Product Owner

BSN SPORTS A VARSITY BRANDS COMPANY - THE RECOGNIZED LEADER IN TEAM ATHLETIC GEAR

For over 50 years BSN SPORTS has been the largest team sporting goods equipment and apparel distributor of choice in the United States. Our 3000 BSN SPORTS employees strive to support the Heart of the Game by putting valuable time back into the day of coaches and administrators through excellent service platforms. Our company mission is simple: Save coaches and administrators time with everything they do off the field so they have more time to impact young lives on it.

LOCATION: Onsite 4 days per week at Farmers Branch TX Varsity Brands HQ

HOW YOU WILL MAKE AN IMPACT:

The Product Owner supports and progressively expands ownership of the overall digital experience product needs and continuous-improvement priorities for one of BSN SPORTS primary business channels: Club Collegiate or Institutional.

This role serves as a primary product representative for the assigned channel partnering with business stakeholders executive leadership Commercial teams customers frontline employees and application-aligned Portfolio Product Owners. The position will identify opportunities evaluate customer and business needs contribute to prioritization decisions and translate channel objectives into coordinated product initiatives across BSN SPORTS digital platforms.

Portfolio Product Owners are aligned to applications and platforms including My Team Shop Sideline Stores and Team Art Locker. The Product Owner will partner with the appropriate Portfolio Product Owners and senior Product Owners to ensure channel needs are understood prioritized and delivered through the relevant application roadmaps. Unresolved conflicts will be elevated to the executive steering committee for final direction. This role develops a strong understanding of how customer value business priorities and technical feasibility influence product decisions across the assigned channel.

The Product Owner will support and contribute to product initiatives from discovery through launch and adoption. They will remain actively engaged in discovery requirements prioritization testing release readiness and post-launch adoption while maintaining lighter involvement during active software development and continuing to build expertise in product ownership Agile delivery practices customer discovery and data-informed decision making.

In addition to major initiatives the role will maintain and prioritize a continuous backlog of smaller enhancements customer pain points defects technical improvements and operational-efficiency opportunities while developing the judgment and product management skills needed to independently own increasingly complex products and initiatives over time.

Commercial teams retain accountability for revenue and business results. The Product Owner focuses on customer experience product outcomes adoption usability operational effectiveness and translating channel needs into technology-enabled solutions.

Working under the guidance of more senior Product Owners this role develops the knowledge judgment and product management capabilities necessary to progressively assume greater ownership of product strategy prioritization customer outcomes and product performance.

WHAT YOU WILL DO:

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities duties or responsibilities required of the employee for this job. Duties responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Channel Experience & Strategy

• Develop and maintain a comprehensive understanding of the assigned channel including customers users business processes operational needs pain points and strategic priorities

• Serve as a primary product representative and advocate for the overall digital experience of the assigned channel

• Partner with business stakeholders and executive management to understand channel priorities and support major roadmap decisions

• Translate channel strategies customer needs and operational challenges into clear product opportunities and prioritized initiatives

• Evaluate opportunities based on customer impact strategic alignment adoption potential operational value effort risk dependencies and expected outcomes with guidance from senior Product Owners as appropriate

• Maintain and continuously refine a channel-level roadmap identifying major initiatives experience improvements capability gaps and cross-application dependencies

• Ensure the channel experience remains cohesive when customer journeys span multiple applications systems and operational teams

• Develop a strong understanding of how customer needs business priorities and technical feasibility influence product strategy and prioritization

Stakeholder Engagement & Prioritization

• Build strong working relationships with channel leadership Commercial Operations Sales Customer Service Marketing Finance Technology and other business functions

• Facilitate discussions to understand competing needs clarify tradeoffs and contribute to prioritization decisions

• Present recommendations supporting analysis options dependencies risks and tradeoffs to executive management for review with guidance from senior Product Owners

• Establish transparent prioritization criteria and ensure stakeholders understand how and why initiatives are sequenced

• Communicate roadmap decisions initiative status product outcomes constraints and changes to appropriate stakeholders

• Escalate unresolved cross-channel cross-application or resource conflicts to the executive steering committee through appropriate Product leadership

• Support steering committee decisions with clear business context customer impact data dependencies and alternatives

• Develop effective stakeholder management communication and influence skills while partnering across cross-functional teams

Partnership with Portfolio Product Owners

• Partner with application-aligned Portfolio Product Owners responsible for My Team Shop Sideline Stores Team Art Locker and other relevant platforms

• Clearly communicate channel needs desired outcomes customer problems priorities and success measures

• Collaborate to determine which applications platforms or services should deliver a requested capability

• Ensure channel requirements are incorporated into appropriate application roadmaps and product backlogs

• Coordinate initiatives requiring changes across multiple products applications or delivery teams

• Participate in cross-portfolio planning to identify dependencies sequencing requirements shared capabilities and conflicts

• Balance channel-specific needs with enterprise platform strategies technical sustainability and the needs of other channels while developing an understanding of product tradeoff decisions

• Elevate conflicts that cannot be resolved collaboratively to the executive steering committee for final direction through senior Product leadership as appropriate

Customer and User Discovery

• Conduct regular discovery with customers users and frontline employees to identify unmet needs recurring pain points experience gaps and improvement opportunities

• Engage coaches athletic directors club owners collegiate personnel sales professionals players parents customer-service teams and operational users as appropriate

• Use interviews observation surveys journey mapping usability testing feedback sessions support data and analytics to gather insights

• Validate that proposed solutions address meaningful customer or operational problems before significant development investment is made

• Partner with UX research analytics and business teams to develop customer journeys personas experience maps and problem statements

• Evaluate stakeholder requests against customer evidence usage data strategic priorities and broader channel needs

• Maintain an organized repository of customer insights feedback themes experience gaps and validated opportunities

• Continuously build expertise in customer discovery product research and data-informed decision making to strengthen future product recommendations

Initiative Ownership and Delivery

• Lead assigned channel initiatives from initial concept through discovery prioritization approval delivery launch and adoption for assigned products features or initiatives appropriate to the roles scope and experience

• Define the business problem target users desired outcomes scope success measures assumptions dependencies risks and constraints

• Partner with Business Analysts UX Portfolio Product Owners Architecture Engineering and Delivery teams to establish clear requirements and execution readiness

• Participate actively in discovery solution definition requirements reviews roadmap planning UAT launch readiness and post-launch evaluation

• Maintain lighter involvement during active development while remaining available to clarify priorities answer business questions review material scope changes and resolve escalated decisions

• Review proposed solutions to confirm they address the intended channel need and preserve the desired customer experience

• Support creation and approval of epics business requirements user journeys business rules acceptance criteria and measurable outcomes

• Participate in product demonstrations and key milestone reviews

• Coordinate with stakeholders to ensure operational processes policies support models and customer-facing experiences are prepared for launch

• Identify and escalate risks dependencies decision gaps and adoption barriers

• Partner with Delivery and Engineering teams to understand schedules constraints and risks without owning engineering delivery dates or day-to-day development execution

• Develop expertise in balancing customer needs business priorities and technical considerations while building end-to-end product ownership capabilities

Backlog and Continuous Improvement

• Create maintain and prioritize a channel-level backlog of improvement opportunities

• Balance strategic initiatives with smaller delivery-ready items

• Include customer pain points experience enhancements defects technical improvements operational efficiencies usability improvements analytics needs process improvements and stakeholder requests

• Refine backlog items based on new information customer feedback performance data implementation learnings and changing business priorities

• Partner with Portfolio Product Owners and technical teams to identify smaller items that can be completed when capacity is available

• Ensure backlog items contain sufficient context desired outcomes customer impact priority rationale and acceptance expectations

• Retire combine or deprioritize items that are no longer aligned with channel strategy or supported by evidence

• Promote continuous product improvement rather than relying exclusively on large projects

• Develop sound product judgment by continuously evaluating customer feedback business priorities and product performance to support backlog refinement and prioritization decisions

Analytics and Product Performance

• Define success measures and analytics requirements for major initiatives and feature enhancements

• Monitor revenue trends and revenue influence conversion rates customer and user adoption feature utilization customer satisfaction Net Promoter Score or other experience indicators customer feedback themes user behavior and journey completion defect and support volumes operational efficiency cycle time feature performance and release outcomes

• Partner with Commercial teams to understand business-performance results while maintaining clear ownership boundaries

• Use analytics to identify experience problems adoption barriers underperforming capabilities and new opportunities

• Develop dashboards scorecards or regular performance summaries that provide visibility into channel experience and product outcomes

• Compare actual results with expected outcomes and recommend follow-up improvements when performance does not meet expectations

• Ensure analytics and measurement needs are incorporated into solution requirements before launch

• Combine behavioral analytics with customer feedback and operational insights

• Develop proficiency in interpreting product customer operational and business metrics to support evidence-based product decisions and continuous improvement

Launch Change Management and Adoption

• Develop an adoption strategy for new capabilities features and experience changes

• Partner with Commercial Sales Marketing Training Customer Service Operations and other teams to prepare for launch

• Help define customer and employee communications training materials enablement plans support resources FAQs and launch messaging

• Identify affected audiences and ensure they understand what is changing why it matters and how to use the new capability

• Coordinate pilot programs phased launches early-adopter feedback and readiness reviews when appropriate

• Track adoption utilization customer response operational impact and support needs following launch

• Investigate low adoption or deficient performance and lead corrective-action planning

• Recommend adjustments to the product experience communications training process or rollout strategy based on post-launch results

• Ensure delivered capabilities transition into an effective ongoing operating and support model

• Use post-launch feedback customer insights and product analytics to identify opportunities that improve future releases and customer outcomes

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Lead through influence in a matrixed organization without direct authority over business technology or delivery teams

• Create alignment among stakeholders with different objectives incentives timelines and levels of technical understanding

• Facilitate productive meetings decision sessions prioritization discussions discovery workshops and executive reviews

• Communicate complex product and technology topics in clear business language

• Promote fact-based decision-making customer-centered design transparent prioritization and accountability for outcomes

• Contribute to BSN SPORTS product operating model governance processes and product management practices

• Share insights and reusable practices across Club Collegiate and Institutional channel teams

• Continuously develop product leadership business acumen and influence skills while building trusted partnerships across Product Engineering UX Business Analysis and business stakeholders

QUALIFICATIONS:

Knowledge Skills Abilities

• Strong customer orientation and commitment to improving end-to-end digital and operational experiences

• Ability to understand the needs of a business channel while recognizing broader enterprise and platform considerations

• Ability to influence senior leaders and cross-functional stakeholders without direct reporting authority through clear communication preparation and collaboration

• Strong prioritization skills using customer evidence data strategic alignment value effort risk and dependencies

• Excellent communication presentation negotiation and facilitation skills with the ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences

• Ability to navigate ambiguity structure complex problems and move groups toward clear decisions

• Strong analytical skills and ability to interpret product customer operational and commercial data

• Understanding of product analytics adoption measurement customer feedback conversion utilization and feature-performance evaluation

• Ability to conduct or support customer interviews user research journey mapping surveys usability testing and feedback analysis

• Understanding of digital product management product discovery roadmaps backlogs prioritization and product delivery lifecycles

• Working knowledge of Agile practices including epics user stories backlog refinement sprint reviews UAT and release planning

• Ability to collaborate with Product UX Business Analysis Engineering Architecture Analytics Delivery Operations Sales and Commercial teams

• Ability to understand technical concepts system dependencies integrations APIs data flows and platform constraints at a level sufficient to support product decisions

• Strong organizational skills with a high degree of ownership follow-through and accountability

• Ability to manage multiple initiatives stakeholders dependencies and priorities simultaneously

• Ability to balance strategic transformation work with smaller continuous improvement opportunities

• Strong judgment and ability to recognize when decisions or conflicts should be escalated

• Demonstrated learning agility with the curiosity to continuously expand product customer industry and business knowledge

• Ability to write clear concise user stories acceptance criteria business documentation and product communications

• Demonstrated customer-first mindset with a passion for understanding customer problems and improving user experiences

• Highly organized with strong attention to detail and the ability to effectively manage competing priorities

• Receptive to coaching and feedback with a commitment to continuous professional development

• Ability to build trusted relationships and work effectively in a highly collaborative cross-functional environment

• Self-motivated with strong initiative and accountability for delivering high-quality product outcomes

Education Certification and Experience

Required

• Bachelors degree in Business Administration Product Management Marketing Information Systems Business Analytics Computer Science Engineering or a related field or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience

• High-potential early-career candidates with strong internship co-op capstone project consulting product management business analysis engineering technology delivery or equivalent experience

• Demonstrated interest in digital products customer experience Agile delivery or technology-enabled business solutions

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications

Preferred

• Master of Business Administration (MBA)

• Experience working in a cross-functional or matrixed organization

• Experience supporting digital products eCommerce platforms enterprise applications customer-facing technology or business transformation initiatives

• Experience working with business stakeholders customers frontline employees product teams and technology teams

• Experience using analytics and customer feedback to guide product decisions

• Experience supporting product launches organizational change training communications or adoption programs

• Familiarity with Agile product management tools such as Jira Azure DevOps (ADO) or similar platforms

• Agile/Product Management certifications are preferred but not required including:

  • CSPO

  • PSPO

  • CSM

  • PMI-ACP

PHYSICAL REQUIRMENTS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities duties or responsibilities required of the employee for this job.

JOIN THE BEST TEAM IN SPORT & SPIRIT

At Varsity Brands we believe every student deserves the opportunity to succeed and every educator wants to make a difference. It takes a team to make a real impact and through our two divisions BSN SPORTS and Varsity Spirit and our network of 6000 employees and independent representatives we are proud to partner with a wide range of educational institutions and club and professional sports to transform the student journey in SPORT and SPIRIT.

OUR VALUES

Service - We lead with heart. We champion community.

Passion - We love what we do. It fuels our purpose.

Integrity - We do what we promise. We own our actions and decisions.

Respect - We earn it by giving it. Because everyone deserves it.

Innovation - We never stop striving to be better. For ourselves and our community.

Transparency - We are committed to openness and honesty in everything we do.

OUR BENEFITS

We are committed to putting you and your families first. For benefits eligible roles we offer a variety of choices and costs as well as program enhancements that align with our responsibility to elevate the employee experience. Some of our offerings include:

• Comprehensive Health Care Benefits
• HSA Employer Contribution/ FSA Opportunities
• Wellbeing Program
• 401(k) plan with company matching
• Company paid Life AD&D and Short-Term Disability
• Generous My Time Off & Paid Holidays
• Varsity Brands Ownership Program
• Employee Resource Groups
• Access to Financial Coaching and member-owned Credit Union
• St. Jude Partnership & Volunteer Opportunities
• Employee Perks including discounts on personal apparel and equipment!

Varsity Brands companies are equal opportunity employers. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race religion color national origin citizenship gender sexual orientation gender identity veterans status age or disability.