Product Analyst

Strategic Staffing Solutions is currently looking for a Product Analyst, a W2 contract opportunity with one of our largest clients! This is a W2 contract opportunity, and the candidates should be willing to work on our W2 ONLY, NO C2C. Product Analyst- Merchant Services (Payments) Location: Charlotte, NC /West Des Moines , IAType: W2 Contract – 12 month contractHybrid-3 days in office Top Skills: Note: This is not a Product Owner role. Candidates with PO experience are welcome to apply as this role offers a growth path toward Product Owner/Product Manager for those who demonstrate the aptitude and desire. 3+ years as a Product Analyst/Business Analyst in Agile software delivery (Scrum or SAFe). Jira or Azure DevOps, Confluence, diagramming tools (e.g., Visio, Miro/Mural). Experience with defect analysis, root cause thinking, and working with engineering/QA to drive resolution. Job Description: Our client is scaling a portfolio of merchant-facing payment applications. Product Managers own the product vision; Product Owners lead delivery for a given application or capability; and Product Analysts are the PO s trusted partner turning abstract ideas into clear, testable work that teams can ship confidently. Your primary mission is story refinement and backlog health so the team is consistently two sprints ahead with high-quality, well-defined work. What you'll do Backlog & Story Excellence (Primary Focus) Partner closely with the Product Owner to build and maintain a high-quality backlog with at least two sprints of DoR-ready items. Refine epics/features into user stories with clear, testable acceptance criteria; balance functional and non-functional needs. Facilitate/participate in refinement sessions, uncover dependencies, and ensure scope, value, and risks are understood. Raise and flag unplanned work (sprint disruptions) and propose trade-offs to keep delivery on track. Product Analysis & Current State Understanding Document app/platform current state, business processes, and data flows/mapping. Identify known gaps (tech or process), existing defects, and recommend pragmatic paths to resolution. Apply critical thinking to shape problem statements and solution design options for PO consideration. Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration Engage product, technology, and business stakeholders; translate abstract concepts into concrete requirements. Collaborate with SMEs to validate use cases and acceptance criteria; drive alignment when responsibilities overlap (e.g., acceptance-criteria ownership among PO, PA, Tech Leads). Support control/audit requests by assembling clear, traceable evidence across requirements and delivery artifacts. Quality, Testing & Production Readiness Document use cases/scenarios that inform design and business testing. Partner with UAT leads to shape the testing strategy/approach, share use cases, and engage end users; perform lightweight UAT when needed. Represent the scrum team in production triage; research issues/defects and act as the point of contact for defect intake and analysis. Sprint Planning & Delivery Rhythm Assist with Sprint Planning by reviewing current sprint outcomes, identifying carryover, and prioritizing upcoming work. Proactively surface risks, assumptions, and dependencies; keep the PO informed and decisions well-documented. Required Qualifications 3+ years as a Product Analyst/Business Analyst in Agile software delivery (Scrum or SAFe). Proven user story writing and acceptance criteria definition; strong backlog refinement facilitation. Ability to translate ambiguous/abstract concepts into concrete, testable requirements excellent written and verbal communication. Experience with defect analysis, root cause thinking, and working with engineering/QA to drive resolution. Hands-on with Agile tooling (e.g., Jira or Azure Boards) and documentation (e.g., Confluence, process maps, data mapping). Preferred Qualifications Financial Services background ideally in Payments / Merchant Services (merchant onboarding, payment processing flows, gateways/terminals, authorization/clearing/settlement, chargebacks, reconciliation, BAU servicing). Familiarity with controls, audit readiness, and data governance in a regulated environment (e.g., PCI-DSS awareness is a plus). Comfort navigating multiple stakeholders and resolving gray areas (e.g., who owns acceptance criteria) through influence and clarity. Exposure to basic data analysis (e.g., SQL or equivalent) to validate scenarios and support defect triage. Relevant certifications (nice to have): CSPO/PSPO, SAFe POPM, ICP-BA or similar. Duties and responsibilities: Keep the backlog two sprints deep with well-groomed, DoR-ready stories. Drive frequent collaboration across customers, stakeholders, and delivery teams throughout the product lifecycle. Maintain crisp, consistent artifacts: use cases, process maps, data mappings, acceptance criteria, traceability for controls/audit. Model ownership, curiosity, and pragmatism ask great questions, de-risk early, and help the team ship value. Success looks like (first 90 days) Establish clear current-state documentation (flows, data, known gaps). Improve story quality (measurable reduction in rework/defects; faster acceptance). Achieve and sustain two-sprint backlog depth. Build strong rapport with the PO, Tech Lead, QA, and stakeholders; become the go-to for story clarity and defect triage. Tools used: Jira or Azure DevOps, Confluence, diagramming tools (e.g., Visio, Miro/Mural). Productivity: Excel/Sheets for data mapping, Postman/logs for lightweight validation (as applicable). Nice-to-have background Experience working in merchant acquiring or payment processors; exposure to merchant onboarding and BAU servicing. Prior experience at a large financial institution and comfort with regulated delivery and audit needs. “Beware of scams. S3 never asks for money during its onboarding process.” Benefits: Health insurance Application Question(s): Are you on OPT/CPT/H1B visa? This is not a C2C /1099 work type, Are you willing to work on our W2? Education: Bachelor's (Required) Experience: Product Analyst/Business Analyst: 3 years (Required) Agile: 3 years (Required) Jira: 3 years (Required) Work Location: Hybrid remote in Charlotte, NC 28270