Chief Product Officer (CPO)

Full-Time: 40 hours/week

About Yaqeen Institute

Yaqeen is a nonprofit on a mission to pioneer Islamic research in creative, cutting-edge formats tailored to meet people where they are. We work to dismantle doubts through well-researched truths, nurture conviction by strengthening belief with practical, spiritual guidance, and inspire contribution by reviving our tradition of faithful changemakers, insha'Allah. We're seeking like-minded professionals who embody Islamic values including sincerity, excellence, and compassion, and want to make a difference in the faith of people worldwide.

About the role

Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research is seeking a Chief Product Officer to lead our product organization and drive the next phase of our mission: to move people to a realization of Islam that inspires faith, grounds it with intellect, and creates a world of doers who are tranquil, confident, and purpose-driven.

We reach millions of people globally through research-backed Islamic content spanning peer-reviewed papers, curriculum used by 1,000+ Islamic schools, a mobile app with a rapidly growing engaged user base, books, and video content that has seen a 30% increase in YouTube views in the past year alone. We are at an inflection point. We have built the content and the audience. Now we need a product leader who can build the engine that turns reach into lasting, measurable impact on people's faith and lives.

The CPO will own the full product portfolio: our consumer app, Hashiya (our academic publishing platform), curriculum for Islamic schools, books, and our data and analytics capabilities. You will lead a lean, high-potential product team and work closely with engineering, content, research, and marketing to deliver products that genuinely change lives.

This is not a maintenance role. We are looking for a builder who can unify a distributed product organization, drive retention and engagement at scale, champion AI-powered innovation, and bring the rigor of data-driven product management to a mission-driven context.

What you'll do

Product Vision and Strategy

• Define and own the long-term product vision, connecting Yaqeen's mission to measurable product outcomes
• Develop an integrated product roadmap across all verticals (App, Hashiya, Curriculum, Books, Data and Analytics)
• Lead the transition from a reach-focused to an engagement-and-retention-focused product strategy
• Evaluate and drive platform consolidation decisions (app architecture, content delivery, brand separation)
• Lead GOSP (Goals, Objectives, Strategy, Plans) conversations for the product organization

Retention and Growth

• Own the retention strategy: reduce churn, increase monthly active users, and deepen habitual engagement
• Design and iterate on gamification, social features, and personalization to drive re-engagement
• Build experimentation frameworks for testing engagement hypotheses with statistical rigor
• Develop proxy metrics for measuring impact on religiosity and spiritual growth

Team Leadership and Development

• Lead and develop a team of product managers across multiple squads
• Coach PMs on executive communication, budget ownership, data-driven storytelling, and strategic thinking
• Foster collaboration across squads that currently operate independently
• Build a unified operating cadence: shared planning, cross-squad visibility, and regular demos
• Drive AI fluency across the product team, including building and curating AI agents for day-to-day workflows

AI and Data Strategy

• Own the data infrastructure strategy: content tagging, cataloging, and curation for AI-powered personalization
• Drive AI-powered personalization to deliver the right content to the right user at the right time
• Lead adoption of the latest AI models and tools to maximize throughput and quality
• Build systematic audience sensing and market intelligence capabilities

Content Product Strategy

• Oversee strategic positioning of consumer products (Yaqeen App) versus academic products (Hashiya)
• Drive content modality expansion (audio, interactive, short-form) based on user behavior data
• Develop a target audience roadmap: who to reach next, on which platforms, and in what sequence
• Support curriculum partnerships and joint ventures to scale educational impact

Stakeholder and Executive Engagement

• Partner with the CEO, Deputy CEO, and board to align product strategy with organizational goals
• Present product performance, roadmap, and budget proposals to executive leadership
• Lead the product organization through zero-based budgeting cycles with compelling, data-backed justifications
• Build relationships with external partners (content distributors, educational institutions, technology vendors)

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of product management experience, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role (VP Product, CPO, or equivalent)
• Demonstrated success in driving retention and engagement for consumer-facing digital products
• Experience leading and developing product teams of 5+ people across multiple product lines
• Strong command of data-driven product management: A/B testing, cohort analysis, funnel optimization, and metric design
• Experience with mobile app products and content platforms
• Proven ability to unify distributed teams around a shared vision and operating cadence
• Executive presence: ability to communicate product strategy to board-level stakeholders and translate mission into measurable outcomes
• Comfort operating in a lean, resource-constrained environment where you build alongside your team
• Demonstrated experience integrating AI and emerging technologies into product strategy and team workflows

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with mission-driven, nonprofit, or social-impact organizations
• Familiarity with gamification design, behavioral psychology, and habit formation frameworks
• Experience with AI/ML-powered personalization and recommendation systems
• Understanding of educational technology and/or curriculum products
• Experience with content platforms (publishing, media, or knowledge-sharing)
• Familiarity with the Muslim community and Islamic content landscape
• Experience building or managing AI agents and agentic workflows
• Track record of coaching product managers from individual contributors to strategic leaders

Yaqeen Institute embraces a philosophy that values and promotes diversity. Our goal is to attract, develop, retain, and advance a talented and diverse workforce within a culture where all employees are empowered to reach their fullest potential.

Please note that all career opportunities at Yaqeen Institute are subject to a three-month probationary period, during which we assess performance, alignment with our values, and mutual fit to ensure long-term success in the role.