Operations Associate Jobs in Lancaster, SC (NOW HIRING)

Description
At Shutterfly, we make life's experiences unforgettable. We believe there is extraordinary power in the self-expression. That's why our family of brands helps customers create products and capture moments that reflect who they uniquely are.
Please note - this is a hybrid, in office role located at our facility in Fort Mill, SC
Position Overview
The Product organization is seeking a Manufacturing Product Owner to support the delivery and continuous improvement of technology-enabled capabilities across Manufacturing Operations, Fulfillment, and related operational systems.
The Manufacturing Product Owner is responsible for managing the day-to-day product backlog for assigned manufacturing and operational capabilities. Working under the direction of a Product Manager, this role translates approved roadmap features, operational requirements, business priorities, and stakeholder needs into clear, prioritized work for Engineering and Quality Assurance teams.
The Manufacturing Product Owner serves as the primary liaison between Manufacturing Operations and technology teams, ensuring business and operational requirements are clearly defined, prioritized, and delivered. This role partners closely with Product Management, Engineering, Quality Assurance, Manufacturing Operations, Fulfillment Operations, Plant Leadership, and other stakeholders to ensure solutions support operational efficiency, quality, scalability, and business objectives.
The Product Owner is accountable for backlog management, requirements refinement, sprint readiness, and feature execution in support of the product roadmap established by Product Management.
Product Management Alignment
• Partner closely with the Product Manager to execute approved roadmap features and priorities.
• Translate roadmap features, epics, and business objectives into actionable user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Provide operational insights, stakeholder feedback, and dependency awareness to support roadmap planning activities.
• Escalate competing priorities, scope concerns, operational impacts, and decision points to the Product Manager as needed.
• Ensure backlog priorities remain aligned with the vision, roadmap, and objectives established by Product Management.
Manufacturing Domain Understanding
• Develop a strong understanding of manufacturing and fulfillment workflows, production operations, plant systems, equipment integrations, and operational processes.
• Understand how assigned capabilities support broader business objectives, customer commitments, operational performance goals, and strategic initiatives.
• Learn how people, processes, systems, automation, equipment, data, and external dependencies interact throughout the manufacturing lifecycle.
• Maintain awareness of operational constraints, business rules, production dependencies, quality requirements, risks, and implementation considerations.
• Develop familiarity with key operational metrics, including throughput, cycle time, capacity utilization, quality performance, production efficiency, and service-level attainment.
• Understand manufacturing and fulfillment technologies that support production planning, workflow orchestration, order management, inventory management, production tracking, and operational reporting.
Key Responsibilities
• Own and maintain the product backlog for assigned manufacturing and operational capabilities.
• Gather, document, and refine business and operational requirements from manufacturing stakeholders.
• Translate approved features and requirements into clear user stories, acceptance criteria, and backlog items.
• Prioritize backlog items based on roadmap priorities, business value, operational impact, dependencies, and stakeholder needs.
• Facilitate backlog refinement, sprint planning, and other Agile ceremonies with Engineering and Quality Assurance teams.
• Collaborate with Manufacturing Operations, Fulfillment Operations, and business stakeholders to understand operational needs and opportunities for improvement.
• Understand the operational impact of production issues, process inefficiencies, enhancement requests, and stakeholder feedback, and work with stakeholders to prioritize appropriate solutions.
• Ensure requirements are thoroughly defined and understood before entering development.
• Validate completed work against business requirements and acceptance criteria.
• Support release planning, user acceptance testing, implementation readiness, and stakeholder communications.
• Monitor the adoption and effectiveness of released capabilities and identify opportunities for future enhancements.
• Maintain visibility into dependencies, risks, constraints, and operational considerations that may impact delivery.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Partner with Engineering teams to clarify requirements, answer questions, and support solution delivery.
• Collaborate with Quality Assurance to ensure test coverage aligns with business and operational requirements.
• Work closely with Manufacturing Operations and Fulfillment teams to gather feedback and validate delivered solutions.
• Facilitate communication between technical teams and business stakeholders to ensure alignment throughout the development lifecycle.
• Support change management and operational readiness activities associated with new capabilities and enhancements.
Preferred Experience
• Experience supporting manufacturing, production, fulfillment, logistics, supply chain, warehouse, or operational technology environments.
• Experience working with Manufacturing Operations, Plant Leadership, Fulfillment teams, or other operational business partners.
• Experience managing product backlogs and supporting Agile software development teams.
• Experience writing user stories, defining acceptance criteria, and refining business requirements.
• Experience translating operational challenges and business needs into scalable technology solutions.
• Experience supporting workflow management systems, manufacturing systems, warehouse systems, ERP integrations, production tracking platforms, or related operational technologies.
• Experience evaluating product changes for operational impact, usability, quality, scalability, and business value.
• Experience using operational metrics and stakeholder feedback to inform prioritization and continuous product improvement.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience. Typically required a minimum of 3 years of directly related experience.
Supporting a diverse and inclusive workforce is important to Shutterfly not only because it directly reflects our value of Embracing our Differences, but also because it's the right thing to do for our business and for our people. We welcome all applicants and evaluate them based on their qualifications. Learn more about our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on our Career Site.
This position will accept applications on an ongoing basis until filled.