Head of Product – Credit
Kuda
Head of Product – Platforms
Kuda
full-time
Posted on:
Location Type: Hybrid
Location: Cape Town • 🇿🇦 South Africa
Visit company websiteJob Level
Lead
Tech Stack
Ruby on Rails
About the role
- Define and own the Platform tribe strategy and roadmap, integrating business goals, regulatory needs, and market dynamics.
- Prioritise investments that improve system reliability, cost efficiency, and scalability while enabling new business opportunities.
- Set and communicate SMART goals (OKRs) to align teams and stakeholders.
- Lead tribe planning and QBRs, managing alignment and dependencies across tribes.
- Champion thin-slice, iterative delivery with measurable impact.
- Provide proactive visibility to leadership and stakeholders on roadmap progress, risks, and key decisions.
- Establish standards for system reliability, uptime, and performance, tracking SLA targets.
- Ensure compliance with card scheme rules, payment regulations, and data protection requirements.
- Drive automation and tooling that reduce operational friction and enhance efficiency.
- Use financial analytics to optimise ROI, cost-to-serve, and scalability.
- Analyse vendor costs, transaction volumes, reconciliation gaps, and efficiency gains to inform priorities.
- Apply cohort analysis to identify internal adoption trends and guide smarter platform investment.
- Hire, coach, and develop Product Managers with strong infrastructure and financial services instincts.
- Influence stakeholders by simplifying complex technical concepts into clear business narratives.
- Foster an inclusive, collaborative culture where teams feel empowered to contribute and own outcomes.
- Lead structural enhancements to Kuda’s infrastructure that benefit multiple business areas.
- Oversee transformation initiatives in core processes (ledger, payments, tooling) to increase efficiency.
- Act as a role model for learning, continuous improvement, and accountability.
- Collaborate with BLO (Platform): align on efficiency, uptime, and cost-reduction objectives.
- Collaborate with DM/TLs: plan capacity, define SLAs, and deliver roadmap initiatives.
- Collaborate with Other Tribes: manage dependencies for payment flows, ledger, and tooling access.
- Collaborate with Risk, Compliance, Legal, Finance: ensure audit readiness, reconciliation integrity, and regulatory compliance.
- Collaborate with Vendors: manage partnerships, SLAs, and integrations with card schemes, processors, and banking providers.
Requirements
- 7+ years in Product Management, with 4+ years leading payments, cards, or core banking infrastructure products.
- Proven track record in building reliable, compliant financial platforms.
- Strong knowledge of local payment rails, card schemes, and core banking systems.
- Experience managing vendors and partners at scale.
- Data-driven decision-maker with financial modelling and ROI analysis experience.
- Excellent communication and influencing skills, able to simplify complex concepts.
- Experienced in mentoring Product Managers and building high-performing teams.
- **Nice to Have**
- Experience in Nigerian or emerging market financial infrastructure.
- Familiarity with CBN regulations, scheme certifications, ISO20022.
- Background in internal tooling or financial operations automation.
Benefits
- A great and upbeat work environment populated by a multinational team
- Pension
- Career development & growth
- Competitive annual leave plus bank holidays
- Competitive paid time off (Parental, Moving day, Birthday, Study leave etc)
- Group life insurance
- Medical insurance
- Well-fare package (Wedding, Compassionate and etc)
- Perkbox
- Goalr - employee wellness app
- Award winning L&D training
- We are advocates of work-life balance, working in a hybrid in office schedule
Applicant Tracking System Keywords
Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.
Hard skills
Product Managementfinancial modellingROI analysisdata analysisautomationcore banking systemspayment regulationsvendor managementfinancial platformsinternal tooling
Soft skills
communicationinfluencingmentoringcollaborationleadershipstrategic planningproblem-solvingcontinuous improvementteam empowermentstakeholder management
Certifications
CBN regulationsISO20022