Head of Product - Platforms

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.
  

1. Strategy & Roadmap

• 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.
  

2. Delivery & Execution

• 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.
  

3. Reliability, Scalability & Compliance

• 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.
  

4. Analytics & Financial Impact

• 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.
  

5. People Leadership & Influence

• 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.
  

6. Change Leadership

• 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.
  

Day-to-Day Collaboration

• With BLO (Platform): align on efficiency, uptime, and cost-reduction objectives.
  
• With DM/TLs: plan capacity, define SLAs, and deliver roadmap initiatives.
  
• With Other Tribes: manage dependencies for payment flows, ledger, and tooling access.
  
• With Risk, Compliance, Legal, Finance: ensure audit readiness, reconciliation integrity, and regulatory compliance
  
• With Vendors: manage partnerships, SLAs, and integrations with card schemes, processors, and banking providers.