Description
Company Description:
Aspida is a tech-driven, nimble insurance carrier. Backed by Ares Management Corporation, a leading global alternative asset manager, we offer simple and secure retirement solutions and annuity products with speed and precision. More than that, we’re in the business of protecting dreams; those of our partners, our producers, and especially our clients. Our suite of products, available through our elegant and intuitive digital platform, focuses on secure, stable retirement solutions with attractive features and downside protection. A subsidiary of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) acts as the dedicated investment manager, capital solutions and corporate development partner to Aspida. For more information, please visit www.aspida.com or follow them on LinkedIn.
Who We Are:
Sometimes, a group of people come together and create something amazing. They don’t let egos get in the way. They don’t settle for the status quo, and they don’t complain when things get tough. Instead, they see a common vision for the future and each person makes an unspoken commitment to building that future together. That’s the culture, the moxie, and the story of Aspida.
Our business focuses on annuities and life insurance. At first, it might not sound flashy, but that’s why we’re doing things differently than everyone else in our industry. We’re dedicated to developing data-driven tech solutions, providing amazing customer experiences, and applying an entrepreneurial spirit to everything we do. Our work ethic is built on three main tenets: Get $#!+ Done, Do It with Moxie, and Have Fun. If this sounds like the place for you, read on, and then apply at aspida.com/careers.
What We Are Looking For:
Aspida is looking for a Senior Digital Product Manager to help shape the future of our digital platform and the experiences that support our producers, partners, operations teams, and clients.
In this role, you will own product strategy for a significant area of our platform - setting direction across a one-to-three-year horizon rather than the next release. You will drive discovery, roadmap strategy, investment tradeoffs, MVP definition, stakeholder alignment, launch readiness, and measurable product outcomes. You will work across Product, Design, Engineering, QA, Operations, Distribution, Compliance, Actuarial, Finance, Data, and other business partners to identify high-value problems, define clear product opportunities, and bring meaningful digital capabilities to life.
This is not a role for someone who simply manages a backlog. We are looking for a senior product leader who can understand complex business needs, uncover user pain points, define the right problems to solve, and guide cross-functional teams toward solutions that create real value - and who raises the product judgment of the people around them while doing it.
As a senior member of the product organization, you will be the person leadership turns to when they need to understand where your area is heading and why. You will take on our most complex and ambiguous initiatives, serve as the decision point when product tradeoffs get difficult, and actively mentor and develop other Product Managers. You will partner closely with Product Analysts, Designers, Engineering teams, QA, business stakeholders, and delivery partners. Product Analysts and solution partners will help drive detailed requirements, story readiness, and delivery clarity, while you remain accountable for product vision, prioritization, stakeholder confidence, launch narrative, and outcomes.
We are also actively building AI into how we do product work - using it to accelerate research synthesis, sharpen discovery, pressure-test thinking, and remove friction from delivery. We expect a senior product leader to push that further: to find where AI creates real leverage in our process and in our products, and to bring the rest of the team along.
The ideal candidate is curious, structured, collaborative, and comfortable operating in ambiguity. You should be energized by the opportunity to modernize an industry, simplify complex workflows, and build digital experiences that make it easier to buy, sell, and service annuity products. This role reports to the Sr. Director of Product and is required to be onsite at our Durham office 3 days a week.
What You Will Do:
Own Product Strategy and Roadmap
- Define and own the product strategy and roadmap for your area, balancing user needs, business value, operational priorities, compliance considerations, technical feasibility, and speed to market.
- Create a clear product vision that connects platform capabilities, user experience, business outcomes, and long-term growth.
- Drive long-range planning across a one-to-three-year horizon, including roadmap strategy, investment tradeoffs, adoption goals, and outcome targets.
- Translate business strategy, stakeholder needs, user insights, and market trends into prioritized product opportunities.
- Define MVP scope, launch sequencing, and success measures for new digital capabilities and enhancements.
- Make thoughtful tradeoff decisions across value, effort, risk, timing, stakeholder needs, and platform constraints - and serve as the decision point when those tradeoffs are contested.
- Identify where AI and automation create genuine leverage - in the experiences we build and in the way we build them - and factor that into roadmap and investment decisions.
- Continuously evaluate whether the roadmap is delivering meaningful outcomes and adjust priorities based on data, feedback, and learning.
Lead Discovery and User-Centered Product Thinking
- Lead product discovery efforts to understand user workflows, producer needs, partner expectations, servicing pain points, and internal operational processes.
- Take on the most complex and high-ambiguity discovery work, including initiatives with significant business, operational, regulatory, or platform impact.
- Conduct or partner on user research, stakeholder interviews, journey mapping, workflow analysis, and concept validation.
- Partner closely with Product Design / UX to shape intuitive, usable, and scalable digital experiences.
- Deeply understand the end-to-end buying and servicing journey for annuity products and identify opportunities to reduce friction, improve clarity, and create better experiences.
- Use qualitative and quantitative insights to frame product opportunities and guide decision-making.
- Use AI-enabled approaches to accelerate discovery - synthesizing research and feedback at scale, analyzing workflows, exploring options faster, and getting to a well-reasoned point of view sooner.
- Ensure the voice of the user remains central throughout discovery, prioritization, delivery, launch, and post-launch review.
Drive Alignment Across the Organization
- Build strong partnerships across Operations, Distribution, Strategy, Compliance, Technology, Finance, Data, Actuarial, Legal, Marketing, and other teams.
- Act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership on product direction, investment priorities, and sequencing decisions within your area.
- Facilitate alignment across stakeholders with different needs, priorities, and perspectives, and work through conflict to a clear decision.
- Communicate product direction, roadmap rationale, tradeoffs, risks, and decisions clearly and confidently, including in leadership forums.
- Partner with leaders and stakeholders to clarify business goals, define desired outcomes, and manage expectations.
- Serve as a trusted product partner who can bring structure to ambiguity and help teams make informed decisions.
- Own stakeholder communications for your product area, including product updates, launch messaging, training direction, and partner-facing communication support.
Partner with Delivery Teams to Bring Products to Life
- Partner with Product Analysts to translate product intent into clear requirements, story breakdown, backlog readiness, and sprint-level delivery clarity.
- Provide clear context, priority, and scope boundaries so Analysts, Designers, Engineering, QA, and business partners can execute with confidence.
- Partner with Engineering and solution partners to understand technical feasibility, dependencies, risks, and tradeoffs.
- Participate in meaningful sprint demos and product reviews to confirm that delivered work aligns with product intent and desired outcomes.
- Stay engaged in larger-feature UAT planning, business demos, launch readiness, and final signoff pathways.
- Champion AI-enabled delivery practices that reduce manual effort and improve clarity, from requirements and documentation through testing and release communication.
- Support delivery without becoming the default owner of every story, ceremony, ticket, or tactical delivery detail.
Launch, Measure, and Improve
- Own launch readiness from a product and business perspective, including stakeholder alignment, training direction, release narrative, and go-to-market support where applicable.
- Partner with Marketing, Training, Operations, Support, and business teams to ensure users understand what is changing, why it matters, and how to use new capabilities.
- Define clear metrics that measure user adoption, customer satisfaction, business impact, operational efficiency, and product health.
- Analyze product performance, user behavior, stakeholder feedback, and operational signals to determine whether features are achieving intended outcomes.
- Use post-launch insights to identify follow-up opportunities, roadmap adjustments, and continuous improvement areas.
- Help improve speed to market through thoughtful build, buy, configure, or partnership opportunities.
Grow the Product Team and the Product Craft
- Mentor and develop Product Managers, coaching product judgment, discovery quality, prioritization reasoning, and stakeholder communication.
- Help build bench strength across the product organization by raising the capability of the people around you, not only the output of your own area.
- Foster and drive AI-enabled product discovery and delivery - identifying where AI improves how we work, piloting new approaches, building reusable practices, and helping teams adopt them with judgment rather than hype.
- Bring modern product management practices into a growing, entrepreneurial organization.
- Help strengthen how we define product opportunities, prioritize work, align stakeholders, partner with design, and measure outcomes.
- Model strong product judgment, structured decision-making, curiosity, and ownership.
- Help create a product culture that values clarity, user empathy, measurable impact, and smart execution.
What We Provide:
- Salaried, DOE
- Long-Term Incentive Plan
- Full-Time
- Full Benefits Package Available
What We Believe:
Not sure if you meet every qualification? We still encourage you to apply! We value inclusivity, welcoming candidates from diverse backgrounds, including non-traditional paths. Unique experiences enrich our team, and the willingness to dream big makes you an exceptional candidate!
At Aspida Financial Services, LLC, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As such, Aspida does not and will not discriminate in employment and personnel practices on the basis of race, sex, age, handicap, religion, national origin or any other basis prohibited by applicable law. Hiring, transferring and promotion practices are performed without regard to the above listed items.
Requirements
What We Require:
- 8+ years of experience as a Digital Product Manager, Product Manager, Platform Product Manager, or similar role, including clear ownership of a product area from discovery through launch and measurement; experience in insurance, annuities, financial services, fintech, or another regulated industry is preferred.
- Demonstrated experience setting product strategy and long-range roadmap direction, not only executing an assigned roadmap.
- Strong ability to synthesize complex business, operational, technical, compliance, and user needs into clear product direction.
- Demonstrated experience owning a roadmap, defining MVPs, making prioritization decisions, and driving products from discovery through launch and measurement.
- Experience leading complex, high-ambiguity initiatives with meaningful business or operational impact.
- Experience conducting or partnering on user research, stakeholder research, journey mapping, workflow analysis, usability feedback, or product discovery.
- Strong understanding of Agile/Scrum/Sprint delivery environments and experience working with Product Analysts, Designers, Engineers, QA, and delivery teams.
- Ability to define clear outcomes, success metrics, and post-launch measurement approaches.
- Strong stakeholder management skills, including the ability to align senior cross-functional leaders and communicate tradeoffs clearly.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to simplify complexity and create decision-ready narratives for executive audiences.
- Experience mentoring or coaching other product managers.
- Hands-on fluency with AI tools in a product context, and a point of view on where they genuinely improve discovery, delivery, and decision quality - and where they do not.
- Comfort working in a fast-paced, growing company where priorities evolve and teams are building new ways of working.
- Strong product judgment, curiosity, ownership, and willingness to learn the annuity industry.
- Collaborative team player who can lead through influence, build trust, and help others do their best work.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience building or modernizing digital platforms in insurance, annuities, life insurance, wealth management, retirement, financial services, or fintech.
- Experience with producer portals, customer portals, servicing platforms, policy administration systems, forms, contact center tools, or other insurance technology ecosystems.
- Familiarity with annuity products, distribution workflows, application processing, suitability, policy servicing, or producer/client experiences.
- Experience partnering closely with UX/Product Design to improve complex workflows and digital experiences.
- Experience working with configurable vendor platforms, third-party systems, APIs, integrations, or build-versus-buy decisions.
- Experience launching products that require business readiness, training, stakeholder communications, compliance review, or operational change management.
- Strong analytical skills, including experience using product data, dashboards, user feedback, or operational metrics to inform product decisions.
- Experience helping a growing organization mature its product management practices.
- Experience embedding AI into product discovery, delivery, or operating practices, or shipping AI-enabled capabilities into a production product.
- Experience operating as a senior individual contributor who sets direction and develops others without formal reporting authority.
