Technical Product Owner

Ascend Learning; Gilbert (AZ); Hybrid; USD 84,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Company paid life Insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off and parental leave

Employee assistance program

Headspace / Airvet wellness programs

Charitable matching program

Job summary

Ascend Learning, a leading healthcare and learning technology company, is hiring for a product-focused role based in Gilbert, AZ with a hybrid schedule. The candidate will translate market needs into features, manage backlogs, and drive cross-functional collaboration across product, engineering, and business teams to deliver value.

You will prioritize requirements, guide sprint planning, and ensure delivery aligns with customer needs and market feedback, while producing clear release notes and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, IT, CS or related field with relevant work experience.
• Experience in an agile environment is strongly preferred.
• 3+ years in project management, consulting, Agile development or IT (project management alone is insufficient).
• Ability to adapt to changing priorities and guide teams accordingly.
• Exceptional communicator and collaborator across functions and cultures.
• Ability to translate business requirements into features and manage a prioritized backlog.
• Break down complex problems into deliverable work tied to business themes.

Responsibilities

• Understand market needs and translate requirements into features and user stories with clear criteria.
• Gather needs from customers and incorporate feedback into the backlog.
• Prioritize features and manage the backlog with a well-ordered list of items.
• Modify features based on new market information and priorities.
• Plan sprints, map to roadmap milestones, and ensure timely delivery.
• Track development to align with requirements and user feedback.
• Support backlog grooming and clarify stories during sprint planning.
• Monitor performance against success criteria and customer perspective.
• Communicate alignment and deliver release notes clearly.
• Document capabilities to support training and implementation and mitigate risks.

Skills

Agile experience

Backlog management

User stories

Prioritization

Cross-functional collaboration

Effective communication

Stakeholder management

Requirements translation

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

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

Ascend Learning, a leading healthcare and learning technology company, 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. From testing to certification, Ascend Learning products are used by physicians, emergency medical professionals, nurses, allied health professionals, certified personal trainers, financial advisors, skilled trades professionals and insurance brokers.

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 2025 Greatest Workplaces as well as America’s Best Places to work for Mental Well-Being for 2025.

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.

For over 37 years, National Academy of Sports Medicine® (NASM®) has set the standard in fitness and wellness credentials and certification with best-in-class, evidence-based programming. An Ascend Learning brand, NASM has delivered over 1.4 million fitness professionals in over 100 countries. From personal training to nutrition coaching, wellness to sports performance, NASM trainers and specialists work at every level to help clients set and reach their unique goals. Join us in igniting potential and making a lasting impact in the fitness and wellness industry.

WHERE YOU’LL WORK

• This position will work a hybrid schedule from our Gilbert, AZ office, remote candidates will be considered within the United States.

How You’ll Spend Your Time

• Understand market needs and transform business requirements into features and user stories with clear acceptance criteria to convey specific functionality from an end-user perspective.
• Engage with Technical Product Managers and business product owner as needed to gather and understand customer needs and requirements, incorporating feedback into the backlog.
• Prioritize and manage backlogs, maintaining a well-prioritized list of features and user stories; use feedback from user engagement to adapt/modify requirements, features, prioritization of features, and product performance.
• Modify/change product features and requirements in response to new information on markets/customers from Product Managers.
• Conduct work prioritization and work sequencing and manage sprints and development of new features / products. Continuously map back to integrated roadmap milestones to ensure alignment on delivery
• Track and manage product development to ensure alignment with established product requirements and market / user feedback
• Support development teams in grooming the backlog during sprint planning by clarifying user stories and setting priorities.
• Oversee performance against success criteria, including customer perspective and UAT/OT.
• Drive alignment through effective and consistent communication
• Deliver consistent and clear release notes
• Support and drive documentation that supports both the delivery of capabilities that meet customer needs and enable training and implementation of capabilities
• Articulate risk and mitigations early and often
• Drive decision making on tradeoffs through clear understanding of business need, technical options and viable options

What You'll Need

• Bachelor's degree in related fields, such as Business Administration, Information Technology, Computer Science or other areas combined with relevant work experience
• Experience working in an agile environment is strongly preferred
• Minimum of 3+ years of combined experience in a combination of project management, consulting, Agile development or information technology (project management alone is insufficient)
• Experience working in a dynamic environment, with need to adapt to changing priorities, market dynamics, and evolving business needs and guide teams accordingly
• An exceptional communicator and collaborator, adept at working across different functions and diverse cultures
• Ability to successfully translate business requirements into features and user stories, and manage/ prioritize a feature backlog
• Effective communicator and collaborator able to breakdown complex business problems into logical and deliverable work that can easily tie back to business themes and priorities
• Ability to ensure that the vision for 'how a product needs to perform for a customer' is embodied in the design of the product, including for technical specifications
• In-depth understanding of Agile methodology (tools, processes, roles)
• Ability to understand minimum viable product requirements and prioritize

HIRING RANGE

The current full-time, annualized base pay hiring range for this role is $84,000.00-$120,120.00. In accordance with applicable state laws, we are providing the expected pay 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 wellness programs such as Headspace and Airvet
• Charitable matching program

Fostering A Sense of Belonging

Our values-driven culture unifies our teams and inspires a mindset of action, innovation, and collaboration, with a relentless focus on customers. We seek out and celebrate all people and perspectives and cultivate an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive, feel valued, and be authentic. 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.

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.