Staff Product Manager, AI & Data Foundations

Plaid Inc; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k)

Equity / Commission

Job summary

Plaid is seeking an experienced Product Manager for the AI & Data Foundations team to build shared platforms powering AI and data capabilities. You will partner with data, ML, and platform engineers to take capabilities from 0→1 and scale them into reliable, accessible infrastructure used across Plaid.

This role is for a technically fluent, strategic, execution-oriented leader who can turn emerging capabilities into primitives, APIs, and tools that other teams can build on.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of product management experience with AI/ML platforms or data infrastructure.
• Deep technical fluency in data and AI/ML systems and ability to discuss architecture with engineers.
• Proven success delivering in ambiguous, early-stage environments.

Responsibilities

• Define vision, roadmap, and metrics for shared AI and data platforms.
• Partner with data, ML, and platform engineers to ship foundational capabilities.
• Improve internal developer experience and measure adoption and velocity.
• Balance short-term needs with long-term platform investments.
• Collaborate with product, engineering, data, research, and security to embed AI capabilities.
• Translate complex technical decisions into clear narratives for stakeholders.

Skills

AI/ML platforms

Data infrastructure

Platform development

Cross-functional leadership

Communication

Job description

We believe that the way people interact with their finances will drastically improve in the next few years. We’re dedicated to empowering this transformation by building the tools and experiences that thousands of developers use to create their own products. Plaid powers the tools millions of people rely on to live a healthier financial life. We work with thousands of companies like Venmo, SoFi, several of the Fortune 500, and many of the largest banks to make it easy for people to connect their financial accounts to the apps and services they want to use. Plaid’s network covers 12,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada, UK and Europe. Founded in 2013, the company is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in New York, Seattle, Washington D.C., Raleigh, London, and Amsterdam.

As a Product Manager on the AI & Data Foundations team, you will build the shared platforms that power Plaid’s AI and data capabilities. This is early-stage, hands‑on work: you’ll partner with data, ML, and platform engineers to take capabilities from 0→1 and scale them into infrastructure that is accessible, reliable, and easy to use across Plaid. Your scope will span our AI platform (e.g., LLM gateway, eval infrastructure), our data platform (e.g., Databricks, AI‑powered data tooling), and the systems connecting the two.

This role is for an experienced platform PM who is excited about the rapidly evolving intersection of data infrastructure and AI. You are technically fluent, strategic, and execution‑oriented, and know how to turn emerging capabilities into reliable platforms, primitives, and tools that other teams can build on.

Responsibilities

• AI & Data Foundations Strategy: Define the vision, roadmap, and success metrics for the shared platforms that power data and AI development across Plaid.

• Platform Development: Partner with data, ML, and platform engineers to design and ship foundational capabilities spanning AI infrastructure, developer tooling, data platforms, pipelines, quality, and governance.

• Internal Developer Experience & Adoption: Build platforms that Plaid teams choose to use. Develop a deep understanding of internal users, remove friction from common workflows, and measure success through adoption, developer velocity, reliability, and quality.

• Platform Evolution: Balance immediate needs from product teams with longer‑term platform investments, identifying where Plaid should standardize, build shared primitives, enable experimentation, and/or leverage an existing external solution.

• Cross‑Functional Leadership: Partner with product, engineering, data, research, and security to identify shared needs and embed foundational AI and data capabilities across Plaid.

• Communication & Alignment: Translate complex technical decisions and platform trade‑offs into clear narratives that enable decisions across technical and non‑technical stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of product management experience including direct experience building AI/ML platform systems, applied intelligence products, or other data infrastructure from concept to production

• Deep technical fluency in modern data and AI/ML systems, including how data is stored and processed and how models are developed, evaluated, deployed, and monitored. You can engage deeply with engineers and data scientists on architecture and technical trade‑offs without needing to be the engineer in the room.

• Demonstrated success operating in ambiguous, early‑stage environments, turning loosely defined problems into decisions, shipped capabilities, and measurable adoption or impact.

• Ability to operate in a fast‑paced startup environment

• Platform mindset and experience building scalable developer or data platforms through well‑designed primitives, APIs, and frameworks.

• Strategic and executional range. Skilled at setting the long‑term vision while also delivering near‑term experiments, specs, prototypes, and launches.

• Strong communicator and cross‑functional leader who can translate complex technical concepts into clear narratives to drive decisions for technical and non‑technical stakeholders.

• Commitment to responsible AI and transparency, especially in regulated or high‑trust domains.

• [Nice to Have] Hands‑on experience with LLMs, embeddings, or agentic systems in production.

• [Nice to Have] Experience building AI developer tooling in production.

• [Nice to Have] Familiarity with applied AI in regulated or high‑trust domains such as fintech, identity, or risk.

Our mission at Plaid is to unlock financial freedom for everyone. To support that mission, we seek to build a diverse team of driven individuals who care deeply about making the financial ecosystem more equitable. We recognize that strong qualifications can come from both prior work experiences and lived experiences. We encourage you to apply to a role even if your experience doesn't fully match the job description. We are always looking for team members that will bring something unique to Plaid!

Plaid is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and values diversity at our company.

We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religion or religious belief, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, military or veteran status, disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws.

Plaid is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process.

If you need any assistance with your application or interviews due to a disability, please let us know at [e-mail].

Please review our Candidate Privacy Notice here.

Plaid provides a comprehensive benefit plan, including

• medical
• dental
• vision
• 401(k)
• Additional compensation in the form(s) of equity and/or commission are dependent on the position offered.

Pay is based on factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's work experience and skillset, and location. Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation or benefit plans.