Product Lead

FutureProofing; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 130,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

FutureProofing is seeking a Product Lead to head AI product teams that partner with founders and startups to build new AI products from discovery to launch.

You will be the central contact for partners, leading engineers and designers, shaping strategy and ensuring every decision ties to revenue and user impact. Strong startup experience and C-level collaboration are essential.

Qualifications

• Built at least one AI product from zero to one with real technical depth (agents, RAG, evals).
• Startup experience from founding team through Series A, working with founders.
• Prototype extensively and build things yourself, using AI in your workflow daily.
• Managed C-level stakeholders including founders, executives or investors.
• You can defend your opinions while supporting the better idea.

Responsibilities

• Lead FutureProofing teams building new AI products from discovery through launch.
• Serve as the partner’s central contact and earn founders' and investors' trust.
• Run discovery and initial strategy, shaping the product proposal with a MD.
• Decide what to build and tie priorities to revenue, users, and real needs.
• Prototype quickly with partners and translate ideas into testable artifacts.
• Lead engineers on tight timelines and translate between engineers and non-technical stakeholders.
• Manage scope with founders and provide a clear product direction.
• Help shape a unified FutureProofing approach to product across teams.

Skills

AI product leadership

Startup experience

C-level stakeholder management

B2B product experience

Team leadership

ROI articulation

Job description

FutureProofing builds AI products with founders and companies. Our primary service is what we call the founding teams model. We put together whole AI teams (product leads, engineers, designers, data scientists and strategy leads) to partner with brand new startups and with established organizations that want to become AI-first. We only build AI products, and we run as an AI-native company ourselves: from engineering to talent to project management, AI is in every workflow we have.

The role

The Product Lead leads FutureProofing teams that build new AI products with our partners. You are the central point of contact for the partner and you lead the team of engineers doing the build. Depending on project scope, you may work with one partner or several.

Our teams are flat. Each one is a product lead, engineers, design and strategy working together, and everyone talks directly with the partner, from the founder to the people who will use the product. You report to our managing directors.

A partner is rarely one person. You will work with founders, executives and investors who all care about the outcome and all have opinions, and your job is to bring them to one clear direction.

What you’ll do

• Lead a FutureProofing team building a new AI product with a partner, from discovery through launch
• Be the partner’s central contact, and earn the trust of the founders, executives and investors who are betting their company on the product
• Run discovery and the initial strategy, and shape the product proposal with a managing director
• Decide what to build and what not to build, and tie every priority to revenue, users and real needs
• Prototype quickly, for and with partners, to turn ideas into something people can test. When the idea is in your head, you build it yourself
• Lead engineers on tight timelines: keep the team pointed in the right direction, push back when it matters, and translate between engineers and non-technical stakeholders
• Manage scope with founders who have a hundred good ideas, and give the product a clear direction
• Help shape one FutureProofing approach to product across our teams

What we’re looking for

• You have built at least one AI product from zero to one, with real technical depth (agents, RAG, evals), and you built it rather than integrating something a third party built
• Startup experience, ideally from the founding team through Series A, working closely with founders through the chaos of an early company
• You prototype extensively and quickly, you build things yourself instead of handing them off, and you use AI in your own workflow every day
• You have managed C-level stakeholders, including founders, executives or investors, and can push back on leadership when the product needs it
• You have strong opinions and hold them loosely. You can back someone else’s idea when it is the better one
• Experience with B2B products
• You have led teams of engineers and can talk about how you did it
• You can clearly state the ROI and impact of your past work

Nice to have

• A venture background, so you understand what is at stake for the founders we work with
• Board experience, or experience working closely with one
• A track record that includes an acquisition or IPO
• Experience at a larger tech company plus real time at startups
• Regulated industries such as banking, investment banking, fintech, insurance or life sciences, and familiarity with the rules that come with them (FINRA, SEC, GLBA, PCI DSS and similar)

What makes this opportunity different

• New AI products, every time. You work with new partners on new products. We don’t build SaaS, and AI is the product, not a feature bolted on.
• Direct access to founders. You work hand in hand with the people who started the company, not through layers of account management.
• A real say in how we do product. Our product leaders bring different, complementary styles. Part of this role is shaping a single FutureProofing approach to product.
• An AI-native company. You will use AI every day, in how we build and in how we run the business.
• Location. US based, outside New York City and San Francisco. The Midwest is a plus, and a direct flight to New York is ideal.

How we hire

A 45 to 60 minute conversation with our co-founder and managing director

A technical assessment on our in-house assessment platform

A conversation with our engineering lead

• Conversations with two of our managing directors