Senior Vice President, Workplace Solutions (529/ABLE plans)

Ascensus•Newton, MA

62d•Hybrid

About The Position

Ascensus is launching a first-of-its-kind solution designed to bring 529 education savings and ABLE plans into the workplace—positioning these traditionally individual products as core components of employer-sponsored financial wellness offerings. This role represents a unique opportunity to define and scale what could become a standard employee benefit over the next decade. Successful candidate will serve as an entrepreneurial builder within a well-established organization, owning the end-to-end strategy, product development, and national distribution of workplace-based 529 and ABLE solutions. This leader will be responsible for translating a bold vision into a commercially viable, scalable offering—designing the user experience, building a modern digital platform, and establishing the operating model required to support growth across Fortune 1000 employers. Success in this role requires deep expertise in the financial wellness and voluntary benefits ecosystem, along with a strong track record of engaging benefits brokers, HRIS platforms, and benefits administration partners. The SVP will build and activate a distribution network from the ground up, develop strategic partnerships, and drive account formation at scale. This is a unique opportunity for a leader who thrives in a “startup within a company” environment—someone who can navigate complexity, influence across a matrixed organization, and build a new category at the intersection of education savings and workplace benefits. The role carries ownership of product strategy, pricing, go-to-market approach, partnership development, and P&L, while collaborating closely with Product, IT, Operations, and Relationship Management teams to bring the vision to life. NOTE: There is only one position. Preference is candidate to be located Hybrid to Needham, MA office. Will consider remote candidates.

Requirements

Minimum of 15 years’ experience in financial services management
Deep understanding of the workplace benefits space, including retirement
Understanding of 529 and ABLE products
Institutional relational management experience in financial services
Demonstrated ability to drive a new offering in a way that motivates a diverse group of leaders and associates to engage and participate in the vision and direction
Proven leadership, strategic planning, and decision-making skills
Proven organizational, time management, and communication skills
Sound judgement and discretion
Must have the ability to: Set clear goals, expectations, and objectives.
Work directly with the leadership team to gain momentum

Responsibilities

Responsible for protecting, securing, and proper handling of all confidential data held by Ascensus to ensure against unauthorized access, improper transmission, and/or unapproved disclosure of information that could result in harm to Ascensus or our clients.
At Ascensus we are guided by our Core Values of People Matter, Quality First and Integrity Always®. They inspire us every day to prioritize an environment of respect for those we serve and one another and should be visible in your actions on a day-to-day.
Strategy: Identify channels and potential channel partners, including 401(k) recordkeepers, payroll firms, benefits platforms, benefits consultants, financial wellness platforms, HR platforms, other
Prioritize channels and build/execute on a business development approach
Partner with Ascensus Government Relations team and industry groups to drive towards tax benefits for employer 529/ABLE contributions
Product: Partner with Product and UX to develop a product strategy, to include new employer and employee capabilities
Define employee education capabilities that should be a part of the offering
Define product servicing requirements, including employer servicing
Define operational requirements
Relationship Management: Identify top partners/clients; establish and maintain relationships
Partner with 529 and ABLE relationship management team to drive communication and buy-in from clients and partners
Operational Support: Design organizational structure to support this new solution
As required, partner with senior leaders to execute on the organizational design
P&L: Define product pricing strategy
Own P&L for workplace solutions implementations
Supervision: This role is an individual contributor role
Responsibilities will include designing the operational model for 529/ABLE workplace solutions, including organizational design