Product Owner

Who Are You?
You are a builder at heart - someone who gets energy from turning ambiguity into clarity and ideas into shipped features. You thrive at the intersection of strategy and execution, equally comfortable in a sprint planning session as you are in a conversation with a customer. You don't wait for clarity to find you; you create it, using every tool at your disposal - including AI.
You've moved beyond thinking of LLMs as a novelty. You use them daily to draft user stories, pressure-test acceptance criteria, generate design artifacts, and synthesize feedback into something actionable. You know how to prompt well, recognize when AI output needs work, and close the gap yourself. You bring speed and judgment in equal measure.
You care about the product you're building and the people it serves. You ask questions, connect dots between customer pain and engineering effort, and keep the team focused on work that matters. You're ready to grow with a company that's moving fast and doing something meaningful.
If this describes you, Kaleidoscope is thrilled you're here.
 
Who Are We?
We're re-imagining the role of technology in the scholarship space. Millions of capable students face financial barriers, while organizations wanting to help often lack the infrastructure to do it effectively. We provide the tools, services, and support organizations need to launch and operate world-class scholarship programs. Our customers range from established foundations to corporations building community impact and future workforce, to individuals creating their legacy - and we're expanding into entirely new markets. We're not just building software; we're supporting our partners in creating opportunity.
In 2025, we were awarded the best scholarship management software and top 50 EdTech software on G2.
Learn more at www.mykaleidoscope.com.
 
Position Summary
The Product Owner is responsible for translating product strategy into actionable deliverables and ensuring the development team is focused on work that drives customer value. You'll serve as the primary liaison between stakeholders and the engineering team - owning the backlog, authoring user stories, and supporting sprint execution from planning through release.
This role balances tactical delivery with meaningful input into product direction. You'll contribute to prioritization decisions and feature definition in partnership with leadership, while staying close to the engineering team day-to-day to keep things moving.
What makes this role distinctive is its AI-forward operating model. You'll be expected to use LLMs and AI-assisted tools as a primary means of producing and refining product artifacts - not as a supplement, but as a core part of how the work gets done. We're investing in this approach as a team and are looking for someone who is already living it or eager to go deep on it.
This is a hybrid role based in our Minneapolis office - 3 days on-site, 2 days remote.
 
Position Responsibilities
Backlog & Delivery

• Own and maintain the product backlog, ensuring it is clearly defined, prioritized, and aligned with product strategy and stakeholder needs
• Author user stories and acceptance criteria using LLM-assisted workflows, iterating rapidly to deliver clear, high-quality requirements to engineering
• Produce design artifacts including feature briefs, user stories, user flows, and design documentation, primarily through AI-assisted tooling
• Partner closely with engineering throughout the development lifecycle to clarify requirements, remove blockers, and conduct acceptance testing

Sprint & Stakeholder Management

• Facilitate sprint ceremonies including planning, review, and retrospective sessions
• Serve as the primary point of contact for the development team on questions of scope, requirements, and priorities
• Monitor key product metrics and feature-level performance indicators, using data to inform backlog decisions and communicate outcomes to stakeholders
• Collaborate with leadership, sales, marketing, and customer success teams to support go-to-market execution and ensure teams are equipped for feature launches

Customer & Product Insight

• Gather and incorporate customer and user feedback through interviews, support trends, beta programs, and usage data to continuously refine backlog priorities
• Use AI tools to accelerate synthesis of customer feedback, research, and competitive analysis, applying critical judgment to validate outputs before acting on them
• Contribute to product direction by synthesizing customer feedback, user data, and stakeholder input in collaboration with leadership

 
Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 5+ years of experience in a Product Owner, Business Analyst, or similar role
• Demonstrated aptitude using LLMs and AI-assisted tools (e.g., Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot) to produce product design artifacts such as user stories, acceptance criteria, feature briefs, PRDs, and user flows with speed and quality
• Proven ability to prompt, iterate on, and critically evaluate AI-generated content; knows where AI output requires human judgment and closes that gap efficiently
• Experience writing user stories and acceptance criteria and working within agile/scrum delivery frameworks alongside development teams
• Ability to manage and prioritize a product backlog, making fast, well-reasoned decisions that keep the development team aligned and moving
• Strong customer empathy with the ability to gather, synthesize, and act on user feedback to inform backlog prioritization and feature refinement
• Working knowledge of SaaS products in a B2B environment, with the ability to engage meaningfully with engineering on technical requirements
• Strong communication, collaboration, analytical, and organizational skills; ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment with shifting priorities
• Authorized to work in the US for any employer; ability to pass a background check

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working on AI-powered product features, with an understanding of how AI capabilities shape user experience, edge cases, and acceptance criteria
• Familiarity with Jira, Confluence, or similar agile tooling
• Experience in EdTech, nonprofit technology, or adjacent SaaS markets
• Startup or scale-up experience in a high-growth environment

 
What We'll Deliver
Tools & Resources

• AI-forward tooling and workflows across the product team
• Jira and Confluence for backlog and documentation management
• Figma for product design
• Regular training on product features, customer needs, and industry trends

Professional Development

• Mentorship from experienced product and engineering team members
• Scholarship and grant industry training
• Regular feedback, coaching, and clear visibility into team performance
• Room to grow as the product organization scales

Culture & Benefits

• Compensation range: $80,000–$110,000 annually, commensurate with experience
• Fast-paced, high-growth, mission-driven team
• Competitive pay and benefits package including:
• Medical, dental, vision coverage
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid parental leave policy
• Flexible PTO and more!

Our Mission
Our mission is to eliminate financial barriers to advancement by mobilizing philanthropic dollars to support students in need. Every day, we're working to connect capable students with the funding they need to reach their potential and helping organizations create meaningful scholarship programs that change lives.
 
Equal Opportunity Employer
Kaleidoscope is an equal opportunity employer. We're committed to building a diverse team because varied perspectives help us better serve our customers, partners, and scholars from every background. We welcome applicants regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.