AI Product Director

AI Product DirectorSan Francisco Bay AreaAbout the CompanyHarnham is partnering with an established, family owned alternative finance company that has supported small and medium sized businesses since 2008.Known for its speed and customer focused approach, the company provides businesses with access to working capital through an efficient lending process. Offers can be issued within the same day, with funding available as soon as the following business day.The organization is now transforming traditional small business lending through AI powered decisioning. Production grade AI agents are already operating within its credit and underwriting workflows, supported by 18 years of proprietary credit data and deep industry expertise.With the initial phase of this transformation approximately 70 percent complete, the company is preparing to expand its AI capabilities into Sales, Customer Lifecycle, Finance, and Capital Markets.The OpportunityThe AI Product Director will serve as the senior product leader responsible for driving the next phase of the company’s AI transformation.Partnering closely with the Chief Credit Officer and executive leadership, you will lead product design and roadmapping while translating strategic business priorities into precise technical specifications. You will oversee multiple AI initiatives from initial discovery through production adoption and measurable business impact.You will manage two AI Product Managers and oversee multiple product pods, with two to three initiatives typically operating concurrently. Each initiative begins with understanding how the business operates today, identifying undocumented edge cases and workarounds, and redesigning the process from the ground up around AI.Success in this position requires more than delivery management. The right person will have contributed directly to AI solution design, participated in architecture discussions, and taken AI enabled products from concept through production.What You’ll Do

• Partner with executive leadership to translate strategic priorities into actionable AI product roadmaps and technical blueprints.
• Lead discovery sessions with subject matter experts across Credit, Sales, Operations, Finance, and other business functions.
• Map existing workflows, uncover operational edge cases, and redesign business processes from first principles using AI.
• Create detailed product specifications and design briefs for internal engineering teams and external development partners.
• Lead two to three concurrent AI product pods while maintaining delivery quality, stakeholder confidence, and measurable business impact.
• Manage, coach, and develop two AI Product Managers while establishing consistent standards for discovery, documentation, design, and delivery.
• Partner with Data Science, Data Engineering, IT, and functional leadership to ensure AI solutions are supported by reliable data and scalable infrastructure.
• Evaluate and select the appropriate external engineering partner for each initiative.
• Review proposed architectures and technical deliverables against internal specifications, acceptance criteria, and production readiness standards.
• Establish evaluation frameworks using golden datasets, human review, deterministic checks, shadow testing, and other appropriate methods.
• Build compliance, explainability, auditability, and model governance requirements into product designs before development begins.
• Lead quality control before products reach end users and measure results against clear preimplementation baselines.
• Build trust with functional leaders and subject matter experts, address resistance thoughtfully, and drive adoption across the organization.
• Communicate progress, risks, tradeoffs, and measurable outcomes clearly to senior executives.What You’ll Bring
• Eight to twelve years of product management experience, including leadership of complex technology or AI products.
• A demonstrated record of taking AI enabled products from concept through production deployment.
• Direct experience contributing to AI solution design, product architecture discussions, or technical blueprint creation.
• Experience redesigning a business process around AI from the ground up, rather than adding automation to an existing workflow.
• Practitioner level knowledge of generative AI, modern LLM applications, agentic orchestration patterns, evaluation methods, hallucination mitigation, and golden dataset benchmarking.
• Experience writing detailed specifications or design briefs for internal engineering teams or external development partners.
• Experience selecting, managing, and holding external engineering vendors accountable to defined specifications and acceptance criteria.
• Proven ability to lead multiple concurrent product initiatives without compromising quality.
• Experience managing Product Managers and developing strong product practices.
• Strong executive presence with the ability to lead meetings, influence functional leaders, communicate technical tradeoffs, and represent product direction independently.
• Working knowledge of responsible AI, model governance, explainability, and regulated decisioning.
• Familiarity with FCRA, ECOA and Regulation B, Fair Lending, adverse action requirements, or comparable regulatory frameworks.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Computer Science, Engineering, Economics, or a related discipline.Preferred Qualifications
• Product leadership experience within fintech, lending, payments, credit decisioning, risk technology, or another regulated financial environment.
• Experience working within a scaling technology company where product leaders balance strategy with hands on execution.
• Experience introducing AI products into established business workflows and leading the accompanying organizational change.
• Master’s degree in a relevant discipline.What You Can Expect
• The opportunity to lead an AI program with production results already established.
• Access to 18 years of proprietary credit data and deep institutional lending expertise.
• Meaningful ownership across product design, roadmapping, partner selection, and production standards.
• Executive visibility and the opportunity to build and lead a growing AI product function.
• An organization wide opportunity to expand proven AI capabilities across Sales, Customer Lifecycle, Finance, and Capital Markets.Compensation and WorkplaceThe anticipated base salary range for this position is $275,000 to $300,000 per year. The final offer will depend on relevant experience, qualifications, specialized expertise, and other legitimate business considerations.The position may also be eligible for additional performance based cash compensation. Relocation support may be considered for qualified candidates.This is a hybrid position requiring two to three days onsite each week in the San Francisco Bay Area. The position will operate remotely until the company’s shared Bay Area workspace is finalized.