Key Accountabilities * Lending and Insurance Product Strategy- Define du Pay's overall lending and embedded insurance strategy. * Develop a clear multi-year product vision and roadmap. * Identify the highest-value lending and insurance opportunities across du Pay's customer base. * Develop differentiated propositions for different customer segments, including:- Blue-collar customers * Expatriates * UAE nationals * Existing du Pay customers * New digitally acquired customers * Eligible SME and merchant customers * Identify opportunities to embed financial products directly into existing customer journeys. * Develop clear build, buy or partner strategies for each product. * Continuously monitor market trends, customer needs, technology developments and competitive activity * Lending Product Portfolio- Own the development and evolution of du Pay's lending portfolio, including opportunities such as:- Micro-lending * Short-term consumer credit * Personal lending * Salary-linked lending * Transaction-based lending * Cash-flow-based lending * Device financing * Embedded financing * Buy-now-pay-later and instalment propositions, where strategically appropriate * Merchant and SME lending opportunities * Other responsible and data-driven lending products * Key responsibilities will include:- Develop product propositions and value propositions. * Define eligibility and customer segmentation strategies. * Develop product features and customer journeys. * Define loan amounts, tenors, pricing principles and repayment mechanisms in collaboration with licensed lending partners. * Develop customer acquisition and cross-sell strategies * Identify opportunities to improve customer affordability and repayment outcomes. * Continuously optimise products based on customer behaviour and portfolio performance * Embedded Insurance Strategy- Develop du Pay's embedded insurance product strategy and roadmap. * Identify opportunities to integrate simple and relevant protection products into customer journeys, including:- Remittances * Payments and financial transactions * Lending * Device financing * Savings * Investments * Other digital financial products * Potential product opportunities may include:- Device protection * Transaction-related protection * Loan-related protection * Micro-insurance products * Personal accident and protection products * Travel-related protection * Other simple and digitally distributed insurance propositions * The successful candidate will:- Identify relevant insurance use cases. * Develop embedded customer journeys. * Work with licensed insurance providers and intermediaries. * Define product propositions and economics. * Ensure a simple and transparent customer experience. * Coordinate regulatory, legal and operational requirements. * Develop scalable API-based insurance integrations * Data, Credit Scoring and Decisioning- A central responsibility of this role will be to support the development of du Pay's data-driven lending capability. * The Manager – Lending & Insurance Products will work closely with Data, Technology, Risk and external partners to:- Identify relevant data sources for credit decisioning and customer segmentation. * Leverage financial transaction and payment behavior to improve lending propositions. * Explore the use of telecommunications and other relevant data sources were permitted by applicable laws, regulations and customer consent requirements. * Develop strategies for alternative data and behavioral credit assessment. * Partner with leading credit scoring, decision-engine and analytics providers. * Support the development and continuous enhancement of predictive models. * Improve customer eligibility, approval rates and credit risk outcomes. * Identify opportunities to create personalized product offers. * Develop appropriate data governance and model monitoring processes * Product Development and Delivery- Lead the full product lifecycle from idea through launch and optimization. * Translate customer, commercial and partner requirements into product specifications. * Prepare product requirements documents, user journeys, user stories and acceptance criteria. * Define Minimum Viable Products and phased delivery plans. * Manage the lending and insurance product backlog. * Work closely with Engineering, Technology, UX, Data and Operations teams. * Lead product testing and customer acceptance testing. * Coordinate partner and API integrations. * Ensure operational readiness before product launch. * Monitor performance and continuously optimize products. * Strategic Partnerships and Ecosystem Development- A key element of the role will be the ability to build and manage a strong external ecosystem. * The Manager – Lending & Insurance Products will identify, evaluate and manage partnerships with:- Lending Ecosystem- Banks * Finance companies * Licensed lenders * Balance-sheet providers * Credit scoring providers * Decision-engine providers * Credit bureaus and relevant data providers * Lending technology platforms * Loan servicing and collections providers * Fintech infrastructure providers * Insurance Ecosystem- Insurance companies * Licensed insurance intermediaries * Insurtech companies * Insurance technology providers * Embedded insurance platforms * Claims and servicing providers * The role will:- Develop partner selection criteria. * Conduct commercial and product evaluations. * Support commercial negotiations. * Develop partnership business cases. * Define revenue-sharing and commercial models. * Evaluate partner technology and API capabilities. * Coordinate product and technology integrations. * Monitor partner performance and service levels * Commercial Strategy and Product Economics- Develop business cases for new lending and insurance products.- Define commercial models and product economics. * Develop revenue and profitability models. * Assess customer acquisition and lifetime-value economics. * Monitor partner economics and revenue-sharing arrangements. * Identify opportunities to improve unit economics. * Develop cross-sell opportunities across the du Pay ecosystem. * Support pricing strategies in collaboration with licensed partners and relevant Risk and Compliance functions * Regulatory, Risk and Responsible Product Design- Work closely with Legal, Compliance, Risk and external regulated partners. * Ensure that regulatory and consumer protection requirements are incorporated into product design from the outset. * Understand the product implications of requirements relating to:- Customer affordability * Creditworthiness * Responsible lending * Customer disclosures * Consent and data usage * Data privacy and protection * Credit risk * Collections and customer treatment * Complaints management * Product governance * Insurance distribution * Customer suitability, where applicable * Ensure transparent and understandable customer communications. * Coordinate product governance and approval processes * Customer Experience- Develop simple, transparent and intuitive customer journeys. * Remove unnecessary complexity from lending and insurance products. * Design frictionless digital application and onboarding experiences. * Develop embedded product offers that are relevant to the customer's context. * Ensure that customers clearly understand product features, costs, obligations and risks. * Use customer research and behavioral data to improve conversion and customer outcomes. * Continuously optimize the customer experience Qualifications * Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Business, Technology, Engineering or a related discipline. * MBA or relevant professional qualifications are advantageous. * CFA, FRM, professional credit qualifications or relevant insurance qualifications would be beneficial but are not mandatory Experience * Digital lending platforms * Fintech or embedded finance * Alternative data and credit scoring * Decision engines * Machine-learning-based credit analytics * Telecom data and financial-services products * Device financing * Micro-lending * Insurance technology * Embedded insurance * API-based financial products * UAE, GCC or broader MENA financial services Skills * Product Leadership- Strong ability to develop a compelling product strategy. * Excellent roadmap development and prioritization skills. * Ability to translate complex financial products into simple customer propositions. * Lending and Financial Services Expertise- Strong understanding of lending products and economics. * Understanding of credit decisioning and lending customer journeys. * Familiarity with credit risk and responsible lending principles. * Data and Analytics- Strong understanding of the role of data in financial services. * Ability to work effectively with data scientists and analytics teams. * Understanding of alternative data and predictive modelling concepts. * Commercial Acumen- Ability to develop business cases. * Strong understanding of unit economics and product profitability. * Experience structuring partnership economics. * Partnerships- Strong relationship management and negotiation capabilities. * Ability to engage with senior executives at banks, financial institutions, insurers and technology providers. * Technology- Strong understanding of digital product development. * Familiarity with APIs and platform integrations. * Ability to work effectively with Engineering and Technology teams. * Execution- Strong programmed and delivery management skills. * Ability to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously. * Comfortable operating in a fast-paced and evolving environment. * Strong bias toward execution and delivery. * Communication- Excellent written and verbal communication skills. * Ability to explain complex lending, data and insurance concepts to senior management and non-specialist audiences