Product Director

Kafene is revolutionizing the lease-to-own space. We're the point-of-sale powerhouse making flexible lease-to-own accessible to everyone—prime and non-prime customers alike. Our secret weapon? Cutting-edge AI and machine learning that analyzes 20,000+ data inputs in real-time, empowering retailers across furniture, appliances, electronics, tires, and durable goods to say "yes" to more customers.
The numbers tell our story: over $400 million in sales and counting. But we're just getting started.Our 150-person team spans NYC headquarters, Wilmington, and remote talent across the nation—all united by a culture that thrives on collaboration, innovation, and genuine support. We don't just talk about great workplace culture; we deliver it. That's why Built In named us a Startup to Watch and Forbes recognized us as one of the Best Startup Employers.
Ready to be part of the fintech revolution? Join us.
Kafene is seeking a strategic Product Director to lead the evolution of our merchant and consumer-facing platforms. In this role, you'll drive the vision and execution for Kafene’s products and features. You'll shape products that expand access to flexible payment options for underserved consumers and enable merchant partners to grow their businesses.This is a high-impact role where you'll work directly with executive leadership and serve as a bridge between engineering and cross-functional teams to define strategic direction, build scalable platforms, and leverage AI-driven underwriting to transform the lease-to-own industry.

Be The Voice Of Merchants And End-Customers

• Serve as the primary advocate for both merchant partners and consumer end-users, deeply understanding their needs, pain points, and aspirations
• Continuously prioritize customer and business needs with an eye toward future growth and market evolution
• Conduct comprehensive user research including customer interviews, usability tests, surveys, and behavioral analysis
• Synthesize insights from customer research, external market data, Kafene business intelligence, and stakeholder feedback into actionable product decisions

Define And Execute Product Vision

• Develop compelling product vision, strategy, and roadmap for Kafene Merchant and Kafene Direct in partnership with your team and stakeholders
• Own the end-to-end product lifecycle from ideation through launch and optimization
• Build robust prioritization frameworks that balance customer value, business impact, technical feasibility, and strategic growth objectives
• Communicate product priorities clearly across the company, actively seeking feedback and fostering transparency

Lead Product Development

• Partner with design teams to develop feature requirements, create intuitive UI/UX designs and wireframes that delight users
• Collaborate closely with engineering to translate product vision into technical specifications, define testing strategies, and ensure quality delivery
• Lead discovery and execution of high-impact features across app-based point-of-sale systems, virtual wallets, and AI-powered underwriting platforms
• Champion continuous product optimization through A/B testing, experimentation, and data-driven iteration

Drive Go-To-Market Success

• Define and execute comprehensive go-to-market strategies for each innovation cycle
• Partner with sales, marketing, operations, customer support, and finance teams to ensure successful product launches
• Develop launch plans that include positioning, messaging, training materials, and success metrics
• Monitor product performance post-launch and iterate based on adoption, usage data, and customer feedback

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Build consensus among diverse stakeholders while maintaining focus on strategic priorities
• Translate complex business needs into clear product requirements that engineering and design teams can execute against
• Inspire and support your team to drive meaningful results for the business
• Establish product principles and frameworks that guide decision-making across the organization

Required Experience

• 5+ years of product management experience with a proven track record of shipping successful products
• Experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder product roadmaps with competing priorities
• Strong technical fluency with the ability to engage deeply with engineering teams on architecture and implementation
• Demonstrated success operating in fast-paced, ambiguous environments where you've defined strategy from the ground up

Preferred Background

• Startup or high-growth company experience, particularly in scaling products from early to mature stages
• Fintech, payments, or consumer lending domain expertise
• Experience with two-sided marketplace or platform products
• Familiarity with AI/ML applications in product development

We're building a team as diverse as the customers we serve. Kafene is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer, and we mean it. We welcome qualified applicants of every race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, veteran status, and all other legally protected characteristics.
Need accommodation during the application process? We've got you. If you're applying for a U.S. position and require reasonable accommodation at any stage, reach out to careers@kafene.com with details about your request and contact information. We're here to help make the process work for you.
Note: This email address is specifically for accommodation requests and will only respond to those inquiries.