Volunteer Technical Product Owner (Civic Tech Domain Integration & Delivery) — AI Apps for Human Communication

Take end-to-end ownership of delivering AI applications that make difficult conversations constructive by translating conflict-resolution frameworks into precise technical execution.

Crossing Party Lines is seeking an organized, decisive Technical Product Owner with Civic Tech Experience to join our Apps and Agents team. In this role, you will hold complete operational and feature ownership of our digital products. You will serve as the crucial hub connecting our depolarization subject-matter experts with our AI and software engineers—extracting qualitative human insights, structuring actionable specifications, and driving product execution from concept to release.

About the Apps and Agents Team

Our team blends generative AI agents, simulation environments, and multi-agent workflows with Crossing Party Lines’ proprietary intellectual property—including cognitive depolarization models, active listening frameworks, and perspective-taking methodologies. As we prepare an application to Y Combinator and build out scalable tools for workplaces, schools, and communities, having strong product ownership ensures our theoretical frameworks are accurately and reliably built into working software.

What You’ll Do

• Take complete ownership of product delivery across assigned applications, managing the product lifecycle from initial discovery through deployment.
• Lead deep-dive requirements-gathering sessions with conflict-resolution facilitators, behavioral experts, and leadership to capture nuanced domain concepts.
• Translate complex human communication principles into clear, structured product requirements documents (PRDs), user stories, acceptance criteria, and interaction flows.
• Serve as the central communication bridge between non-technical domain experts and technical teams (AI/ML engineers, frontend/game developers, and UI/UX designers).
• Maintain, prioritize, and groom the product backlog, ensuring the team is always executing on high-impact, clearly scoped tasks.
• Run sprint planning, backlog grooming, and standups to keep a distributed, multidisciplinary volunteer team aligned and unblocked.
• Define and verify acceptance tests to ensure delivered features preserve the psychological nuance and integrity intended by our domain specialists.

You May Be a Good Fit If You

• Have demonstrable experience as a Product Owner, Technical Project Manager, Business Analyst, or Systems Architect delivering digital software products.
• Excel at active inquiry—able to listen to qualitative domain experts and synthesize their knowledge into unambiguous, structured functional requirements.
• Can communicate comfortably with software and AI engineers, understanding technical feasibility, API architectures, and data structures.
• Have an ownership mindset, taking personal accountability for backlog health, milestone velocity, and release quality.
• Are proficient with product tracking and documentation workflows (e.g., Jira, Linear, GitHub Projects, Notion, or Trello).
• Approach ideologically and socially diverse perspectives with objective neutrality, patience, and professional rigor.

What You’ll Gain

• Complete product ownership over early-stage, innovative AI and civic-tech applications.
• Hands-on experience directing product execution at the intersection of generative AI and behavioral science.
• High-impact leadership visibility within an organization preparing for major venture accelerator applications.
• Direct collaboration with nonprofit founders and executive references recognizing your delivery leadership and ownership.