Kapitus — Recruiter Phone Screen

“I've spent 15 years building and owning digital platforms end-to-end. Most recently at Primo Brands, I was the platform owner for their national e-commerce operation — I owned the product roadmap, led a cross-functional team of about 10, managed vendor relationships, and drove initiatives that directly impacted revenue, like our Salesforce integration serving 38,000+ locations and our automated product feed pipeline. Before that, I spent 11 years at ICM managing a portfolio of ~60 B2B and e-commerce sites, making build-vs-buy decisions on integrations across ERP, PIM, and CRM systems. My approach has always been product-oriented — I think in terms of business outcomes and user needs, not just technical execution. The Director, Product role at Kapitus caught my attention because it sits at the intersection of product strategy and hands-on execution, which is exactly where I operate best.”

“Two things. First, the product challenge — Kapitus is building the technology that powers how small businesses access capital, and the KapitusPLUS marketplace model is a genuinely interesting product problem: how do you optimize the matching between borrowers and the right financing product? That's a data and UX challenge I'd love to tackle. Second, the role description is honest about starting as a senior IC before building a team — I appreciate that transparency. I've been a builder my whole career and I know I can deliver value from day one as an individual contributor while I learn the fintech domain and earn the trust to lead a team.”

Portfolio management of ~60 digital products (B2B & e-commerce sites). Made build-vs-buy decisions across Akeneo PIM, Salsify, Odoo CRM/ERP. Led vendor evaluation and onboarding. Managed cross-functional stakeholders across clients, developers, and business teams. Hired and mentored team members.

Platform ownership: product roadmap, sprint prioritization, backlog management. Led cross-functional team of ~10 (engineering, DB, marketing, SEO, PM). Built Salesforce API integration serving 38K+ locations (preferred qual in JD). Drove KPI-based decisions — feed approval rates, site performance, conversion metrics. Managed CI/CD governance and release process.

Full product lifecycle: concept → development → launch → pricing → market fit → ongoing maintenance. Checkout suites, shipping integrations. Demonstrates product thinking at the commercial level — these are real products with paying customers, versioning, and support.

“I haven't worked in fintech or lending directly. What I bring is deep experience in the systems and integrations that power financial workflows — Salesforce, API architecture, payment processing with PCI compliance, and the ability to quickly learn domain-specific logic. At Primo Brands I built integrations with financial systems and worked in a regulated environment with compliance requirements. I'm a fast domain learner — at every role I've been in, I've ramped up on the industry specifics within 60–90 days.”

“The posted range aligns with my expectations. Given my experience level and the scope of the role, I'd expect to be in the mid-to-upper portion of that range, but I'm open to discussing the total compensation package including the annual incentive and benefits.”

“My titles have said 'developer' but my work has always been product ownership. At Primo Brands I owned the roadmap, prioritized the backlog, made build-vs-buy calls, led cross-functional teams, and measured success by business KPIs — not lines of code. I've published 8 commercial products on the Adobe Marketplace with real customers, pricing decisions, and lifecycle management. The technical depth I bring is an asset in a product role, not a limitation — I can evaluate engineering tradeoffs, have credible conversations with developers, and make informed build-vs-buy decisions because I've done both sides. I'm making this transition deliberately because product leadership is where I create the most impact.”