VP Product - Lending & Retention

Posted 4 Days Ago
Hiring Remotely in US
Remote
230K-300K Annually
Expert/Leader
Fintech • Mobile • Financial Services
Tala provides financial services to the global underbanked using next generation mobile technology and data science.
The Role
The VP of Product will define the strategy for Tala's lending ecosystem, enhance customer experiences, and lead product teams while achieving sustainable growth and financial inclusion.
Summary Generated by Built In
About Tala

Tala is on a mission to unleash the economic power of the Global Majority – the 4 billion people overlooked by existing financial systems. With nearly half a billion dollars raised from equity and debt, we are serving millions of customers across three continents. Tala has been named by the Fortune Impact 20 list, CNBC’s Disruptor 50 five years in a row, CNBC’s World's Top Fintech Company, Forbes’ Fintech 50 list for eight years running, and Chief's The New Era of Leadership Award. We are expanding across product offerings, countries and crypto and are looking for people who have an entrepreneurial spirit and are passionate about our mission.

By creating a unique platform that enables lending and other financial services around the globe, people in emerging markets are able to start and expand small businesses, manage day-to-day needs, and pursue their financial goals with confidence. Currently, over nine million people across Kenya, the Philippines, Mexico, and India have used Tala products. Due to our global team, we have a remote-first approach, and also have offices in Santa Monica, CA (HQ); Nairobi, Kenya; Mexico City, Mexico; Manila, the Philippines; and Bangalore, India.

Most Talazens join us because they connect with our mission. If you are energized by the impact you can make at Tala, we’d love to hear from you!

The Role

We are seeking a strategic  VP – Lending & Retention to define and drive the future of Tala’s lending ecosystem. This leader will be responsible for building customer-first lending experiences, maximizing portfolio performance, and deepening long-term customer relationships. The successful candidate will also help operationalize and expand our capital market initiatives. This role sits at the heart of Tala’s growth engine. You will craft a differentiated lending strategy that balances customer delight, risk management, and profitability. You’ll partner across engineering, data science, credit, operations, and marketing to ensure Tala continuously evolves with customer needs while advancing financial inclusion at scale.This is a pivotal leadership opportunity to shape how millions of underserved customers access and retain financial services, while positioning Tala for sustainable growth.

What You'll Do

  • Define Product Vision & Strategy
  • Develop and communicate a bold product roadmap for lending and retention aligned with Tala’s mission and growth objectives.
  • Balance innovation with portfolio health, risk, and regulatory compliance.

  • Capital Markets & Funding Leadership:
  • Partner closely with Finance & Capital Markets to ensure sustainable and diversified funding 
  • Translate portfolio and product performance into narratives that resonate with investors and regulators 
  • Anticipate and influence macroeconomic and regulatory shifts that impact capital and credit supply

  • Own the Customer Lifecycle
  • Lead product strategy across the entire lending journey and customer conversion funnel – acquisition, underwriting, disbursement, repayment, and re-engagement.
  • Design retention initiatives that drive repeat usage, loyalty, and lifetime value.

  • Build & Lead Teams
  • Lead, mentor, and grow a world-class product team focused on lending, and retention.
  • Foster a culture of impact, innovation, and accountability.

  • Lead Best-in-Class Repayments and Recoveries plans
  • Identify optimization opportunities to enhance our repayments rates ratio
  • Leverage 3rd party best practices and partners to significantly drive recoveries financially 

  • Global to Local Balance:
  • Build a product strategy that drives global lending performance while tailoring execution for local customer, cultural, and regulatory contexts
  • Collaborate closely with GMs and market teams to ensure product decisions resonate locally while supporting the enterprise portfolio.

  • Drive Performance & Insights
  • Establish KPIs for lending product performance, including portfolio quality, customer engagement, and unit economics.
  • Leverage data, experimentation, and customer insights to continuously optimize.

  • Cross-Functional Leadership
  • Partner with risk, operations, finance and marketing to ensure lending products deliver strong financial and social outcomes.
  • Collaborate with design and engineering to create seamless, mobile-first experiences.

  • Innovation & Differentiation
  • Stay ahead of fintech, credit, and retention best practices globally.
  • Identify opportunities to introduce new credit features, loyalty programs, or adjacent financial products.

What You Need

  • 15+ years of product leadership experience, ideally in fintech, lending, digital banking, or consumer financial services
  • Proven track record of scaling lending or retention products in high-growth environments
  • Strong understanding of credit dynamics, risk management, and unit economics
  • Customer-obsessed with deep empathy for underserved populations and emerging markets
  • Experienced leading global, cross-functional teams across product, engineering, and operations
  • Analytical and data-driven, with expertise in experimentation, A/B testing, and customer insights
  • Strategic thinker who can operate at both vision and execution levels
  • Excellent communicator and influencer across executive teams, investors, and regulators
  • Champion of diversity, inclusion, and building mission-driven cultures

Our vision is to build a new financial ecosystem where everyone can participate on equal footing and access the tools they need to be financially healthy. We strongly believe that inclusion fosters innovation and we’re proud to have a diverse global team that represents a multitude of backgrounds, cultures, and experience. We hire talented people regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Top Skills

Data Science
Engineering
Am I A Good Fit?
beta
Get Personalized Job Insights.
Our AI-powered fit analysis compares your resume with a job listing so you know if your skills & experience align.

The Company
HQ: Santa Monica, CA
484 Employees
Year Founded: 2011

What We Do

Tala is a global technology company on a mission to build a financial system that works for everyone. More than 6 million people have borrowed through Tala’s smartphone app, which provides instant credit scoring, lending, and other personalized financial services in emerging markets. We are present in the United States, Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines and India.

Why Work With Us

We are on a global mission to serve the underserved. We use mobile technology and data science to make financial services simple, inclusive, and accessible. We are expanding across product offerings, countries and crypto and are looking for people who have an entrepreneurial spirit and are passionate about the mission.

Gallery

Gallery

Similar Jobs

Capital One Logo Capital One

Sr. Manager, Customer Centricity - Business Cards & Payments (Remote)

Fintech • Machine Learning • Payments • Software • Financial Services
Remote or Hybrid
2 Locations
176K-200K Annually

Capital One Logo Capital One

Product Manager

Fintech • Machine Learning • Payments • Software • Financial Services
Remote or Hybrid
2 Locations
144K-181K Annually

Capital One Logo Capital One

Senior Associate, Product Management: Velocity Black Agent Tools

Fintech • Machine Learning • Payments • Software • Financial Services
Remote or Hybrid
2 Locations
99K-124K Annually

Pfizer Logo Pfizer

US I&I GI Sales Team Organizational Coordinator

Artificial Intelligence • Healthtech • Machine Learning • Natural Language Processing • Biotech • Pharmaceutical
Remote or Hybrid
8 Locations
32-54

Similar Companies Hiring

Amplify Platform Thumbnail
Fintech • Financial Services • Consulting • Cloud • Business Intelligence • Big Data Analytics
Scottsdale, AZ
62 Employees
Camber Thumbnail
Social Impact • Healthtech • Fintech
New York, NY
53 Employees
Rain Thumbnail
Web3 • Payments • Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) • Fintech • Financial Services • Cryptocurrency • Blockchain
New York, NY
40 Employees

Sign up now Access later

Create Free Account

Please log in or sign up to report this job.

Create Free Account