Founding Technical Product Manager

Zebra People; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Zebra People partners with a well-funded, early-stage payments technology startup to recruit its first Product hire. You’ll work with the founders to shape products spanning native mobile apps, merchant software, payment hardware and self-service kiosks.

Hybrid working, with the team near Tower Bridge and typically in the office around four days per week. You’ll balance product thinking with technical execution and own ideas from ambiguous concepts through to launch.

Qualifications

• Around 2-5 years' experience in Product Management, Product Ownership or Software Engineering.
• Strong hands-on technical experience, ideally started as a Full Stack Engineer.
• Experience launching products from 0-1 in startup or fast-paced environment.
• Strong understanding of APIs, databases, integrations and system architecture.
• Experience using AI tools to prototype, build, iterate and ship products.
• Comfortable working directly with founders, engineers and customers.

Responsibilities

• Owning the product roadmap, balancing customer needs, commercial priorities and technical considerations
• Taking products from 0-1, leading discovery, prototyping, validation and launch
• Working closely with founders, engineers and customers to shape product direction
• Using AI tools to prototype, build and iterate on new features and internal tools
• Collaborating with engineers on APIs, system architecture, integrations and technical trade-offs
• Writing clear product requirements, user stories and acceptance criteria to enable fast, high-quality delivery
• Managing priorities and driving delivery from concept through to launch
• Working with external partners, including payment providers and hardware vendors, to deliver seamless integrations
• Continuously learning from customer feedback, usage data and experimentation to improve the product and prioritise what to build next

Skills

Python

SQL

JavaScript

Job description

We're partnering with a well-funded, early-stage payments technology startup that's building the next generation of biometric payment experiences. Combining AI, software and connected hardware, they're creating a seamless way for people to pay, identify themselves and interact with merchants. With a growing customer base and ambitious plans, it's an exciting opportunity to join as the first Product hire and help shape the future of the business.

The client

We're partnering with a well-funded, early-stage payments technology startup that's reimagining how people pay through AI, biometrics and connected hardware.

Having already secured significant investment and launched with real customers, they're now looking for their first dedicated Product hire. You'll work directly with the founders and engineering team to shape products spanning native mobile apps, merchant software, payment hardware and self-service kiosks.

This is an opportunity for someone who combines strong product thinking with genuine technical ability and enjoys taking products from ambiguous ideas through to launch. If you thrive in fast-moving environments, love building with AI and want the ownership that comes with joining at an early stage, this is a chance to make a real impact from day one.

Hybrid working, with the team based near Tower Bridge and typically in the office around four days per week.

The role

As the company's first dedicated Product hire, you'll work directly with the founders to define, build and launch products across software, hardware and AI-powered experiences.

This isn't a traditional Product Manager role. You'll combine product thinking with technical execution, taking ideas from ambiguous problems through to working products that reach real customers.

You’ll be involved in:

• Owning the product roadmap, balancing customer needs, commercial priorities and technical considerations
• Taking products from 0-1, leading discovery, prototyping, validation and launch
• Working closely with founders, engineers and customers to shape product direction
• Using AI tools to prototype, build and iterate on new features and internal tools
• Collaborating with engineers on APIs, system architecture, integrations and technical trade-offs
• Writing clear product requirements, user stories and acceptance criteria to enable fast, high-quality delivery
• Managing priorities and driving delivery from concept through to launch
• Working with external partners, including payment providers and hardware vendors, to deliver seamless integrations
• Continuously learning from customer feedback, usage data and experimentation to improve the product and prioritise what to build next

The candidate

We're looking for an ambitious Technical Product Manager who enjoys building as much as defining what should be built. This role is ideal for someone at an early stage in their Product career who is technically fluent, AI-native and excited by the opportunity to take on genuine ownership within a fast-moving startup.

Essential experience:

• Around 2-5 years' experience in Product Management, Product Ownership or Software Engineering
• Ideally started your career as a Full Stack Engineer before moving into Product, or have strong hands-on technical experience
• Experience building and launching products from 0-1 in a startup or fast-paced environment
• Strong technical understanding, including Python, SQL and JavaScript
• Confident working with APIs, databases, integrations and system architecture
• Experience using AI tools to prototype, build, iterate and ship products
• Strong product judgement, with the ability to balance customer needs, commercial priorities and technical constraints
• Comfortable working directly with founders, engineers and customers
• A proactive, hands-on mindset with a desire to take ownership and solve ambiguous problems

Desirable:

• Experience within payments, fintech, SaaS or other technology-led businesses
• Experience working across software and hardware products
• Knowledge of payment systems, merchant platforms or physical devices
• Side projects, GitHub repositories or other examples of products you've built outside of work
• Experience in an early-stage startup or founding team environment

Interview process

• Introductory call
• Technical and product interview with the founders
• Final stage focused on product thinking, technical capability and cultural fit

If you're excited by the opportunity to build products from the ground up, work directly with founders and help shape the future of a fast-growing technology business, we'd love to hear from you.