Product Owner – Platform Modernization / Application Discovery
Central Denver, CO (Hybrid--3 days)
Duration:
initial 6-month contract (not eligible for C2C)
Pay:$65-75/hr
We are seeking a highly technical Product Owner to lead discovery, documentation, and modernization efforts for a critical internal application platform built on a microservices architecture.
This role will focus on reverse engineering existing systems, analyzing C#/.NET applications and Azure Service Bus integrations, documenting architecture and workflows, identifying technical debt and operational risks, and developing a roadmap for stabilization and future enhancements in a complex environment with limited existing documentation.
Key Responsibilities
Product & System Discovery
- Assume ownership of an existing enterprise platform built on a distributed microservices architecture.
- Reverse engineer the current application ecosystem to understand system behavior, service dependencies, and business workflows.
- Analyze source code written in C#/.NET and collaborate with engineering teams to understand implementation patterns and business logic.
- Identify undocumented functionality, legacy workflows, and critical integration points.
Messaging & Integration Analysis
- Conduct deep analysis of message flows across Azure Service Bus and related event-driven systems.
- Trace queues, topics, subscriptions, retry logic, dead-letter handling, and asynchronous workflows.
- Document how data moves across services, APIs, downstream systems, and integrations.
Architecture Documentation
- Create comprehensive end-to-end platform documentation, including:
- Microservices architecture
- Service ownership and dependencies
- Event and message flows
- Data contracts and integrations
- Business process workflows
- Failure points and operational risks
- Develop architecture diagrams, process maps, and technical documentation to support ongoing engineering and modernization efforts.
Product Assessment & Modernization Strategy
- Assess the current platform to identify:
- Technical debt
- Redundant or obsolete services
- Scalability and performance concerns
- Security and operational gaps
- Opportunities for simplification or redesign
- Partner with engineering leadership to determine which components should be maintained, refactored, rebuilt, or retired.
- Develop and prioritize a modernization roadmap aligned with long-term business objectives.
Stakeholder Collaboration
- Work closely with engineering, operations, business stakeholders, and leadership teams to gather institutional knowledge about the platform.
- Translate technical findings into actionable business recommendations.
- Drive prioritization of system improvements and future product investments.
Required Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience as a Product Owner, Technical Product Owner, Software Engineer, Solutions Engineer, or similar technical role
- Strong technical understanding of C#/.NET applications with the ability to read and interpret code
- Hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure cloud environments
- Deep understanding of Azure Service Bus, asynchronous messaging, and event-driven architectures
- Experience working within microservices-based systems
- Strong background documenting legacy systems, integrations, and application architecture
- Ability to work independently in ambiguous environments with limited documentation
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience modernizing legacy enterprise applications
- Familiarity with domain-driven design, event-driven architecture, and API ecosystems
- Background supporting manufacturing, supply chain, ERP, or operational business systems is a plus
...