Founding Product Manager, 0–1 Products

About OptimaFI

OptimaFI helps community financial institutions (CFIs) - credit unions and banks profitably grow using a combination of proven data assets, expert consulting, and modern cloud software.  We are OptimaFI, striving to create solutions for CFI’s that enable better decision making, transparency, and improved profitability for our clients. Our values are Curiosity, Transparency, Partnership, and Lagniappe - always adding a little extra for clients and colleagues alike.

The Opportunity

OptimaFI already has 30% market share across our nine existing product & service offerings selling into CMOs, CFOs, and CCO’s @ community financial institutions. This role is about creating new and complementary products to expand share of wallet. This means building new products from nothing and own the calls that come with it. Not run a roadmap. Not take tickets. Prove what’s worth building and bring it to market. Household Insights is our first bet. This is a founding seat for the next wave of products at OptimaFI.

This is a hands-on builder role. You, a designer, a couple of engineers, and whatever AI you can put to work. You're not inheriting a deep backlog. If you define Product as writing stacks of PRDs, defining processes, and coordinating work thru development, this role is not for you. You build-to-learn so we can build-to-earn.

You report to the CPO. You'll work shoulder to shoulder with engineering, design, and the people who know our customers and this market cold: sales, success, and our banking SMEs with decades of experience. They bring the customer knowledge. You turn it into product bets that move adoption, retention, and revenue.

Key Responsibilities

• Find the real problem. Talk to bankers & credit union operators until a pattern is obvious. Separate the loud one-off request from the repeatable market problem.
• Make the call. Decide what's worth building and what isn't, and own that decision out loud. Nobody's going to hand you the answer.
• Build to learn before you build to earn. Prototype & test, kill what doesn't work. In our world you test responsibly: pilots and prototypes, not science experiments on paying banks.
• Use AI to help you think, not do your thinking. Yes it's magical, yes it is a force multiplier, and yes it is the expectation.
• Ship. Work the trade-offs with engineering and get real product out the door used by customers. Decks about product don't count.
• Keep score. Define what success means before you build, then prove whether you hit it. Speak CFO, not just PM.

Required Qualifications

• You've built a product or product line where none existed before. Not inherited, not maintained. Stood it up. You can walk us through one, start to finish.
• You're AI-native. Not "I've used ChatGPT a few times." AI is already woven into how you work and you can show us.
• You think and write clearly. Don’t use seven words when three will do.
• You've made a real bet with real consequences (budget, headcount, a build-vs-buy call) and can explain the reasoning, including what you got wrong.
• You've operated without structure and made good decisions anyway.
• You'll hold a well-reasoned line in a room full of people who disagree, and you'll change your mind the moment the evidence says to. You run on evidence, not opinion.
• Commercial experience tying product decisions to adoption, retention, revenue, or share of wallet.

Preferred Qualifications 

• Fintech, community banking, credit union, or another regulated B2B environment. It helps, and you'll ramp faster. But we'd rather have a sharp 0-1 builder who learns the domain than a domain expert who doesn't have 0-1.

You'll Thrive in This Role If You:

• Say the hard thing early, directly, and kindly.
• Take full ownership and communicate with clarity and transparency.
• Move with urgency while respecting the security, privacy, and trust obligations of regulated customers. Trust is the whole game. "Move fast and break things" doesn't fly when the thing you'd break is a bank's confidence or its data
• Are comfortable deciding before every variable is known, and hold a point of view without being attached to being right.
• Value autonomy with accountability on a small, collaborative team 

Why OptimaFI

We offer:

• Base salary $150,000 to $200,000 plus bonus, depending on experience, skills, and location.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage; Flexible PTO; a 401(k) match; and a work-from-home stipend.
• A MacBook Pro, modern product-development tools
• Meaningful ownership of new product bets, with no inherited backlog or legacy product bureaucracy.
• A leadership team that values straight talk, rapid learning, and responsible experimentation.
• Direct access to 2500 customers, banking experts, and cross-functional partners who know the market deeply.
• A remote environment that trusts adults to do excellent work without unnecessary oversight.

We are committed to equitable and transparent compensation practices. Our ranges are informed by market data and reflect the dynamic nature of today’s labor market. Final compensation will be determined based on factors such as experience, skills and location.

*Eligible Remote Locations: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CT, FL, GA, IL, KY, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, OH, OR, PA, TN, TX, VA, and WI