About the position
Cortland is seeking a strategic and detail-oriented Product Owner to lead the transformation and ongoing evolution of our corporate SharePoint intranet. In this pivotal role, you will drive the vision and execution of a user-friendly, modern, and scalable intranet experience that empowers our associates and reflects Cortland’s brand. You will collaborate cross-functionally to define requirements, streamline content governance, and improve usability - ensuring the platform is intuitive for non-technical users and aligned with current design and accessibility standards. Working closely with a dedicated SharePoint developer, you’ll deliver a best-in-class internal resource that supports communication, collaboration, and operational excellence across the organization.
Responsibilities
- Execute the strategic vision for Cortland’s SharePoint intranet as a core tool for associate engagement, communication, and resource access.
- Partner with key stakeholders (Internal Communications, Talent, IT, Digital Experience) to gather and prioritize business requirements, features, and enhancements.
- Maintain a product roadmap and backlog that aligns with organizational goals, employee needs, and modern intranet best practices.
- Support department content owners across the business in managing, curating, and organizing relevant and engaging content.
- Create and manage guidelines to ensure consistency, accuracy, and alignment with Cortland’s brand and digital standards.
- Analyze user behavior, search trends, and usage data to understand engagement and uncover areas for UX/UI improvements.
- Recommend and implement solutions (e.g., navigation changes, widgets, personalization) that improve discoverability, accessibility, and overall user experience.
- Advocate for non-technical users by promoting front-end-friendly solutions and simplifying content creation and editing.
- Serve as the day-to-day owner of the intranet experience, acting as the go-to resource for questions, troubleshooting, and feedback.
- Develop training resources, documentation, and onboarding materials to empower content contributors across the organization.
- Coordinate content lifecycle processes including page creation, archiving, and quality checks.
- Monitor and report on intranet usage and performance, using data to inform enhancements and stakeholder updates.
- Prepare and present actionable insights to leadership and key partners, identifying ways to drive adoption and content effectiveness.
Requirements
- Proven 2-3 years experience as a Product Owner, Product Specialist, or Digital Platform Manager, preferably with intranet or digital workplace platforms.
- Hands-on knowledge of SharePoint Online, Modern SharePoint, and content management principles.
- Strong understanding of user-centered design, front-end usability, and content governance.
- Ability to define functional requirements, create documentation, and collaborate with technical teams.
- Skilled in stakeholder management, with excellent communication and facilitation abilities.
- Comfortable analyzing data usage and making data-driven decisions.
- Experience developing in SharePoint Online, with expertise in SPFx (SharePoint Framework) and modern web part creation.
- Strong proficiency in front-end technologies: HTML, CSS, JavaScript/TypeScript, and React.
- Familiarity with Microsoft 365 ecosystem, including document libraries, metadata, and permissions management.
- Familiarity with document tagging, metadata structures, and information architecture best practices.
