Product Owner, Data & Technology

APA! BACKGROUND

Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) is one of Austin’s most dynamic and beloved nonprofits. The organization leads the No Kill movement nationally and is considered a national thought leader in animal welfare. APA! locally rescues, treats, and adopts out 10,000 homeless dogs and cats each year, providing the safety net for Austin’s most at‑risk shelter pets, which helps Austin to be a No Kill city, while also assisting other communities in saving homeless animals. The organization is distinguished by its large volunteer workforce and the scrappiness of its grassroots and its non‑traditional, community‑based animal rescue work. The organization continues to innovate best practices to save lives and spreads its impact by offering resources and mentorship related to its renowned lifesaving model through American Pets Alive!, APA!’s national division. In 2020, American Pets Alive! began the Human Animal Support Services (HASS) - an innovative initiative aimed at rethinking the traditional model of animal sheltering. It focuses on supporting both people and pets in the community to reduce the number of animals entering shelters and improve outcomes for both. The project encourages collaboration between animal welfare organizations and community‑based services, with a goal of providing personalized, proactive support that positions animal welfare as a social service.

BRIEF POSITION SUMMARY/OVERVIEW

The Product Owner is a member of APA!'s Data & Technology Division and reports directly to the Senior Director of Data Strategy. This role owns the full product lifecycle and systems backlog for the Division's tools, platforms, and integrations, translating the Senior Director's strategic roadmap and the operational needs of executive leadership into clear, sequenced, and buildable work for the Data Analyst, Data Engineer, and the Division's contractor and volunteer bench. This is a hands‑on, execution‑focused role suited to someone who can serve as the bridge between the Division's technical strategy, the team building its systems, and the frontline staff using them every day. The ideal candidate brings structure and rigor to a division being rebuilt from the ground up and is comfortable working with ambiguity in a fast‑paced nonprofit environment. The emphasis here is on implementation ownership, change management, and translating technical concepts for non‑technical stakeholders - not on engineering depth. The Product Owner is responsible for on‑the‑ground implementation, working directly alongside each department, key stakeholders, and the Data & Tech team as needed, including learning new software and tools as they are built and rolled out, as well as running ongoing feedback loops with the departments that use those tools. The Product Owner will be able to work independently as well as collaboratively with stakeholders of all levels, and will meet timely goals and milestones set with the Senior Director. The Product Owner will own the full product lifecycle from stakeholder discovery sessions to team training and tool launch, to collecting and integrating user feedback. The Product Owner, Data & Technology is responsible for managing their daily responsibilities, maintaining clear priorities, and delivering consistent, high‑quality work that aligns with APA!’s values and goals. This includes staying organized, using data or feedback to inform decisions, and following through on key tasks and responsibilities with minimal oversight. This is a hands‑on, mission‑driven role focused on results, reliability, and teamwork. APA! is a volunteer‑powered organization, so every staff member is expected to work alongside and support volunteers. The Product Owner, Data & Technology collaborates closely with volunteers to complete day‑to‑day tasks, helps create a positive and inclusive environment, and actively contributes to a culture of shared effort and mutual respect. This position may involve shift flexibility, weekend hours, and responsiveness during times of high need. Every individual at APA! is responsible for working in collaboration with volunteers, making sure volunteers are recruited, trained, and feel impactful through their efforts at APA!. A core part of this role is creating a welcoming and empowering experience for volunteers, including assisting with onboarding, training, and volunteer engagement as part of the day‑to‑day workflow.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Actively contribute to a volunteer‑powered culture by partnering with volunteers during every shift and helping create an inclusive, welcoming environment
• Work alongside volunteers to complete daily tasks, ensuring the work is shared and collaborative—not siloed
• Support the recruitment and onboarding process by welcoming new volunteers and helping them get oriented to the program
• Help retain volunteers by offering encouragement, guidance, and feedback during shared work
• Recommend strong volunteers for deeper involvement or specialized roles to your supervisor or volunteer manager
• Contribute to a positive culture by recognizing volunteer contributions through appreciation, gratitude, and shoutouts
• Help set volunteers up for success by clearly explaining tasks, providing hands‑on guidance, and offering in‑the‑moment support
• Partner with the Senior Director to translate APA!'s 3‑year data and technology roadmap into an executable, sequenced product backlog, ensuring every piece of work is tied to specific operational priorities.
• Own day‑to‑day prioritization and sequencing of the Data & Technology Division's project portfolio, data pipelines, dashboards, integrations, and platform initiatives, in partnership with the Data & Tech team.
• Serve as the connective tissue between the Senior Director's strategic priorities, end‑user priorities, and daily execution by the Division's contractor and volunteer bench.
• Stay hands‑on through implementation - this goes beyond defining requirements, to working alongside the teams building and using them, so gaps between spec and reality get caught early.
• Build standing feedback loops with each department that uses Division tools (shelter operations, medical, behavior, development, community programs, human resources, volunteer management, and others), so real usage and pain points directly shape what gets built next.
• Support the internal specification for the Shelter Operating System, APA!'s data and systems replication framework, in partnership with the Data & Tech team.
• Lead change management around data compliance and usage at all levels of the organization.
• Support sequencing of data integration work tied to APA!'s growing organization.
• Support data integrity and governance standards across delivered systems