Senior Product Owner - Big Data Engineering
Department: Operations
Employment Type: Full Time
Location: Malta
Reporting To: Karen Bubelis Livori
Description
We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Senior Product Owner to join our dynamic Data Department. In this critical role, you will serve as the primary bridge between the business and the Data Engineering team, driving the strategic development and continuous improvement of our Data Platform and its associated components. Your focus will be on ensuring the platform is scalable, cost-efficient, resilient, and highly reliable, supporting evolving business demands.
As the Data Product Owner, you will collaborate closely with cross-functional stakeholders, from engineers to business leaders, to deeply understand their needs and challenges. You will take ownership of defining, prioritising, and managing the product backlog, aligning initiatives with the company’s overall roadmap and long-term business strategy. Your input will be essential in delivering innovative and high-quality data solutions that empower the organisation to make data-driven decisions confidently.
This role demands a strategic mindset, strong product management skills, and a solid understanding of data and big data ecosystems. By effectively balancing technical possibilities with business value, you will ensure the timely delivery of scalable data products that drive growth and operational excellence.
Key Responsibilities
- Serve as the Product Owner for the Data Platform - Big Data Engineering teams, leading Agile ceremonies such as sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives, and championing Agile best practices to maximise team effectiveness.
- Own and continuously maintain a clear, prioritised product backlog that aligns with the strategic product roadmap. Define detailed user stories with clear acceptance criteria and ensure all requirements are unambiguous and achievable.
- Guide the teams to deliver data products on time, within scope, and meeting defined quality standards while supporting continuous improvement and proactive risk management.
- Own, update, and communicate the product roadmap for your data vertical, ensuring that team priorities are consistently aligned with the Data Platform vision, strategic goals, and overarching company priorities as set by leadership.
- Collaborate closely with cross-functional data teams, including data engineers, data scientists, business intelligence specialists, and analysts, to ensure alignment of objectives and seamless delivery of data solutions.
- Act as the primary liaison between technical teams and business stakeholders, facilitating transparent communication, managing expectations, and translating complex data requirements into actionable features and technical deliverables.
- Work with other Product Owners across the organisation to identify and manage cross-domain dependencies, ensuring the delivery of integrated, high-quality end-to-end solutions.
- Lead release planning activities and provide regular, transparent updates to stakeholders on progress, risks, and deliverable status.
- Continuously monitor the performance, scalability, and reliability of data products post-release.
- Identify opportunities for optimisation, automation, and technical innovation to enhance platform efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
- Mentor and support junior product owners or team members, fostering knowledge sharing and a culture of continuous learning within the product and data engineering teams.
Skills, Knowledge & Expertise
- A passionate professional with a strong interest in iGaming and the technology that powers the online gaming industry, eager to drive innovation in this fast-evolving space.
- Experienced Product Owner with a proven track record of defining, prioritising, and delivering product features within Agile/Scrum frameworks, adept at fostering collaboration and agility across teams.
- Possess a solid understanding of Data Platform architectures and functions, enabling you to efficiently channel requests, engage with diverse stakeholders, and translate complex technical requirements into clear, actionable business outcomes.
- Data-driven and user-centric, committed to leveraging analytics and user insights to continuously improve product development and enhance customer value.
- Technologically fluent in the tools and frameworks used by Data Engineering team, not necessarily coding, but enough to provide meaningful guidance and ensure comprehensive, precise requirements that accelerate delivery.
- Strong decision-maker, capable of evaluating business impact, risk, and opportunity to steer product direction effectively and confidently.
- Demonstrate leadership through influence and ownership, inspiring teams and driving results even without direct line management responsibilities.
- Comfortable engaging with stakeholders at all levels, from commercial leaders to technical experts, able to communicate vision, objectives, and progress clearly and persuasively—both verbally and in writing.
- Highly analytical with excellent problem-solving skills, a keen eye for detail, and a curious mindset that constantly seeks to understand and resolve underlying business challenges.
- Proactive in identifying critical business problems and opportunities, developing products that not only add significant value but also mitigate risks, giving GiG a competitive edge to accelerate growth.