Head of Product Development

Founding Head of Product Development (Founding Engineer)Industry: Financial ServicesLocation: NYC (Midtown) – Hybrid (2-3 Days On-site) No out-of-state or remote arrangementCompensation: $185,000 – $270,000 + Founding Equity PackageThe MissionOn behalf of our client, a high-growth fintech startup, we are seeking a Founding Head of Product Development. The company is re-architecting liquidity workflows for private markets, transforming fragmented fund data into a "golden record" for institutional-grade transparency. With a beta system already functional, you will take the reins of the technical roadmap to lead the evolution into a live, market-leading platform.The RoleThis is a foundational technical leadership hire reporting directly to the leadership team. You will bridge the gap between high-level product strategy and hands-on engineering execution. We need a leader who still loves the craft and is someone who can architect complex APIs in the morning and pivot to roadmap strategy and hiring decisions in the afternoon. You will have total autonomy to build your department from the ground up, including local hiring and managing offshore operations.Core Focus AreasAI & Architecture Lead the development of firmwide RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) products and AI tools to synthesize fragmented data into insights.ML & Data Engineering Own the end-to-end lifecycle of ML models and build robust data pipelines for institutional-grade reporting.Connectivity Architect and deploy real-time digital borrowing bases via robust, API-first frameworks.Institutional Security Ensure the platform meets SOC2-level requirements and satisfies the rigorous standards of Tier 1 financial partners.The Tech StackBackend Python (FastAPI, Pydantic)Frontend TypeScript (Next.js)AI/LLM LangChain, LlamaIndex, Vector Databases (pgvector, Pinecone)Infrastructure SQL, Docker, Cloud-native architecture, CI/CDSecurity API-first architecture with a focus on SOC2 complianceWho You AreYou have a proven track record of scaling complex software products from beta to production.A career that shows progression within an organizationYou understand the "why" behind the build and shape the product roadmap to meet market needs.You possess the confidence to lead executive-level discussions and the capability to manage a team.You are comfortable as a "player-coach," writing code and reviewing architecture alongside your team.Interview ProcessInitial Screen: Introduction to the role and mission with the recruitment partner at Glocap Tech.Technical Deep Dive A comprehensive architectural and technical discussion with the CTO.Leadership Finals Final interview with the core leadership team to discuss strategy and cultural alignment.