement and ensure upcoming work is sufficiently understood and ready for engineering Make day-to-day product decisions and resolve requirement ambiguity to keep teams moving Identify dependencies, risks, edge cases, and integration considerations early in the product development process Balance customer value, technical feasibility, scope, quality, and delivery considerations when making product decisions Collaborate with Design, QA, Engineering, and other cross-functional partners throughout product development Define clear acceptance expectations and ensure delivered capabilities meet the intended product requirements and outcomes Contribute to product discovery and feature definition by bringing technical feasibility and implementation considerations into the conversation early Communicate product requirements, priorities, decisions, and changes clearly across technical and non-technical stakeholders Continuously improve backlog quality, product development practices, and the effectiveness of collaboration between Product and Engineering Skills & Experience 5–8 years of experience in software product development, including significant experience as a Product Owner, Technical Product Owner, Business Systems Analyst, or similar product-focused role Demonstrated experience translating complex product needs into clear, actionable requirements for engineering teams Strong understanding of software development practices and the ability to work effectively with engineers and architects on technically complex products Experience working with APIs, integrations, data flows, system dependencies, or platform capabilities Strong backlog management, prioritization, requirements definition, and acceptance-criteria skills Ability to understand complex problems, ask the right questions, identify gaps, and make sound product decisions with incomplete information Strong analytical thinking and ability to evaluate scope, dependencies, risks, and trade-offs Excellent written and verbal communication skills Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively across Product, Engineering, Design, QA, and other disciplines Experience working in Agile product development environments and with tools such as Jira and Confluence Ability to operate independently, take ownership, and drive clarity in complex product and technical environments Preferred Qualifications Experience in the U.S. K–12 EdTech industry Experience with enterprise SaaS, platform, or integration-heavy products Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline or equivalent practical experience Product Owner or Agile certification is a plus The Information Technology organization is transforming to realize our mission: Become a leader in HMH’s digital transformation, and as a strategic partner, innovate and deliver highest value, competitive advantage solutions across all corporate and business functions. Our ambition is to be a digital leader through innovation and develop and deliver leading edge technology such as robotic process automation and artificial intelligence to solve some of HMH’s greatest operational business challenges. Our professionals will have business relevant skills to connect our HMH partners to technologies that propel the businesses to deliver the greatest value for HMH and our customers. We are building a team of IT professionals with an insatiable appetite to learn, a relentless focus on customer service, a technological curiosity toward future possibilities, and a creativity in solving business challenges with leading technologies. Our team will find ways to work together, create a sense of community where it’s safe to take risks and learn together, develop our careers, and all have an opportunity to work on new technologies. We will work together, learn together and have fun together. As a team, we will lead HMH’s digital transformation.