VP Product - Lending & Retention

About Tala

Tala is on a mission to unleash the economic power of the Global Majority – the 4 billion people overlooked by existing financial systems. With nearly half a billion dollars raised from equity and debt, we are serving millions of customers across three continents. Tala has been named by the Fortune Impact 20 list, CNBC’s Disruptor 50 five years in a row, CNBC’s World's Top Fintech Company, Forbes’ Fintech 50 list for eight years running, and Chief's The New Era of Leadership Award. We are expanding across product offerings, countries and crypto and are looking for people who have an entrepreneurial spirit and are passionate about our mission.

By creating a unique platform that enables lending and other financial services around the globe, people in emerging markets are able to start and expand small businesses, manage day-to-day needs, and pursue their financial goals with confidence. Currently, over nine million people across Kenya, the Philippines, Mexico, and India have used Tala products. Due to our global team, we have a remote-first approach, and also have offices in Santa Monica, CA (HQ); Nairobi, Kenya; Mexico City, Mexico; Manila, the Philippines; and Bangalore, India.

Most Talazens join us because they connect with our mission. If you are energized by the impact you can make at Tala, we’d love to hear from you!

The Role

We are seeking a strategic  VP – Lending & Retention to define and drive the future of Tala’s lending ecosystem. This leader will be responsible for building customer-first lending experiences, maximizing portfolio performance, and deepening long-term customer relationships. The successful candidate will also help operationalize and expand our capital market initiatives. This role sits at the heart of Tala’s growth engine. You will craft a differentiated lending strategy that balances customer delight, risk management, and profitability. You’ll partner across engineering, data science, credit, operations, and marketing to ensure Tala continuously evolves with customer needs while advancing financial inclusion at scale.This is a pivotal leadership opportunity to shape how millions of underserved customers access and retain financial services, while positioning Tala for sustainable growth.

• Define Product Vision & Strategy
• Develop and communicate a bold product roadmap for lending and retention aligned with Tala’s mission and growth objectives.
• Balance innovation with portfolio health, risk, and regulatory compliance.

• Capital Markets & Funding Leadership:
• Partner closely with Finance & Capital Markets to ensure sustainable and diversified funding 
• Translate portfolio and product performance into narratives that resonate with investors and regulators 
• Anticipate and influence macroeconomic and regulatory shifts that impact capital and credit supply

• Own the Customer Lifecycle
• Lead product strategy across the entire lending journey and customer conversion funnel – acquisition, underwriting, disbursement, repayment, and re-engagement.
• Design retention initiatives that drive repeat usage, loyalty, and lifetime value.

• Build & Lead Teams
• Lead, mentor, and grow a world-class product team focused on lending, and retention.
• Foster a culture of impact, innovation, and accountability.

• Lead Best-in-Class Repayments and Recoveries plans
• Identify optimization opportunities to enhance our repayments rates ratio
• Leverage 3rd party best practices and partners to significantly drive recoveries financially 

• Global to Local Balance:
• Build a product strategy that drives global lending performance while tailoring execution for local customer, cultural, and regulatory contexts
• Collaborate closely with GMs and market teams to ensure product decisions resonate locally while supporting the enterprise portfolio.

• Drive Performance & Insights
• Establish KPIs for lending product performance, including portfolio quality, customer engagement, and unit economics.
• Leverage data, experimentation, and customer insights to continuously optimize.

• Cross-Functional Leadership
• Partner with risk, operations, finance and marketing to ensure lending products deliver strong financial and social outcomes.
• Collaborate with design and engineering to create seamless, mobile-first experiences.

• Innovation & Differentiation
• Stay ahead of fintech, credit, and retention best practices globally.
• Identify opportunities to introduce new credit features, loyalty programs, or adjacent financial products.

• 15+ years of product leadership experience, ideally in fintech, lending, digital banking, or consumer financial services

• Proven track record of scaling lending or retention products in high-growth environments

• Strong understanding of credit dynamics, risk management, and unit economics

• Customer-obsessed with deep empathy for underserved populations and emerging markets

• Experienced leading global, cross-functional teams across product, engineering, and operations

• Analytical and data-driven, with expertise in experimentation, A/B testing, and customer insights

• Strategic thinker who can operate at both vision and execution levels

• Excellent communicator and influencer across executive teams, investors, and regulators

• Champion of diversity, inclusion, and building mission-driven cultures

Our vision is to build a new financial ecosystem where everyone can participate on equal footing and access the tools they need to be financially healthy. We strongly believe that inclusion fosters innovation and we’re proud to have a diverse global team that represents a multitude of backgrounds, cultures, and experience. We hire talented people regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.