Lead Product Owner

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Career Area:

Job Description:

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.

When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.

Cat Digital is the digital and technology arm of Caterpillar Inc., leveraging the latest technologies to build industry leading digital solutions for our customers and dealers. With over 1.5 million connected assets worldwide, our teams use data, technology, advanced analytics, telematics, and AI capabilities to help our customers build a better, more sustainable world.

Lead Product Owner – Cat Central

Role Summary:

Are you an experienced, strategic, and highly organized product leader who excels at bringing structure and clarity to complex environments? Do you have a background in aligning teams, scaling product operations, and strengthening how teams work together? Are you passionate about leading teams to consistently deliver customer centric digital products with quality and focus?

If so, this Lead Product Owner role on the Cat Central team could be the next step in your career. This role is focused on product operations, cross‑team communication, defining ways of working, and leading the roadmap for critical areas across Cat Central’s digital ecosystem.

We are looking for a strong Product Owner to drive operational rigor, strengthen execution across several scrum teams, and enable seamless digital onboarding experiences for our global customers. You’ll have the opportunity to directly influence product quality, team effectiveness, and overall customer adoption of Cat Central, Caterpillar’s mobile-first tool to make owning and effectively operating our best-in-class equipment easier than ever. We have aggressive goals, and a strong and fast-growing team to hit them. This role will play a critical part in our success as a product team.

What You Will Do:

Team & Delivery Leadership

• Lead inter-team and stakeholder communication, cross-product dependency tracking, and collaboration with shared services across Cat Digital

• Collaborate with a product “pod” of 2–3 Slovakia-based scrum teams, each with their own embedded Product Owners, ensuring alignment to product vision, roadmap priorities, and customer outcomes

• Drive day‑to‑day decisions on backlog priorities, sequencing, and trade‑offs, ensuring clarity for engineering, UX, and partner teams

• Facilitate and continuously improve team ceremonies including standups, roadmap planning, team retrospectives, epic creation, and backlog refinement

• Define, document, and evolve ways of working across teams to ensure consistent execution, transparency, and operational excellence

Product Ownership & Roadmap Management

• Own and maintain a roadmap focused on improving customer and dealer onboarding, authentication journeys, and core adoption experiences within Cat Central

• Partner with Data & Analytics to identify and take action on insights, measure onboarding performance, and articulate success criteria/KPIs

• Translate strategy, business requirements, and customer needs into clear, actionable epics and features

What You Will Have:

Business Analysis: Knowledge of business analysis and the set of tasks, techniques and tools required to identify business needs; ability to recommend solutions that deliver value to stakeholders.
Decision Making and Critical Thinking: Knowledge of the decision-making process and associated tools and techniques; ability to accurately analyze situations and reach productive decisions based on informed judgment.
Software Change Request Management: Knowledge of software change request management; ability to manage software product change requests from customers, prospective customers, vendors, and internal staff.
Software Problem Management: Knowledge of strategies, practices and tools for resolving software problems; ability to manage software problems in installed software products.
Software Product Business Knowledge: Knowledge of and experience with the business aspects and operation of a software product; ability to manage install base, current uses, future plans, and product vision.
User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Knowledge of UAT activities, tasks, tools and techniques; ability to design, implement and evaluate acceptance tests for end-users.

Considerations For Top Candidates:

• 3+ years working with agile teams in Product Owner, Product Manager, or related roles

• 5+ years in digital product, operations, or transformation roles

• Proven experience leading multiple agile teams (2–4+ scrum teams) or a product “pod” operating at scale

• Strong track record of operational leadership, including defining ways of working, improving team effectiveness, and driving consistency across delivery teams

Ideal Candidates Will Also Have:

• Demonstrated ability to influence and align senior stakeholders across a matrixed organization, including Product Management, Engineering, UX, and business partners

• Experience leading teams in development of high-volume mobile apps

• Experience improving user onboarding or adoption journeys

• Systems thinking and interest in product operations

Other Details

• Locations: Chicago, IL; Peoria, IL; Dallas, TX; Cary, NC; Denver, CO

• Travel: up to 15%

• No relocation

• Sponsorship is Not available for this position

What You Will Get:

Working with a Fortune 100 leader, you can build your career on a global scale and take advantage of development opportunities with emerging technologies. We’ve created an inclusive environment for you to explore your passions, make an impact and do the work that really matters. Join Us.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. For nearly 100 years, we’ve been helping customers build a better, more sustainable world and are committed to and contributing to a reduced-carbon future. Our innovative products and services, backed by our global dealer network, provide exceptional value that helps customers succeed.

Summary Pay Range:

Compensation and benefits offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, job level, market location, job-related knowledge, skills, individual performance and experience. Please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Caterpillar.

Benefits:

Subject to plan eligibility, terms, and guidelines. This is a summary list of benefits.

• Medical, dental, and vision benefits*

• Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)*

• 401(k) savings plans*

• Health Savings Account (HSA)*

• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)*

• Health Lifestyle Programs*

• Employee Assistance Program*

• Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts*

• Career Development*

• Incentive bonus*

• Disability benefits

• Life Insurance

• Parental leave

• Adoption benefits

• Tuition Reimbursement

* These benefits also apply to part-time employees

Posting Dates:

Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen.

Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer, Including Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities. Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply.

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