Technical Product Owner, Entertainment

Title: Technical Product Owner, Entertainment Employment Type: Full-time Location: New York, NY (Hybrid NYC - three days per week) First Look: The Arena Group is looking for a Technical Product Owner interested in the entertainment/lifestyle space and a background in digital media publishing. In this role, you will lead the development of digital products, working closely with teams across the company to improve user experience and drive revenue growth. You'll turn business goals into technical tasks, prioritizing work for development teams while ensuring everything stays on track with our objectives of growth and audience engagement. This role requires collaboration with editorial, operations, design, marketing, and technology teams, managing products from idea to launch and ongoing improvements. We're looking for someone comfortable in a fast-paced environment who can help drive innovation and achieve the company's financial goals. The Arena Group's expected annualized base salary range for this position is currently $150,000 - $190,000 USD. Actual salaries will vary based on multiple factors including location, education, experience and other factors permitted by law. The listed salary range is but one component of The Arena Group's total compensation and benefits available to its employees. Please note: due to the volume of applications we receive, only applicants selected for consideration will be contacted. Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S., and we are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time. What You'll Do: Stakeholder Collaboration: Partner with key stakeholders across GM, editorial, research, marketing, monetization, UX, and more to define and align on the product vision and outcomes for all entertainment brands. Product Roadmap Development: Create and maintain a comprehensive product roadmap that aligns with the product vision, detailing features, timelines, and resource allocations. Requirement Gathering & Prioritization: Collect input from cross-functional teams and translate it into actionable product requirements. Prioritize key features within the roadmap to maximize impact. Sprint Management: Lead and manage vertical engineering sprints, including creating and prioritizing stories, defining acceptance criteria, conducting functional reviews, and running ceremonies such as standups, sprint planning, and retrospectives. KPI Definition & Monitoring: Establish and track product success metrics that align with the company's North Star. Regularly communicate KPI status updates to stakeholders. User Experience & Research: Partner with UX and research teams to gather consumer insights, ensuring the product delivers exceptional user experiences. Proactively communicate findings and align teams on product goals. Vendor Management: Oversee vendor performance, identify new vendors, and make trade-offs that optimize product and business outcomes. Update and enhance site content and features using a content management system (CMS) What You'll Bring: Bachelor's in highly-quantitative fields (science, stats, math, economics, engineering). Proven ability to use analytics, metrics, and benchmarking to drive data-informed decisions. Exceptional interpersonal, organizational, creative, and communication skills. Ability to drive cross-functional collaboration and build consensus without direct authority. Demonstrated success in delivering consumer-focused internet products. Ability to work effectively in a team environment and drive results with a positive attitude. Team player in driving results combined with a positive attitude Strong work ethic with a focus on honesty, integrity, creativity, and continuous improvement. Self-motivated, results-driven, and a team-oriented leader who consistently seeks ways to improve products and processes. Knowledge of software engineering processes, troubleshooting and debugging skills Familiarity with foundational coding concepts Bonus Points if you have: Front-end and/or Back-end development experience Experience with technical SEO audits and knowledgeable regarding structured data and schema markup Log file analysis and page speed optimization Content workflow automation. Experience in automating content workflows within CMS platforms, using tools like Zapier, Integromat, or custom scripts to streamline content publishing, approval, and syndication processes SEO-Friendly CMS configuration. Ability to configure CMS platforms for optimal SEO performance, including setting up SEO-friendly URL structures, managing redirects, and ensuring proper meta tag management. Experience with large-scale software architecture, networking, distributed systems, and UNIX/Linux environments. Solid understanding of data structures and algorithms Large-scale, large-user base website development experience Data mining, machine learning, AI, statistics, information retrieval, linguistic analysis Snapshot of Benefits: Medical, Dental and, Vision Coverage Retirement Savings Plan (401K), with company match Flexible Spending Account (FSA) & Health Savings Account (HSA) Commuter Benefits Reimbursement for business cell phone use per company policy Unlimited Paid Time Off Paid Parental Leave 12 Paid Holidays About Us: The Arena Group (NYSE American: AREN) is an innovative technology platform and media company with a proven cutting-edge playbook that transforms media brands. Our unified technology platform empowers creators and publishers with tools to publish and monetize their content, while also leveraging quality journalism of anchor brands like TheStreet, Parade, Men's Journal, and HubPages to build their businesses. The company aggregates content across a diverse portfolio of over 265 brands, reaching over 100 million users monthly. Visit us at thearenagroup.net and discover how we are revolutionizing the world of digital media. The Arena Group is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive environment. We do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, disability, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.