Hybrid Head of Product – Platforms

at Kuda

• Job title: Head of Product – Platforms
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Lead
• Salary: Not specified
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Tech skills: Ruby on Rails
• Location requirements: Hybrid, Cape Town, South Africa

About the role

• Head of Product at Kuda leading platform strategy and overseeing core banking, payments, and tooling. Driving measurable business efficiency and regulatory compliance across multiple tribes.

Responsibilities

• 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.
• Manage dependencies for payment flows, ledger, and tooling access.
• Ensure audit readiness, reconciliation integrity, and regulatory compliance with Risk, Compliance, Legal, Finance.
• Manage partnerships, SLAs, and integrations with vendors.

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