Product Owner (Krakow, Hybrid)
We are on the front line of recruitment, enabling organizations to hire smarter and onboard faster. At First Advantage (Nasdaq: FA), people are at the heart of everything we do. From our customers and partners to our greatest advantage — our team members.
Say hello to a rewarding career and come join a leading provider of mission-critical background screening solutions to some of the most recognized Fortune 100 and Global 500 brands.
About First Advantage
First Advantage (NASDAQ: FA) is a leading provider of global software and data in the HR technology industry. Enabled by proprietary technology and AI, First Advantage’s platforms, data, and APIs power comprehensive employment background screening, identity solutions, and verification services.
Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, we have an internationally distributed workforce of about 10,000 employees spanning 17 countries. With a strong emphasis on innovation, automation, and customer success, First Advantage empowers 80,000 organizations to modernize their hiring and onboarding processes on a global scale.
The Product Owner is an execution-focused member of the product delivery organisation, responsible for translating requirements into clear user stories, managing the team backlog, coordinating delivery, and ensuring clarity across engineering, QA, and internal stakeholders. This role operates in a high‑change, high‑ambiguity environment, requiring strong organisation, adaptability, and excellent communication.
The Product Owner will work day‑to‑day with developers and a Scrum Master, owning backlog decisions within their domain. This is not a strategy or roadmap role; the focus is delivering high-quality functionality efficiently, consistently, and with clarity.
What You'll Do:
Backlog & Delivery Ownership
- Own and maintain the product backlog, ensuring clarity, prioritisation, and alignment with delivery goals.
- Write high‑quality user stories with clear acceptance criteria.
- Lead backlog refinement sessions, ensuring the team understands scope and dependencies.
- Coordinate with developers, QA, and the Scrum Master to enable smooth sprint execution.
- Make day‑to‑day prioritisation decisions with moderate autonomy, escalating high-impact issues when appropriate.
- Ensure readiness for sprint planning (definitions, sizing, dependencies, acceptance).
- Support delivery across a fast‑changing environment, adapting to shifting priorities while maintaining structure and clarity.
- Understand system interactions, APIs, and data flows at a functional level.
Translate stakeholder requirements into detailed functional stories that technical teams can execute. - Conduct functional validation of delivered work to ensure alignment with expected outcomes.
- Work with engineering to clarify functional constraints, edge cases, and user handling.
- Create and maintain process maps, workflow documentation, and functional diagrams.
- Design, interpret, or validate user workflows and functional journeys.
- Ensure workflows and processes are correctly reflected in user stories and acceptance criteria.
- Act as the primary point of contact for internal stakeholders regarding requirements and clarifications.
- Manage expectations with cross‑functional teams (engineering, QA, PM, Ops, CS).
- Participate in occasional customer calls for clarification (not responsible for strategy or leading customer meetings).
- Communicate delivery timelines, risks, and progress clearly.
- Perform intermediate analytical work to support backlog decisions (Excel, usage data, trend analysis).
- Interpret operational data, user behaviour, and workflow metrics to support prioritisation.
- Provide data‑backed insights into workflow efficiency and improvement opportunities.
- Minimum 3 years’ experience as a Product Owner, Product Manager, Business Analyst, or similar role.
- Bachelor’s degree (business, technical, or related field).
- Fluent English communication skills (written and verbal).
Technical & Tooling - Moderately technical — understands APIs, service interactions, and functional data flows.
- Hands-on experience with Azure DevOps (Boards, Work Items, backlogs, sprints).
- Ability to create and manage process maps, workflow documentation, and functional journeys.
- Strong organisational skills with the ability to bring structure to ambiguous environments.
Delivery & Collaboration - Excellent facilitation and communication skills.
- Experience working closely with developers and a Scrum Master in Agile environments.
- Strong coordination abilities across cross‑functional teams.
- Ability to independently manage day‑to‑day backlog responsibilities.
- Strong problem-solving and analytical thinking.
Analytical - Intermediate Excel/data-analysis skills.
- Ability to interpret usage trends, workflow data, and operational metrics.
- Converts data into actionable insights for backlog decisions.
Nice to Have - Familiarity with API concepts and integration patterns.
- Experience contributing to or managing internal operational tooling.
- General UX awareness, understanding user flow, usability principles, and friction points.
- Broader data literacy and comfort supporting operational reporting.
- Exposure to environments with heavy change or rapid iteration.
- Participation in process improvement or change‑management activities.
Working Style & Expectations - Thrives in high‑change environments and remains calm and clear under pressure.
- Highly collaborative, with strong respect for engineering and cross‑functional partners.
- Comfortable making clear decisions within their domain while escalating appropriately.
- Detail‑oriented, structured, and consistent in managing requirements and workflows.
- Focused on execution, clarity, and delivering value quickly.
- Key Requirements:
Must be within commuting distance to the Poland Office.
Hybrid working - Expectation is 2-3 days in the office per week, with ability to have this person in the office full time should it be required.
At First Advantage, team members are united around a noble purpose: helping organizations to safeguard their workplaces and manage risk. The company’s culture is shaped by its core values — Authenticity, Curiosity, Integrity, Teamwork, Customer-Inspired — empowering team members to bring their best ideas forward, collaborate across departments, and make a real impact.
First Advantage offers a variety of culture programs and benefits designed to enhance employee experience and development.
- Employee Impact Groups
- FA Cares volunteer opportunities
- Mentorship Advantage Program
- SOAR, award-winning manager development program
What Are You Waiting For? Apply Today!
You have learned a little about us today – we want to learn about you! If you think this position and our company are a great fit for your areas of interest and expertise, tell us about you by applying now
United States Equal Opportunity Employment:
First Advantage is proud to be a global leader in removing barriers and supporting our community members to ensure the changing demographics of the workforce are reflected in our hiring and employment practices. We value all of our candidates, employees, and clients, and place great emphasis on hiring and supporting qualified individuals in each role. We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship status, marital status, disability, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, genetic information, or any other area protected by applicable law.