Finance Sr Manager

Ascend Learning; Burlington (MA); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible PTO

Medical insurance

401(k) matching

Parental leave

Wellness resources

Charitable matching

On-site gym access

Job summary

Ascend Learning seeks a Finance Senior Manager to drive portfolio management and analytics across its healthcare and education brands. This role shapes investment decisions, balancing roadmap priorities with budget constraints and governance needs.

You will work with Product, Technology and PMO to translate data into strategic priorities and to ensure investments deliver measurable value for stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in portfolio management, analytics, or strategic planning in a product/ RD-heavy context.
• Strong storytelling with data and the ability to present to executives.
• Experience partnering with Product, Finance, Strategy and leadership teams.

Responsibilities

• Partner with product leaders and governance committees to evaluate progress and risks.
• Conduct scenario modeling and provide insights for investment tradeoffs and roadmap sequencing.
• Monitor project status, timelines, budgets and resourcing; suggest mitigations.
• Develop dashboards and reports for governance meetings and reviews.
• Align roadmap decisions with enterprise goals through finance-product collaboration.

Skills

Portfolio management

Financial analytics

Strategy

Cross-functional collaboration

Executive communications

Education

Bachelor’s degree in finance or related field

Tools

Excel

Power BI

Tableau

Planful

Job description

We Impact Lives Through Purpose-Driven Work in A People First Culture

Ascend Learning is the connection between a powerful portfolio of brands serving students, educators, and employers with outcomes-based, data driven solutions across the lifecycle of learning.

Our values-driven culture unifies our teams and inspires a mindset of action, innovation, and collaboration, with a relentless focus on customers.

We're always looking for talented, passionate professionals to join us in our mission to help change lives. If this sounds like an environment where you'd thrive, read on to learn more.

Ascend Learning leads the way in innovation and solution creation to improve outcomes and deliver results for students, educators, and healthcare workers in the ever-changing field of healthcare. We offer advanced resources that drive nursing success, empower front-line certified allied health workers, help physicians pass boards and stay current, and provide education management tools for medical education programs.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

As Finance Senior Manager supporting Portfolio Management & Analytics, you will play a central role in enabling data-informed, strategic decision-making across Ascend’s product portfolio. This role sits at the intersection of product strategy, investment planning, and execution — helping ensure our R&D investments are aligned, prioritized, and delivering value.

You’ll partner closely with Product, Technology, and the PMO to analyze the product roadmap, assess progress and risk, and provide meaningful recommendations to help senior leaders and governance committees make smart tradeoffs and investment decisions.

Success in this role requires strong analytical capabilities, sound business judgment, and the ability to navigate ambiguity while translating data into insights that inform strategic priorities.

WHERE YOU’LL WORK

This position will work a hybrid schedule from our Leawood, KS office or Burlington, MA location.

HOW YOU’LL SPEND YOUR TIME

• Partner with product leaders and governance committees to assess progress, identify risks, and support strategic roadmap decisions across the R&D portfolio.
• Conduct scenario modeling and develop insights to inform investment tradeoffs, resource planning, and sequencing of roadmap initiatives.
• Monitor and report on project status, timeline shifts, resourcing challenges, and anticipated budget variances — while helping identify mitigation strategies.
• Collaborate with the PMO and Product Operations to improve transparency across product development workflows and capital planning processes.
• Support capital planning and strategic investment review cycles with structured, data-informed analysis on capacity, cost, ROI, and strategic alignment.
• Develop and maintain models, dashboards, and reports to support governance meetings and executive-level product reviews.
• Drive process improvement initiatives that strengthen our ability to evaluate, prioritize, and track product and technology investments.
• Serve as a connector between Finance and Product teams — ensuring alignment between roadmap decisions and enterprise goals.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, business analytics, or a related field
• 7+ years of experience in portfolio management, business or financial analytics, strategic planning, or a related function (experience in a product-led or R&D-heavy environment is a plus)
• Strong analytical and storytelling skills — ability to distill complex data into clear, actionable recommendations
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, including experience supporting or presenting to senior executives
• Advanced skills in Excel; Proficiency in data visualization tools (Power BI or Tableau); Experience with financial software (e.g. Planful or other systems a plus)
• Comfort working with ambiguity and imperfect data; ability to iterate and improve over time
• Experience working cross-functionally with Product, Finance, and/or Strategy teams is preferred
• A curious mindset, strong business acumen, and the ability to see both the forest and the trees

BENEFITS

• Flexible and generous paid time off
• Competitive medical, dental, vision and life insurance
• 401(k) employer matching program
• Parental leave
• Wellness resources
• Charitable matching program
• On-site workout facilities (Leawood, Gilbert, Burlington)
• Community outreach groups

Fostering A Sense of Belonging

We seek out and celebrate all people and perspectives and cultivate an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive, feel valued and be their authentic selves. Our culture is firmly rooted in the belief that by embracing our differences and drawing on diverse perspectives, we are a stronger, more innovative, and more successful organization where employees experience a sense of belonging.

About Ascend Learning

As a tech-enabled services company, Ascend Learning is a national leader in developing and delivering data-driven online educational content, software, assessments, analytics, and simulations serving institutions, students and employers across healthcare, fitness and wellness, public and workplace safety, skilled trades, insurance, financial services, cybersecurity, and higher education. We're committed to accelerating the learning pathways that can move people into careers where they have the knowledge and skills to have an impact and help change lives in the communities they serve. Headquartered in Burlington, MA with additional office locations and hybrid and remote workers in cities across the U.S., Ascend Learning was recognized by Newsweek and Plant-A Insights Group as one of America's 2023 Greatest Workplaces for Diversity.

Ascend Learning, LLC is proud to be an equal opportunity employer (M/F/Vets/Disabled). No agency or search firm submissions will be accepted. Applications for U.S. based positions with Ascend Learning, LLC must be legally authorized to work in the United States and verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.

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Equal Opportunity Employer
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