About the position
At Ascensus, technology is more than just a solution. It powers the business that helps millions of people save for what matters—retirement, education, and healthcare. Our technology experts tackle exciting challenges in collaborative teams, but work in an environment where individual and career development is always valued. Technology associates leverage their talents and passion, building new and innovative platforms, creating programs founded in automation in agile frameworks, and driving existing and new markets—all of which supports the rapid growth of a dynamic industry leader. The Product Owner is an influential member of the Agile Scrum Team responsible for creation/maintenance of the Product Roadmap in support of 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 value delivered to support key outcomes. 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. As a Mobile Application Product Owner at Ascensus, you will support the Ascensus version of READYSAVE, partnering with stakeholders and your scrum team to deliver innovative mobile experiences for Retirement Plan Participants and drive mobile application adoption and engagement. This role requires a Product Owner who is familiar with mobile application design and development who can provide input into the mobile application vision and strategy. This includes the ability to conduct research and identify opportunities to optimize the experience to ensure the Ascensus mobile application stays current and competitive.
Responsibilities
- 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.
Requirements
- 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 with a focus on/interest in the Participant Experience.
- Experience with mobile application design and development.
- 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!
