Ascent is reducing the cost of compliance to encourage innovation, help existing companies stay in business, and make it possible for new companies to get started. As trailblazers in our space we’re searching for people passionate about building new and innovative products, who aren’t afraid of challenging the status quo and solving generations-old problems.

The VP of Product role will embody the “intelligence-as-a-product” vision at Ascent, helping build knowledge via algorithms and models rather than with humans. The position is a member of Ascent’s leadership team.

Roles and Responsibilities

Your fundamental responsibility is to craft and execute a vision for what we build. This includes leading development of the internal tools and processes we use to transform public regulatory data into valuable, proprietary insights. It also includes leading development of any products we build on top of that data, such as our current project management platform or our upcoming APIs. Ultimately you’re responsible for creating the things we sell to scale our organization.

You’ll be responsible for our internal and external product strategy. We’d expect a successful VP of Product Development to gather whatever context and data is necessary to make strategic decisions and ensure Ascent remains a leader in the marketplace. On the external side performing market research, monitoring competitor activities, and working with UX/sales to gather customer research and feedback. On the internal side partnering with data scientists and domain experts to use machine learning, AI, NLP, and other forms of applied analytics to establish and augment Ascent’s development and use of intelligence products.

This is a pivotal role on the leadership team at Ascent at a critical time in our growth, bringing together many different disciplines into a single cohesive vision for the company. You’ll manage the full internal and external product lifecycle in collaboration with the rest of the leadership team.

• Lead product vision and execution across both product verticals: (1) AI-based intelligence products, and (2) customer-facing products.
• Lead product teams responsible for delivering both of Ascent’s product verticals, including day-to-day management of staff and external resources. Work with internal and external teams to set goals, iterate on product development, and ensure the timely delivery of high quality products and services.
• Drive ROI-obsessed development of all product features and deployments.
• Effectively lead in a results-oriented environment while motivating and coaching team members across multiple departments.

Important Competencies

• Vision for designing products around outcomes, not features.
• Intellectual acumen to process and synthesize new pieces of information and new areas of domain expertise.
• The ability to make decisions with imperfect sets of information, and the ability to operate well in situations of pressure.
• Minimum of 5 years commercial experience in product management; demonstrated commercial success with emphasis on product development and execution. Minimum 2 years’ experience in management.
• Advanced written and verbal communication skills, and collaborative approach to problem-solving and execution.
• Experience with complex / technical business systems and an ability to strategically analyze the how pieces of data impact a customer experience.
• Proven ability to lead cross functional teams with and without formal authority.
• Experience with artificial intelligence and machine learning a plus.
• Experience with data product management preferred.