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.
Position Summary
As a Product Owner at Ascensus, you will be responsible for the roadmap and execution to carry out the vision for the assigned Program (Retirement, Government Savings, and Health Savings). The Product Owner is a member of an Agile team responsible for defining Stories and prioritizing the Team Backlog so as to streamline the execution of program priorities, while maintaining conceptual and technical integrity of the Features or components the team is responsible for. In addition, the ability to build relationships, influence and be a driver of execution in a fast-paced environment is critical to this role.
Job Functions, Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- Creates and maintains the Scrum Team Roadmap.
- Prioritizes and sequences the Backlog according to business value or ROI.
- Conveys the Vision and Goals at the beginning of every Release and Sprint.
- Represents the customer, interfaces and engages the customer.
- Collaborating with a Scrum team on new Feature development, requests including building and maintaining a Product backlog, contributing to/reviewing/approving user stories, sprint support, and UAT testing.
- Where appropriate, works closely with BAs and Technology to create Behaviors Driven Development (BDD) stories. Assists with the elaboration of Epics, Themes and Features into user stories that are granular enough to be achieved in a single sprint.
- Participates in the daily Scrums, Sprint Planning Meetings, Release Planning, Sprint Reviews and Retrospectives.
- Inspects the product progress at the end of every Sprint and has complete authority to accept or reject work done. If necessary assess and change the course of the project at the end of every Sprint as needed.
- Maintains relationships with the business and the client to understand the current and changing needs.
- Actively involved in Organizational readiness activities.
- Primary point person internally and externally for the team for updates and feedback.
- Identify and maintain the KPIs need to support the team and assigned product.
- Establish annual goals, objectives and outcomes for product(s); Track and monitor key performance indicators.
Supervision
- No direct reports, but provides critical leadership to drive the scrum team(s)
Experience, Skills, Knowledge Requirements
- Undergraduate degree in business or technology related fields.
- Advanced with Microsoft Office applications and a strong working knowledge of Agile and SDLC methodologies.
- Minimum 5 years’ experience in the assigned business domain: 401(k), IRA, 529, etc.
- Minimum 5 years’ experience as a Product Owner, or a Technology (Dev or QA) practice.
- Demonstrated experience implementing and executing Agile principles with strong technical skills.
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment; high quality of work that adheres to all standards, regulatory and audit requirements.
- Strong consultative and well-articulated 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, change management, continual improvement, empowerment, and increasing transparency.
- Demonstrated experience implementing and executing Agile principles with strong technical skills.
- Naturally curious, detail oriented, with strong analytic, and research skills.
- Knowledge and/or experience with Confluence, JIRA, Azure DevOps, and Aha!. Experience in administering the aforementioned applications a plus.
We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer
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.
For all virtual remote positions, in order to ensure associates can effectively perform their job duties with no distractions, we require an uninterrupted virtual work space and there is also an expectation of family care being in place during business hours. Additionally, there is an internet work speed requirement of 25 MBps or better for individual use. If more than one person is utilizing the same internet connection in the same household or building, then a stronger connection is required. If you are unsure of your internet speed, please check with your service provider. Note: For call center roles specifically, it is a requirement to either hardwire your equipment directly to the internet router or ensure your workstation is in close proximity to the router. Please ensure that you are able to meet these expectations before applying.
At Ascensus, we aspire to make a difference for others. We are a technology-enabled services company that helps people save for a better future through our network of institutional, financial advisor, and state partners. Our culture is guided by sound principles, is committed to high standards, operates with transparency, and welcomes diversity—housed within our Core Values: People Matter. Quality First. Integrity Always.®