Hiring a Product Owner emphasizing negotiation and team collaboration

Client and Challenge

The client was an e-commerce company developing a sales platform in a microservices architecture. The Product Owner was responsible for the backlog, but various stakeholders (marketing, logistics, IT) submitted conflicting priorities.

The previous approach caused team tensions and sprint delays. The company needed a Product Owner who could negotiate and prioritize tasks while considering business value.

Our Approach

We prepared a behavioral simulation:

“You receive two urgent requests from different stakeholders that cannot be completed in the same sprint. How would you conduct the conversation and set priorities?”

During the recruitment process, we assessed:

the ability to prioritize and justify decisions,
negotiation skills and expectation management,
cross-team communication and collaboration mindset.

Results

The candidate proposed clear prioritization criteria based on business value and impact on customers.
Within the first month, they implemented regular meetings with stakeholders, which organized the backlog and reduced conflicts within the team.
The Product Owner became the central communication point between business and IT.

Conclusions

Behavioral simulations allow assessment of how a candidate handles conflicting priorities and stakeholder pressure. In the role of a Product Owner, it is essential to balance business value with technical realities, not just execute tasks “on paper.”

This case demonstrates that as a recruitment agency, Next Technology Professionals excels in sourcing IT experts and Product Owners who combine technical skills with strong soft skills, communication, and leadership. Our recruitment approach reduces time-to-hire, ensures better candidate-team fit, and positively impacts project efficiency and business outcomes.