Product Operations Lead

Overview What We Do Insurance is a $10T industry still running on PDFs, email threads, and manual reconciliation. Ascend is changing that. We built the first finance automation platform designed specifically for insurance — combining AI and embedded fintech to modernize how money moves across the entire policy lifecycle, from collections to disbursements. In five years, we've become the market leader: trusted by thousands of insurance businesses nationwide, processing billions in transactions annually, and growing 200%+ year over year. How We Do It Ascend automates the financial operations that insurers, MGAs, and agencies run every day — and embeds directly into the transactions where money actually moves. AI is driving the cost of software toward zero. The companies that win won't just sell tools — they'll capture value at the point of the transaction itself. Ascend is built for exactly that moment. Our customers don't just adopt software; they unlock measurable efficiency with a proven 5–7x return on investment. Our 70+ person team, based in San Francisco and Columbus, brings together deep expertise in insurance, fintech, and AI to build infrastructure the industry has never had. Why We Do It The insurance industry intermediates trillions of dollars — and almost none of that infrastructure was built for the modern era. Legacy systems aren't just inefficient; they're a ceiling on what the industry can become. Ascend's mission is to become the leading financial automation platform for insurance by 2030 — powering the financial operations of the entire industry and transforming the way trillions of dollars move. We're not building another point solution. We're building the financial backbone of insurance. Your Role We are looking for a technical, operationally sharp, people-driven ProdOps Lead to own the performance and execution of Ascend's Product Operations team. This role will be 50% managing the team running manual ops and 50% driving loan operations automation — serving as the primary escalation point, cadence owner, and people manager. You'll handle ~95% of execution and team decisions independently, freeing up Head of Ops bandwidth to focus on strategic priorities while you drive delivery, metrics, and team development on the ground. You'll need technical experience because in addition to team management you are expected to: Build and maintain the loan operations automation roadmap Own monthly tooling improvements and automations Own spec delivery and alignment with tech on cross-functional projects Responsibilities will include Objective #1: In your first 30 days, you will: Shadow weekly kickoff and metrics meetings, with the goal of running them independently by Day 30 Review past cross-functional approach — tooling requests, project briefs, and ops meeting history Draft a rollout plan and calendar and ramp up on all health check SOPs Own 1 monthly tool automation project Objective #2: In your first 60 days, you will: Run weekly kickoff, metrics meetings, and 1:1s independently Deliver first weekly pulse check — covering health check metrics, ticket escalation, project completion rates, and remediation plans Draft the hub and process for the monthly ProdOps report Own escalations monitoring and on-call ops volume for 50% of team scope Objective #3: In your first 90 days, and beyond, you will: Drive the first full quarterly planning cycle — delivering top 3–5 ProdOps milestones with clear timelines, resource allocation, and cross-functional alignment with tech, product, data, and compliance teams Own escalations monitoring and support for 100% of team scope with zero major operational incidents Run 1:1s independently and deliver a development plan for each direct report — gaps, strengths, and development priorities Propose and document the initial team scope rotation plan and backup coverage protocols You might be a good fit if you are / have 3+ years in operations, program management, or a related role in a high-growth environment Hands-on experience building or iterating on internal tools (Retool, Lovable, or similar no-code/low-code platforms) — you\'ve shipped something, not just requested it Experience managing small teams with a track record of hitting SLA targets and developing direct reports Comfortable owning both execution and process — equally at home running a team meeting and triaging a tooling backlog Strong analytical instincts with the ability to build and maintain metrics dashboards that drive decisions A bias for direct communication, structured thinking, and proactive problem-solving without needing to be asked Background in fintech, insurtech, or financial operations is a plus Base Salary Range: $130,000-150,000 All roles at Ascend are 5 days a week onsite at our beautiful office in SoMa! Benefits 100% health premiums covered for you and your dependents 401k with employer matching options A fast growing team with an emphasis on promoting from within 80% of all hires in the last 12 months have already been promoted! Unlimited PTO Company paid commuter benefits Parental and family leave Lunch everyday Dog-friendly office! Equal Opportunity We are committed to equal opportunity employment and embrace diversity within our organization. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We encourage candidates to apply even if their experience doesn\'t precisely match this opportunity. We value diversity and are dedicated to equal opportunity employment. #J-18808-Ljbffr