Senior Data 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.

Position Purpose: The Sr. Data Product Owner will be responsible for defining, prioritizing, and delivering data products that enable the business to make informed, data driven decisions. This role bridges business strategy, analytics, and technology by aligning stakeholder needs with scalable data solutions. The Sr. Data Product Owner will own the vision, roadmap, and lifecycle of data products—from ideation through adoption—ensuring they deliver measurable value and meet business objectives across Retirement Operations.

Key Responsibilities:

Product Strategy & Vision

• Develop and communicate a clear vision, strategy, and roadmap for data products aligned to business goals.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, analytics, and decision-making through new or enhanced data products.
• Partner closely with business stakeholders to understand their needs, pain points, and priorities.

Backlog & Requirements Management

• Translate business needs into detailed product requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria.
• Prioritize the product backlog using data driven rationale, balancing business impact, technical feasibility, and risk.
• Ensure transparency and clarity of requirements for engineering, analytics, and data governance teams.

Delivery & Execution

• Work closely with data engineering, analytics, and technical teams to ensure timely and high-quality delivery of features.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies (standups, grooming, sprint planning, retrospectives).
• Conduct user acceptance testing and validate that delivered features meet intended outcomes.

Data Quality, Governance & Compliance

• Champion high data quality, operational excellence, and strong data governance practices.
• Ensure data products comply with regulatory requirements, security standards, and privacy policies.
• Collaborate with data governance teams to define and maintain metadata, data definitions, and lineage.

Stakeholder Engagement & Adoption

• Act as the primary point of contact for data product stakeholders.
• Drive user adoption through training, documentation, and communication plans.
• Gather and analyze user feedback to inform continuous improvement.

Metrics & Value Realization

• Define success metrics and KPIs for data products.
• Track performance, measure ROI, and report on value delivered.
• Use insights to guide enhancements and future roadmap decisions.

Skills & Qualifications:

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business Administration, Data Analytics, Information Systems, Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5–8 years of experience in data product ownership, data analytics, data management, business intelligence, or similar roles.
• Experience working in Agile delivery framework
• Familiarity with Agile Data Engineering best practices including Scrum and Kanban methodologies as well as Agile project delivery tools such a Jira, Rally, Mural, Miro, Lucid, Conflunce, etc.

Technical Skills

• Strong understanding of enterprise data architecture, data modeling, and ETL/ELT processes.
• Experience with analytics and BI tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau, Looker).
• Knowledge of cloud data platforms (e.g., Azure, AWS, Snowflake, GCP) is a plus.

Competencies

• Excellent problem-solving, critical, and analytical thinking skills.
• Strong presentation and communications skill both written and oral
• Data storytelling and visualization
• Ability to translate technical concepts into business language.
• Proven ability to influence without authority and navigate cross-functional teams.
• Detail-oriented with strong organizational skills.
• Proficiency in SQL and working with relational databases
• Experience with data visualization tools (e.g., Power BI, Alteryx, or Tableau)
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills (pivot tables, advanced formulas, data modeling, macros)
• Ability to translate data insights into clear, actionable business recommendations

Preferred

• Background in financial services
• Direct experience in the 401(k), retirement plan, or broader benefits industry
• Familiarity with recordkeeping systems, payroll data, plan conversions, and plan design concepts
• Experience supporting ADP/ACP, nondiscrimination testing, or compliance analytics
• Knowledge of ERISA, IRS limits, contribution rules, and DOL data requirements
• Experience with REST, SOAP, or .NET API calls

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