Product Analyst
Company: S3
Location: Charlotte
Posted on: April 2, 2026
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Job Description:
Job Description 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 , IA Type: W2 Contract – 12 month contract
Hybrid-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.”
Keywords: S3, Charlotte , Product Analyst, IT / Software / Systems , Charlotte, North Carolina
