Sr. Product Manager in Durham, North Carolina at Aspida Financial Services LLC

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:

The way our partners, producers, and clients want to work with carriers is evolving — and the carriers that adapt will define the next chapter of this industry. We're investing in the platform, products, and partner experiences that will keep Aspida ahead of that curve.

We're hiring a Sr. product Manager to help shape and own that work. This is a strategic, high-impact role focused on Aspida's externalized partner platform — the APIs, data feeds, status services, event streams, and emerging interfaces that connect Aspida to a growing ecosystem of distribution partners and integrators.

You'll be part product strategist, part platform architect, part industry voice. You'll translate evolving industry standards into our roadmap, design API and data products that partners actually want to build on, and help shape how Aspida shows up as the industry continues to modernize. You'll work across operations, distribution, technology, actuarial, and compliance to make sure our partner-facing capabilities don't just expose data — they represent the full Aspida experience our partners and clients have come to expect.

The perfect candidate is a seasoned digital product manager with deep instincts for API-as-product thinking, strong empathy for both internal stakeholders and external developers and integrators, and the strategic range to take an emerging opportunity and turn it into competitive advantage. This role reports to the Director of Product and is required to be onsite at our Durham office 3 days a week.

What You Will Do:

• Define and own the digital product roadmap and go-to-market execution for Aspida's externalized partner platform — covering APIs, data feeds, status services, event streams, and the foundation for emerging integration patterns
• Translate evolving industry standards (including IRI Digital First for Annuities) into Aspida's product roadmap, ensuring we don't just conform to the standard but use it as a launchpad for differentiation
• Represent Aspida in relevant industry working groups, influencing how carriers, distributors, and vendors define and adopt modern annuity APIs and data exchange patterns
• Conduct deep voice-of-partner research with IMOs, banks, broker-dealers, RIAs, and wealth platforms to understand friction in the current ecosystem and how Aspida's externalized services can solve it
• Build a long-term vision for how Aspida's products and capabilities are consumed across multiple channels and surfaces, today and into the future
• Author clear, actionable specs for complex API workflows, balancing configurability for partners with the standardization needed to scale
• Partner closely with engineering to deliver a high-performance, scalable platform layer that is genuinely developer-friendly for both internal teams and external systems integrators
• Optimize and enable collaboration between stakeholders across operations, actuarial, distribution, strategy, compliance, technology, finance, and data
• Own roadmap prioritization to balance speed to market, new platform features, partner-driven feature requests, and emerging opportunities at the edge of where our industry is heading
• Manage external vendor relationships and identify build / buy / partner opportunities to accelerate speed to market
• Research emerging market trends and translate them into actionable product moves
• Define clear outcomes that measure partner adoption, integration velocity, transaction volume through external surfaces, and business impact, and use them to drive decision-making
• Support the development of partner-facing materials including API documentation, developer portal content, and integration guides

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.

What We Require:

• 7+ years of experience as a Digital Product Manager, with significant time spent on API, platform, or developer-facing products
• Insurance, fintech, wealth-tech, or similarly regulated enterprise domain experience; annuity or life insurance experience strongly preferred
• API-first mindset: you understand that the API is the product, and you've defined technical requirements for developers and systems integrators — not just feature specs for an internal UI
• Demonstrated ability to take a vague market opportunity and turn it into a concrete, successful product
• Experience with platform-style software where partners build differentiated experiences on top of your foundation
• Ability to synthesize complex internal needs across the company while considering both partner value and future growth
• Aptitude and willingness to deeply understand the annuity industry, the distribution ecosystem, and the regulatory environment
• Experience using Agile/Scrum/Sprint methodology including sprint planning and execution, as well as strong fluency with software development management tools
• Track record of leading new initiatives in a fast-paced environment and driving them through ambiguity to outcome
• Excellent written and verbal communication; comfort representing the company externally to partners, industry working groups, and at industry events
• Team player who thrives at the intersection of strategy, delivery, and cross-functional collaboration

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior involvement with industry standards bodies (IRI, ACORD, NAIC, LIMRA)
• Experience with annuity or life lifecycle systems — illustration, e-application, suitability, PAS, post-issue servicing
• Familiarity with how carriers and distribution platforms integrate today, and where those patterns are heading
• Experience with event-driven architecture, webhooks, OpenAPI/Swagger specs, and developer experience design
• Exposure to emerging integration patterns and how enterprise systems will be consumed by the next generation of tools