Consultant, Technology Innovation Analyst - Technical Product Manager

If you’re passionate about innovation and love working in an environment where you can constantly improve and adopt new technologies to drive business results, then Nationwide’s Information Technology team could be the place for you! At Nationwide®, “on your side” goes beyond just words. Our customers are at the center of everything we do and we’re looking for associates who are passionate about delivering extraordinary care.

Nationwide Group Benefits is a leading provider of employee benefit solutions in the U.S. and Canada, offering health coverage in 49 states and D.C. It serves over 8 million individuals with supplemental and self-funded insurance products.

Nationwide Group Benefits offers fully insured plans that are a great option for small businesses that are looking for a traditional major medical plan and a self-funded program that provides tools for employers who are looking for ways to take control of their health care costs.

The Technical Product Manager is responsible for defining, delivering, and managing the lifecycle of one or more products in Nationwide’s growing product portfolio. In this role, you will manage strategic product vision, product discovery, roadmaps, and backlog to maximize the customer and enterprise value provided by their product.  Successful Product Managers help to identify assumptions and validate those assumptions using product discovery techniques.  The Technical Product Manager is responsible for working closely with key stakeholders and partners, ensuring the successful definition and execution of go-to market and communications strategies for their products.

Key Responsibilities

- Define and communicate the product vision and roadmap.
- Align product goals with business objectives and customer needs.
- Prioritize features and enhancements based on value, feasibility, and impact.

- Own and manage the product backlog.
- Write clear and actionable user stories and acceptance criteria.
- Continuously refine and prioritize the backlog in collaboration with stakeholders.

- Work closely with engineering, QA, and DevOps teams to ensure technical feasibility.
- Participate in sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives.
- Provide clarity on requirements and support development teams throughout the SDLC.

- Act as the primary liaison between business units and technical teams.
- Gather and analyze feedback to inform product decisions.
- Communicate progress, risks, and changes to stakeholders effectively.

- Validate that delivered features meet business and technical requirements.
- Support user acceptance testing and release planning.

- Use Agile tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence) to manage work and track progress.
- Apply Scrum, Kanban, or SAFe methodologies as appropriate.
- Promote best practices in product ownership and agile delivery.

Job Description Summary

If you’re enthusiastic about delivering secure technology solutions to support a company providing extraordinary care to its customers, then Nationwide Technology is the place for you. Nationwide's industry-leading technology workforce embraces an agile work environment and a collaborative culture to deliver outstanding solutions and results. If that sounds like something you aspire to, we want to hear from you!

As a Technology Innovation Analyst, you will assist Technology Strategy and Planning activities by analyzing technology trends, including enterprise architecture, technology portfolio dimensions, and benchmark and peer analysis. You’ll assess the impact of emerging technical and business trends on future technology needs and capabilities. You’ll also be expected to manage and grow the development of thought leadership articles, point-of-view papers, new ideas and concepts specifically through bringing technologies together that could help Nationwide differentiate and create value. Additionally, you’ll define and evolve concepts aligned to Nationwide’s technology innovation portfolio. You may serve as a lead to cross-functional teams focused on adjacent and transformational innovation.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities:  

• Defines, maintains, adapts and shares Technology innovations.

• Explores industry for technology developments that are relevant for Nationwide’s business; identifies innovation opportunities and follows through to develop the ideas in collaboration with business partners and external organizations.

• Responsible for applying secure software and systems engineering practices throughout the delivery lifecycle to ensure our data and technology solutions are protected from threats and vulnerabilities.

• Provides portfolio support of Technology innovation efforts in partnership with other Nationwide teams engaged in innovation-related activities.

• Partners with others to ensure the Technology strategy aligns with the business strategy.

• Quantifies benefits and develops business cases for transformation efforts and/or innovation initiatives.

• Evaluates and prioritizes business requests, determining appropriate course of action (e.g., adjusts existing roadmaps, delivery sequencing, iterative planning efforts or aligns delivery through small project and/or enhancement efforts).

• Executes medium to low complexity projects that result in recommendations to change business processes through the application of technologies and more efficient use of resources.

• Plans engagements focused on building recommendations and business cases.

• Provides consultation on Nationwide Technology strategic planning efforts, gathers high-level business requirements and defines scope during initial discovery by facilitating large group/cross-functional sessions with partners.

• Maintains a working knowledge of multiple business functions and initiatives to identify where conflicts/synergies exist between technologies and business functions.

• Assists in managing initial vendor relationships and maintains a forward-looking view of vendor direction.

• Works with vendors to understand whether vendor products will meet business and/or Technology requirements.

• Executes the decomposition of business strategic plans into outcomes, values and capabilities.

• Plans and collaborates with business experts to conduct moderate-to-complex analysis and build artifacts that lead to deliverables.

• Determines how changes in business and technology strategy may impact roadmaps and updates roadmaps accordingly.

May perform other responsibilities as assigned.

Reporting Relationships: Reports to Technology Manager, Director or AVP or above.

Typical Skills and Experiences:  

Education: Undergraduate studies in computer science, management information systems or a related field is preferred.

License/Certification/Designation: Technology certifications or designation are not required but encouraged.

Experience: Eight to ten years of experience delivering technology-enabled business solutions and transformational change across industries, platforms and lines of businesses within the insurance and/or financial services industries or equivalent experience as a management consultant for a mid-to-top-tier consulting firm (i.e., Accenture, Deloitte, etc.). Wide career experience as a consultant in operations or within proximity to operations, with a 30:70 ratio of business to technology experience, working with the technology lifecycle, including delivery and cost of ownership and experience developing roadmaps and business cases and executing projects through to completion.

Knowledge, Abilities and Skills: Strong analytical and communication skills, knowledge of planning. Ability to influence, build relationships, negotiate and set priorities needed. Solid executive presence. Insurance/financial services industry knowledge a plus.

Other criteria, including leadership skills, competencies and experiences may take precedence.

Staffing exceptions to the above must be approved by the hiring manager’s leader and HR Business Partner.

Values: Regularly and consistently demonstrates the Nationwide Values.

Job Conditions:  

Overtime Eligibility: Exempt (Not Eligible)

Working Conditions: Normal office environment. Some travel may be required.

ADA: The above statements cover what are generally believed to be principal and essential functions of this job. Specific circumstances may allow or require some people assigned to the job to perform a somewhat different combination of duties.

We currently anticipate accepting applications until 08/10/2025. However, we encourage early submissions, as the posting may close sooner if a strong candidate slate is identified before the deadline.

Benefits

We have an array of benefits to fit your needs, including: medical/dental/vision, life insurance, short and long term disability coverage, paid time off with newly hired associates receiving a minimum of 18 days paid time off each full calendar year pro-rated quarterly based on hire date, nine paid holidays, 8 hours of Lifetime paid time off, 8 hours of Unity Day paid time off, 401(k) with company match, company-paid pension plan, business casual attire, and more. To learn more about the benefits we offer, click here.

Nationwide is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone feels challenged, appreciated, respected and engaged. Nationwide prohibits discrimination and harassment and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to any characteristic (or classification) protected by applicable law.

This position could be filled within any of the lower 48 U.S. states.

Smoke-Free Iowa Statement: Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, its affiliates and subsidiaries comply with the Iowa Smokefree Air Act. Smoking is prohibited in all enclosed areas on or around company premises as well as company issued vehicles. The company offers designated smoking areas in which smoking is permitted at each individual location. The Act prohibits retaliation for reporting complaints or violations. For more information on the Iowa Smokefree Air Act, individuals may contact the Smokefree Air Act Helpline at 888-944-2247.

For NY residents please review the following state law information: Notice of Employee Rights, Protections, and Obligations LS740 (ny.gov) https://dol.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2022/02/ls740_1.pdf

NOTE TO EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES:

We value the partnerships we have built with our preferred vendors. Nationwide does not accept unsolicited resumes from employment agencies. All resumes submitted by employment agencies directly to any Nationwide employee or hiring manager in any form without a signed Nationwide Client Services Agreement on file and search engagement for that position will be deemed unsolicited in nature. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is subsequently hired as a result of the referral or through other means.

Nationwide pays on a geographic-specific salary structure and placement within the actual starting salary range for this position will be determined by a number of factors including the skills, education, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; the scope, complexity and location of the role as well as the cost of labor in the market; and other conditions of employment. If a Sales job, Sales Incentives, based on performance goals are possible in addition to this range.

The national salary range for Consultant, Technology Innovation Analyst : $104,000.00-$215,000.00

The expected starting salary range for Consultant, Technology Innovation Analyst : $115,000.00 - $173,000.00