Staff Product Manager - Apply & Checkout Experience

Koalafi•Arlington, VA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

At Koalafi, we believe in a world where no one has to put an important purchase on hold. That’s why we’re making it easier for more people to pay for big purchases over time. Retailers across the country rely on us to offer flexible lease-to-own financing to their non-prime consumers, while increasing sales and strengthening customer loyalty. Their 2M+ customers love us because we provide a flexible way for them to make payments and give them an opportunity to improve their credit. Our 200+ Koalafi teammates enjoy inspiring and challenging work that accelerates their careers. Interested in learning more about how we’re transforming the financing experience and joining our team? About The Role We’re looking for a Staff Product Manager to lead and evolve Koalafi’s Originations product: the end- to- end apply & checkout experiences that serve as the front door to financing for every customer. This is a high-impact role at the center of Koalafi’s strategy to accelerate growth by making it easier, faster, and more intuitive for consumers to finance their purchases across both online and in-store channels. This role is ideal for a product manager who thrives working at the intersection of strategy, execution, and deep cross-functional collaboration. You’ll set the direction for Originations by aligning diverse partners, from Risk and Compliance to Marketing and Sales, around a cohesive strategy that accelerates growth while maintaining a unified vision.

Requirements

7+ years of product management experience, with a track record of owning application flows, onboarding funnels, checkout experiences, or other high-volume conversion-critical surfaces
Growth-minded and highly analytical, with deep experience in funnel optimization, experimentation, and hypothesis-driven development
Proficient with analytics and experimentation tools
Strong customer empathy and discovery skills
Demonstrated judgment in balancing short-term business needs with long-term product health and scalability
Ability to lead and influence cross-functional teams toward a common goal
Excellent communicator who brings clarity and builds alignment across diverse stakeholders
Comfortable operating in ambiguous environments and able to create clarity, structure, and momentum over time
Location Requirement: This position requires regular in-person attendance at one of our two office locations (Richmond, VA or Arlington, VA). Candidates must already be located within a commutable distance to either location, as relocation assistance is not available at this time.

Nice To Haves

Experience in fintech, lending, embedded finance, or consumer financial services—particularly in originations or application flow domains
Familiarity with the tradeoffs between conversion optimization and credit risk management in lending contexts
Experience with both e-commerce and in-store / point-of-sale product experiences
Familiarity with multi-merchant or platform business models where the application experience must adapt to diverse merchant contexts

Responsibilities

Define and drive the Originations roadmap
Lead product vision, strategy, roadmap, and execution for the Originations product as an engine for growth
Develop the product strategy for apply & checkout flows that are reusable across diverse merchant and consumer contexts – such as a consumer’s mobile phone to a store owner’s point-of-sale system or e-commerce checkout integration
Grow and optimize the Originations funnel
Drive continuous funnel optimization by identifying conversion opportunities using quantitative data and qualitative insights to ship rapid improvements while balancing profitability and compliance
Grow Koalafi’s distribution across channels by partnering with cross-functional teams to design and ship frictionless experiences that work for both merchants and consumers
Shape the product for rapid insight generation and experimentation
Partner with analytics and engineering to instrument the funnel, generate actionable insights, and run A/B tests to validate hypotheses and measure outcomes
Mentor other PMs and establish best practices for experimentation and funnel analysis across the broader organization
Champion the customer experience
Champion the customer, bringing curiosity and empathy to every decision to ensure the application experience meets real customer needs
Conduct user research and map consumer and merchant journeys to uncover usability gaps and unmet needs
Lead delivery as the embedded product manager for the Originations team
Partner continuously with engineering and design to define the what and the why, translating business opportunities and customer insights into user centric solutions, while empowering the team to determine the how
Maintain a prioritized backlog with crisp epics and stories, clear acceptance criteria, and measurable outcomes
Partner with analysts and product marketers to define success metrics, ensure releases are instrumented, review post-launch outcomes, and align go-to-market strategy with top-of-funnel campaigns