Product Owner

Ascensus is the leading independent technology and service platform powering savings plans across America, providing products and expertise that help nearly 16 million people save for a better today and tomorrow.

The Product Owner is an influential member of the Agile Scrum Team who is responsible for creation/maintenance of the Product Roadmap and for establishing the vision, goals, and strategy for a given domain. Based on strategic direction from leadership, the Product Owner works closely with scrum team(s) to define product features and prioritize the Product Backlog, driving product development through technology with the goal of maximizing business value delivered. The ability to influence, build relationships, partner with the business and technology, and lead strategic planning and execution in a fast-paced environment are critical to this role.

• Leads discovery and shaping for strategic initiatives, conducting interviews and research, and bringing technical product knowledge to strategic business conversations
• Creates, maintains, and communicates the Product Roadmap; represents the domain and product vision to leadership, stakeholders, and partner teams
• Clearly articulates value proposition, defines desired outcomes for product development, and establishes metrics/KPIs used to measure success
• Drives innovative solutions and provides direction and guidance throughout the product lifecycle
• Represents the voice of the customer and engages with stakeholders/end users to ensure an accurate understanding of business need
• Prioritizes features in alignment with business objectives and conveys vision/goals at the beginning of each increment of work
• Partners with other Product Owners/scrum teams to drive consistent outcomes across the customer experience
• Maintains an organized product backlog capturing evolving requirements and adjusting priorities as required to maximize value delivered
• Collaborates with the scrum team on feature definition and the creation of detailed user stories with actionable acceptance criteria to support Behavior Driven Design (BDD)
• Participates in UX design sessions, discussions, and usability testing as required
• Partners with the scrum team to plan and execute release-on-demand project implementations
• Participates in scrum ceremonies with the team including: daily stand-ups, refinement sessions, sprint reviews/demos, release and sprint planning, and retrospectives
• Provides PO review and approval of user stories upon completion; inspects product progress at the end of each sprint to assess progress and change course if needed
• Acts as the primary point of contact for updates and feedback related to product and team
• Partners with Organizational Readiness on implementation strategy, rollout, adoption, and user support
• Promotes new capabilities to drive engagement and adoption
• Defines goals for professional development and works to continually enhance knowledge of domain, systems, products, and industry
• Works to expand knowledge of agile/scrum, apply best practices, and drive continuous improvement
• Provides mentoring and leadership to develop less experienced team members
• Participates in training opportunities and in monthly PO Community of Practice (CoP)
• Uses and continually develops servant leadership skills; fosters inclusiveness, communication, and collaboration
• Demonstrates I-Client philosophy and the Core Values of People Matter, Quality First and Integrity Always®
• Responsible for protecting, securing, and proper handling of all confidential data held by Ascensus to ensure against unauthorized access, improper transmission, and/or unapproved disclosure of information that could result in harm to Ascensus or our clients

• Degree in Business, Technology, or a related field
• Advanced with Microsoft Office applications and a strong knowledge of Agile and SDLC methodologies
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in Retirement and Financial Services
• Minimum 5 years’ experience as a Product Owner or in a related Technology-based role
• Demonstrated experience implementing and executing Agile practices with strong technical skills
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and deliver high-quality work that adheres to all standards, regulatory, and audit requirements
• Strong communication and writing skills with the ability to interact and influence at all levels of the organization
• Demonstrated experience with facilitation, situational awareness, conflict resolution, negotiation, decision-making, and change management
• Curious and detail-oriented, with strong analytical skills
• Knowledge of or experience with Confluence, JIRA, Azure DevOps, and Aha!

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer

The national average salary range for this role is $130-150k in base pay, exclusive of any bonuses and benefits. This base salary range represents the low and high end of the salary range for this position. Actual salary offered will vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors including but not limited to location, experience, performance, and internal pay alignment. We do not anticipate that candidates hired will begin at the top of the range however, from time to time, it may occur on a case-by-case basis.  Other rewards and benefits may include: 401(k) match, Medical, Dental, Vision, Paid-Time-Off, etc.  For more information, please visit careers.ascensus.com/#Benefits. 

Be aware of employment fraud. All email communications from Ascensus or its hiring managers originate from @ascensus.com or @futureplan.com email addresses. We will never ask you for payment or require you to purchase any equipment. If you are suspicious or unsure about validity of a job posting, we strongly encourage you to apply directly through our website.