Head of Product (Startup)

Instead is where tax work gets done. Our AI agent orchestrates the entirety of how work gets done in tax, from preparation and compliance to filing and advisory. It's a fundamentally new way of doing tax work, and it's why top 500 firms, Big Four teams, and enterprise corporate tax departments are choosing Instead.

What makes us unique: we hold full government approvals with the IRS, 48 states, and all cities to e-file 1040, 1041, 1120, 1120S, and 1065, with 706, 709, 990, 5500, 2290, and PPT coming for tax year 2026. No other tax startup will be able to offer these capabilities for years as we are two to three years ahead of everyone else in government approvals. Instead is backed by Conviction, IRIS (the largest tax software provider in the UK), Skylark, Aprio, and many of our partners and customers. We're building the AI-powered operating system for tax. Think of what companies like Harvey, Legora, and Rogo are doing for legal and finance. We're doing that for tax and accounting, starting with deep tax preparation and compliance, and expanding into advisory, planning, and other professional service areas.

You'll work directly with customers (partners, tax managers, preparers, reviewers, and firm administrators), define what to build, and ship it. You think in goals and outcomes, not projects and features.

You'll monitor competitors (Wolters Kluwer, Thomson Reuters, Intuit Pro Tax, and bolt-on solutions like Basis, Accrual, Filed, Juno) and study comparable AI companies to bring insights that shape our product direction. Own a product area end to end, driving strategy, roadmap, and execution from customer discovery through launch

You're not just defining what to build, you're building it

Work directly with accounting firm customers (partners, managers, preparers, reviewers, administrators) to understand their workflows and what they need from AI-powered tax technology

Build customer feedback into a quantitative system across multiple vectors, not just qualitative anecdotes

Own the competitive landscape: monitor Wolters Kluwer, Thomson Reuters, Intuit Pro Tax, Basis, Accrual, Filed, Juno, and other players. Study comparable AI companies (Harvey, Legora, Rogo) to identify patterns and opportunities we can apply to tax

Manage integrations with third-party tools and platforms that accounting firms depend on

Partner with engineering and design to ship features on a weekly cadence using Linear

Collaborate with GTM teams to translate product capabilities into positioning, demos, and customer enablement

Experience shipping products that real customers depend on in production

• You use data and customer feedback as quantitative inputs to drive decisions, not just gut instinct
• You can run a customer interview, write a clear product spec, and present to leadership in the same day
• Experience in tax, accounting, legal tech, or professional services is a strong plus

You've shipped AI-powered products in production and understand the difference between a demo and a product that works at scale

You respond to customer feedback the same day it comes in and you've built systems to turn that feedback into prioritized, measurable product goals

You shift naturally between writing code, talking to customers, analyzing usage data, and presenting strategy, all in the same week

200,000 base + equity

San Francisco (on-site)

We welcome candidates who can help us build a category-defining company in tax technology.