Product Lead (Credit Cards) - Engine by Starling

Job Description

Job Description

At Engine by Starling, we are on a mission to find and work with leading banks all around the world who have the ambition to build rapid growth businesses, on our technology.

Engine is Starling's software-as-a-service (SaaS) business, the technology that was built to power Starling Bank, and two years ago we split out as a separate business.

Who are Engine by Starling?

Engine by Starling is transforming the banking landscape with our cutting-edge core banking software. Originally developed to power Starling, our cloud-native SaaS platform is now enabling banks and financial institutions globally to modernize operations and deliver exceptional digital banking experiences.

Headquartered in the UK, we are now scaling globally and have offices in New York, Charlotte (NC), Toronto, Dublin, Dubai and Sydney. We have recently publicly announced our major investment into the US market and are looking to build the initial team to crack the market. Read more about our North American ambitions here.

Travel (including international) may be necessary depending on the team location, active clients and nature of our engagement with them.g

About the role

We’re looking for an exceptional Product Lead to join Engine as we accelerate our expansion in North America. This is a unique opportunity to define and build the next generation of our US Cards proposition, working at the intersection of product strategy, customer engagement and platform innovation.

As one of the senior product leaders in our US business, you’ll be responsible for shaping the vision, strategy and roadmap for a key area of our platform, ensuring it meets the needs of US financial institutions while aligning with Engine’s broader global product strategy.

This is a highly hands-on role. You’ll be expected to work directly with clients, internal stakeholders and engineering teams to translate market opportunities into market-leading products. One day you may be defining long-term product strategy with executive leadership; the next you may be refining requirements with engineers or validating product decisions with prospective customers.

Success in this role requires someone who is equally comfortable operating independently as part of a small senior leadership team in North America and collaborating across a larger, highly capable Product and Engineering organisation based in the UK. You’ll need to influence without hierarchy, build strong relationships across multiple disciplines, and help ensure that the unique needs of the US market are reflected in Engine’s global platform.

We’re looking for someone with deep expertise in the US credit card market, including a strong understanding of issuer products, customer expectations, operational processes and the broader payments ecosystem. Experience delivering products for banks, card issuers, processor platforms or modern banking/card technology providers is highly desirable.

If you’re passionate about building products from the ground up, enjoy solving complex commercial and technical challenges, and want to help shape the future of banking technology in North America, we’d love to hear from you.

What you’ll get to do

Define and evolve our US card proposition

• Own the vision, strategy and roadmap for a key area of Engine’s US Cards platform, balancing market needs, client requirements and long-term platform scalability.
• Translate market opportunities into clear product requirements, ensuring new capabilities are designed to be reusable across multiple financial institutions rather than bespoke for individual clients.
• Work closely with customers, prospects and internal stakeholders to validate product direction and prioritise investment based on commercial value and customer impact.

Build a scale, configurable platform

• Define product requirements, user stories and acceptance criteria across the full stack, connecting digital experiences, platform services and underlying card processing capabilities.
• Design scalable configuration models that enable banks to launch differentiated products through configuration rather than custom development.
• Drive a product-led approach to platform evolution, ensuring new functionality strengthens the core platform while supporting the needs of multiple clients.
• Assess the impact of platform, processor and third-party changes, proactively identifying opportunities, risks and required product enhancements.

Partners with Clients to deliver successful outcomes

• Lead product discovery with client banks, understanding their existing card portfolios, operating models and future product ambitions.
• Translate complex business requirements into clear product solutions, identifying where capabilities already exist, where configuration is sufficient and where platform enhancements are required.
• Perform product gap analysis and make pragmatic recommendations that balance client needs with long-term platform strategy.
• Support complex implementation programmes, providing product leadership through design workshops, delivery, testing and production readiness.

Collaborative across global team

• Work closely with Engineering, Architecture, Design and Client Success teams in both the US and UK to deliver high-quality product outcomes.
• Act as the voice of the US market within Engine’s global product organisation, ensuring regional market requirements are reflected in the platform roadmap.
• Build strong relationships across distributed teams, influencing product direction through collaboration rather than authority.

Drive Product Excellence

• Use customer feedback, market insight and product analytics to continuously improve the platform.
• Champion modern product management practices, helping establish a product-led culture as Engine continues to grow in North America.
• Represent the product with senior client stakeholders, supporting strategic discussions, solution workshops and executive presentations where required.

Requirements

Product Leadership

• Proven experience leading complex financial products from concept to launch,at least 7 years.
• Comfortable balancing strategic leadership with hands-on product management.
• Strong ability to influence senior stakeholders across a global organisation

US Card expertise

• Deep knowledge of the North American credit card industry and customer lifecycle.
• Understanding of card products, including credit, fees, rewards, disputes and servicing.
• Familiarity with the payments ecosystem (e.g. Visa, Mastercard).

Banking and Regulatory knowledge

• Solid understanding of US banking regulations (e.g. Regulation Z, CARD Act, FCRA).
• Awareness of Canadian regulations is a plus.
• Knowledge of PCI DSS and related compliance standards.

Platform and Processing Experience

• Experience with card processing platforms (TSYS preferred).
• Understanding of configurable card systems and issuer capabilities.
• Experience with migrations, conversions or major platform implementations.
• Comfortable working with APIs, integrations and engineering teams.

Customer and commerical focus

• Experience working with banks or financial institutions to deliver product solutions.
• Ability to balance client needs with scalable platform design.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.

Nice to Have

• Experience in SaaS, cloud or banking technology environments.
• Familiarity with agile product practices.
• Experience working with distributed teams.

Interview Process

Interviewing is a two way process and we want you to have the time and opportunity to get to know us, as much as we are getting to know you! Our interviews are conversational and we want to get the best from you, so come with questions and be curious. In general you can expect the below, following a chat with one of our Talent Team:

• First Interview (45 mins) - Our Product Director
• Second Architecture Interview (60 mins) - Two of the Product team
• Final Interview (45 mins) - VP of Client services and President, North America

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance plan options
• 401(k) with company match of 100% of the first 4%
• Company-paid Long-Term Disability, and Life and AD&D insurance
• Optional ancillary benefits such as Short-term Disability, Accident Insurance, Legal & ID Protection, and more
• 20 days annual vacation PTO and 11 Paid Holidays

You may be put off applying for a role because you don't tick every box. Forget that! While we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we're always open to discussion. So, if you're excited about working with us, but aren’t sure if you're 100% there yet, get in touch anyway. We’re on a mission to radically reshape banking – and that starts with our brilliant team. Whatever came before, we’re proud to bring together people of all backgrounds and experiences who love working together to solve problems.

Engine by Starling is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Engine by Starling are considered without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

When you provide us with this information, you are doing so at your own consent, with full knowledge that we will process this personal data in accordance with our Privacy Notice. By submitting your application, you agree that Engine by Starling and Starling will collect your personal data for recruiting and related purposes. Our Privacy Notice explains what personal information we will process, where we will process your personal information, its purposes for processing your personal information, and the rights you can exercise over our use of your personal information.

We use AI tools to support various parts of our recruitment process, helping our team manage applications and assessments more efficiently. These tools are strictly used for support and do not replace human judgment with all final hiring decisions being made by our team. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please reach out to us.