Product Operations Lead

Job Description

We're looking for a Product Operations Lead to join our Product Operations team in London. This is a lead role for someone who can help autonomous product teams move faster, stay aligned and build the right things for customers and partners.

Product Operations at Wise focuses on the machine that builds our product: the people, processes and practices that help product teams do their best work. We work across Product, Engineering, Design, Analytics, Operations, Compliance and Commercial teams to bring clarity to complex problems and turn that clarity into outcomes.

This is a new role in the team, so there is no fixed script. The role may start with a single tribe but the expectation is that once onboarded this person will help shape Product Operations across all tribes. We need someone who can write on a blank canvas, work from first principles, and bring enough structure to help teams make better decisions without slowing them down.

You will be a senior partner to product and tribe leadership, a manager and coach for Product Operations talent, and a hands-on operator who can still get into the detail. You should be comfortable moving between executive-level trade-offs and the practical reality of planning, goals, dependencies, headcount, budgeting, delivery visibility, communication and follow-through.

What this will involve:

• Leading the Product Operations partnership for an initial tribe or area, then scaling the best ideas and operating practices across tribes where they can create broader value.

• Working with product and tribe leaders to define the real problem before solving it, assess options, make trade-offs clear and land decisions.

• Owning and improving product operating rhythms such as quarterly planning, prioritisation, goals, metrics, dependency mapping, leadership updates, delivery visibility and cross-functional communication.

• Building lightweight systems, standards and guidance that help multiple teams work more effectively without adding unnecessary process.

• Leading complex, high-impact initiatives across Product, Engineering, Design, Analytics, Operations, Compliance and Commercial teams.

• Managing, coaching and raising the bar for Product Operations Managers as the function scales.

• Helping teams use data and qualitative insight to understand speed, quality, risk, customer and partner impact, and where the product machine needs to improve.

• Translating complex work into clear narratives for senior leaders, while keeping action owners, next steps and accountability visible.

• Being hands-on where needed: running forums, writing docs, facilitating decisions, unblocking teams and making sure valuable work actually lands.

Qualifications

A bit about you:

• You have significant experience in Product Operations, Product Strategy, Business Operations, Technical Program Management, Product Management, Delivery leadership or a similar role in a product-led technology environment.

• You have led complex, cross-functional work where there was ambiguity, multiple senior stakeholders and no obvious playbook.

• You have managed, coached or developed people and teams of 5+, and you know how to raise standards without creating dependency on yourself.

• You are a true T-shaped operator: broad enough to connect strategy, people, process, data and delivery; deep enough to get into the detail when that is what the problem needs.

• You are intellectually curious and independent-minded. You investigate where the details and data take you, and you are willing to challenge a fuzzy problem statement before charging into the solution.

• You can simplify complex, messy situations and turn them into clear choices, owners and next steps.

• You are a strong collaborator who can build trust across senior leaders, product teams and adjacent functions, with or without formal authority.

• You are commercially aware and impact-driven. You care about whether the work changes outcomes for customers, partners and Wise, not whether the process looks neat.

• You are a motivated self-starter who can work independently, think one step ahead and maintain momentum in a fast-moving environment.

• You are comfortable with ambiguity and change

• You are open, honest and humble, with strong empathy for teams and a habit of giving and receiving thoughtful feedback.

Nice to have:

• Experience in fintech, payments, financial infrastructure, B2B platforms or partner-led product environments.

• Experience working in autonomous product organisations with tribe, squad or similar operating models.

• Exposure to quarterly planning, budgeting, headcount allocation, portfolio visibility, compliance auditability, AI enablement, dependency management or goals and metrics tracking.

• Experience building a Product Operations function or operating model in a relatively immature or scaling environment.

Additional Information

For everyone, everywhere. We're people building money without borders  — without judgement or prejudice, too. We believe teams are strongest when they are diverse, equitable and inclusive.

We're proud to have a truly international team, and we celebrate our differences.
Inclusive teams help us live our values and make sure every Wiser feels respected, empowered to contribute towards our mission and able to progress in their careers.

If you want to find out more about what it's like to work at Wise visit Wise.Jobs.

Keep up to date with life at Wise by following us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Company Description

Wise is a global technology company, building the best way to move and manage the world’s money.
Min fees. Max ease. Full speed.

Whether people and businesses are sending money to another country, spending abroad, or making and receiving international payments, Wise is on a mission to make their lives easier and save them money.

As part of our team, you will be helping us create an entirely new network for the world's money.
For everyone, everywhere.

More about our mission and what we offer.