TL;DR

Product Analyst (Payments): Collaborate closely with Product Owners to maintain a high-quality backlog and refine user stories for merchant-facing payment applications with an accent on backlog health, story clarity, and defect analysis. Focus on translating abstract concepts into testable requirements, stakeholder engagement, and supporting quality and production readiness in a hybrid work environment.

Location: Charlotte, NC or West Des Moines, IA with hybrid work format requiring 3 days in office

Company

Strategic Staffing Solutions provides staffing services and is recruiting for a W2 contract opportunity with a large client in the payments domain.

What you will do

  • Maintain a backlog with at least two sprints of Definition of Ready (DoR) items and refine epics/features into clear, testable user stories.
  • Collaborate with Product Owners, stakeholders, and SMEs to ensure alignment and clarity on requirements and acceptance criteria.
  • Document current state business processes, data flows, and identify gaps or defects with recommendations for resolution.
  • Support quality assurance by shaping testing strategies, performing lightweight UAT, and managing defect intake and analysis.
  • Assist sprint planning by reviewing outcomes, prioritizing work, and surfacing risks and dependencies.

Requirements

  • Must have 3+ years as a Product Analyst or Business Analyst in Agile software delivery (Scrum or SAFe).
  • Proven skills in user story writing, acceptance criteria definition, and backlog refinement facilitation.
  • Experience with defect analysis, root cause thinking, and collaboration with engineering and QA teams.
  • Hands-on experience with Agile tools such as Jira or Azure DevOps and documentation tools like Confluence.
  • Location requirement: must work onsite/hybrid in Charlotte, NC or West Des Moines, IA.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.

Nice to have

  • Background in financial services, especially payments and merchant services.
  • Familiarity with controls, audit readiness, and data governance in regulated environments (e.g., PCI-DSS).
  • Basic data analysis skills (e.g., SQL) to support defect triage and scenario validation.
  • Relevant certifications such as CSPO/PSPO, SAFe POPM, or ICP-BA.

Culture & Benefits

  • W2 contract position with a 12-month duration.
  • Hybrid work model with 3 days in office per week.
  • Opportunity for growth toward Product Owner/Product Manager roles.