Principal Financial Product Development

Where you will work: This position offers a hybrid work option up to 50% remote and is based out of the Bloomington, IL; Sun Prairie, WI; or Lakeville, MN office locations.

The contributions you will make: This position is responsible for creating and implementing a repeatable process for product definition, development, optimization, and management that aligns with the company’s objectives and market needs. Responsibilities include working with company stakeholders to identify market opportunities, sharing and managing to a process for developing new lending products, and developing and standardizing the process to optimize existing products to ensure a competitive edge and enhance the client experience. Close collaboration with internal teams is essential to deliver impactful products that drive revenue growth and market differentiation.

A typical day: 

Product Development and Planning

• Develop and execute a comprehensive process to ideate, test, develop and optimize for loan products aligned with organizational goals and market demands.
• Document this standard process for loan product development, ensuring each stage from ideation to launch is clearly defined and repeatable from concept through to client experience. Communicate this process with all business areas including sales, new markets, BT and credit to ensure a shared understanding of the framework and the benchmarks associated with each step.
• Build a Product Development Life Cycle (PDLC) playbook for the organization.
• Collect regular market assessments and competitive analyses to identify emerging trends and opportunities for differentiation.
• Work with cross functional partners to Identify product features and specifications based on client feedback, regulatory requirements, and business objectives.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including finance, marketing, risk management, and technology to design loan products that meet client needs while balancing risk and profitability.
• Lead the launch of new loan products and coordinate with marketing, sales and sales enablement teams for go to market strategies and product promotion.
• Develop and standardize the key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to determine the performance of loan products.

Execution and Development

• Partner with market research to develop and utilize client feedback, surveys, and focus groups to gain insights into client preferences and pain points, informing product design decisions.
• Collaborate with Sales Enablement and Marketing to build comprehensive training materials and resources for internal stakeholders to ensure a smooth rollout and adoption of new loan products.
• Partner with credit and legal to ensure the product designs that are concepted across the organization have the financial and regulatory support needed.
• Partner with Business Technology to ensure a standard intake, sizing, build and go live process for new products.
• Drive initiatives to enhance product features, streamline processes, and improve client experience.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders, including executives, product managers, sales teams, and client support, to align product development efforts with business objectives.

Monitoring and Optimizing

• Work closely with risk management teams to assess and mitigate risks associated with loan products.
• Analyze data and performance metrics to identify opportunities for optimization and improvement.
• Facilitate regular communication and collaboration between cross functional teams to ensure a shared understanding of product priorities and objectives.
• Continuously evaluate the PDLC process along with the performance of existing loan products and identify areas for improvement or expansion.

The skills and experience we prefer you have: 

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance, economics, or related field or an equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to perform the essential functions of the job. Advanced degree, preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in product development within the financial services industry, with a focus on lending.
• Ability to think tactically and strategically when necessary.
• Advanced knowledge of product life-cycle or product management/development.
• Advanced interpersonal skills, communication, presentation, problem solving, analytical, organizational, critical thinking and listening skills.
• Advanced knowledge of the financial industry.
• Ability to effectively lead multiple projects simultaneously.
• Ability to collaborate/influence others as a leader of projects.
• Strong business and financial services literacy with the ability to translate the information to marketing initiatives and educate groups on how the two intersect.
• Advanced computer skills including MS Office applications and WebEx software
• Must be comfortable seeking input from all levels throughout the organization.
• Proven client service skills and effective team skills are essential.
• Strong listening, written and verbal communication skills, with ability to communicate at all levels of the organization.
• Valid driver’s license

#IND100
#LI-AM1

How we will take care of you:

Our job titles may span more than one career level (associate, senior, principal, etc.). The actual title and base pay offered is dependent upon many factors, such as: training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs and market demands. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. This role is eligible for variable compensation and other benefits.