WHAT YOU'LL DOThe Manager, Technical Product Management (TPM) role is accountable for defining and owning the product strategy for Ascend product lines, ensuring alignment between business objectives, technical architecture, and customer experience. This role applies advanced technical product management practices to establish the intersection of high-value capabilities and user-centric design while owning the long-term platform vision and roadmap for a strategic business domain at Ascend. The Manager, TPM directly manages Technical Product Owners and Technical Product Managers where applicable within their domain and is responsible for driving disciplined execution across discovery, delivery, deployment, and adoption. In partnership with the Director of Technical Product Management, this role informs aggregate platform strategy while simplifying prioritization, reducing cross-team handoffs, and ensuring business requirements translate seamlessly into executable technical solutions.
WHERE YOU'LL WORKThis position will work a hybrid schedule from our Leawood, KS office location preferred. Remote will be considered within the United States.
HOW YOU'LL SPEND YOUR TIME- Develop and refine the long-term technical product vision and platform roadmap for Data Analytics (financial and product reporting, master data management, centralized data platforms) in alignment with Ascend's enterprise strategy and market trends.
- Synthesize business, customer, technical, and data insights to drive informed product decisions, challenging assumptions and prioritization where necessary.
- Manage Technical Product Owners/Managers within Data Analytics, ensuring consistent practices across discovery, delivery, deployment, and adoption.
- Coach and develop a high-performing team, with clear accountability for roadmap execution and measurable business outcomes.
- Build trust-based partnerships with business leaders and experience teams to translate Data Analytics strategy into well-defined, technically sound roadmaps for reporting and centralized data platforms.
- Represent Technology within Product Delivery Teams, clearly conveying requirements, priorities, and dependencies while providing transparent updates on execution status and risks.
- Serve as subject matter expert in financial/product reporting, Power BI or equivalent BI tools, master data management, and centralized data platforms, with awareness of competitive and emerging capabilities.
- Establish and monitor adoption and performance metrics to evaluate platform effectiveness and business value across the Data Analytics portfolio.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED- High school diploma or GED required. Bachelor's degree in related fields, such as Computer Science, Engineering, Business Administration or other areas or relevant work experience preferred.
- MBA or Master's degree is preferred
- 7+ years of combined experience in product management, business management, or consulting, preferably in a technical or software-related environment, including direct ownership of data analytics platforms with experience in financial or product reporting, Power BI or equivalent BI tools, master data management, and centralized data platforms.
- Experience working in an agile environment is strongly preferred
- Familiarity with data analysis, market research related to SaaS/technology trends, and customer feedback methodologies to inform platform decisions
- Proven ability in managing a complex strategic roadmap with multiple dependencies
- Proven communication skills, both verbal and written, to effectively collaborate with product teams, engineers, content teams, and other stakeholders
- Ability to combine strong technical acumen with deep understanding of the customer/markets being served
- Strong understanding of software development principles, technologies and agile methodologies
- Proven expertise in making critical technology-related decisions and trade-offs to drive overall business value and platform effectiveness
- Ability to align platform roadmap with product requirements and overall business objectives
- Ability to derive insights from technical trends/capabilities to champion improvements to user platform experience
- Strong project management skills to oversee development of platform requirements
- Knowledge of UX principles and ability to advocate for user-centric design
- Demonstrated leadership skills to provide technical leadership and guidance to platform development team
HIRING RANGEThe current full-time annualized hiring range for this role is $135,100.00-$193,160.00 and does not include discretionary bonus or sales incentives, if applicable. In accordance with applicable state laws, we are providing the expected salary range for this position. Individual compensation will be determined by various factors, including relevant experience, qualifications, current business needs and local market factors. Most regular, full-time employees are eligible to participate in an Ascend incentive bonus or sales plan.
BENEFITS - Health, dental, and vision insurance
- Company paid Life Insurance
- 401(k) with company match
- Paid time off and parental leave
- Employee assistance program
- Other employee wellness programs such as Headspace and Airvet
- Charitable matching program
