Product Manager — Lending
Lipa Later
Quick Take
Own and drive the end-to-end product roadmap for Lipa Later's B2C and B2B lending products — from writing PRDs and shipping features with engineering to conducting user research and tracking metrics like activation, retention and NPL.
At least 3 years of fintech or digital lending product management experience, strong SQL and analytics skills, and a solid understanding of credit risk, KYC and Kenyan regulatory requirements.
A high-impact ownership role at Africa's leading BNPL platform with an above-market salary of KES 180,000–270,000/month and direct influence over products used across four African markets.
Job Description
Lipa Later, the continent's foremost Buy Now Pay Later platform with operations spanning Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Nigeria, is looking to bring on board a talented and driven Product Manager to take full ownership of its lending product line. This is a high-impact role sitting at the heart of the business, where your decisions will directly shape how millions of customers and merchants across Africa access credit.
Based in Nairobi, you will serve as the strategic and operational lead for both consumer-facing (B2C) and business-facing (B2B) lending products. You will work hand in hand with engineering, credit, risk, and compliance teams to design, build, and continuously improve lending solutions that are both user-centric and commercially sound.
- Take full ownership of the product roadmap for Lipa Later's B2C and B2B lending offerings, setting direction and prioritising initiatives aligned with business goals
- Translate product strategy into clear, actionable requirements by authoring detailed Product Requirements Documents (PRDs) and partnering closely with engineering teams to deliver features on time
- Lead user research initiatives and dig into behavioural data to uncover pain points, unmet needs, and growth opportunities within the lending experience
- Work cross-functionally with the credit, risk, and compliance divisions to ensure product design meets regulatory standards and manages exposure effectively
- Establish, monitor, and report on key product performance indicators including customer activation rates, retention metrics, and non-performing loan (NPL) ratios
- A minimum of three years of hands-on product management experience within a fintech environment or digital lending organisation
- Strong analytical capability, including practical proficiency with SQL and familiarity with product analytics platforms
- Proven track record of conducting user research and facilitating usability testing to inform product decisions
- Solid understanding of credit risk principles, KYC processes, and the regulatory landscape governing lending in Kenya
- Exceptional communication skills paired with the ability to manage and influence a broad range of stakeholders across technical and non-technical teams
This role is best suited for a product professional who thrives in fast-moving, data-driven environments and has a genuine passion for expanding financial access across Africa. You are someone who is equally comfortable diving into a dataset, facilitating a customer interview, and presenting a product vision to senior leadership. If you have built or scaled lending products before, understand the nuances of credit risk in emerging markets, and enjoy working at the intersection of technology, finance, and customer experience, Lipa Later wants to hear from you. A proactive mindset, strong ownership mentality, and comfort with ambiguity will set you apart in this role.
Interested and qualified candidates are encouraged to apply for this position through the Lipa Later careers portal or via the job listing on which this advertisement appears. Ensure your application clearly highlights your relevant fintech or digital lending product management experience, as well as any specific work involving credit, risk, or regulatory compliance in the Kenyan market.
Requirements Breakdown
Must Have
- 3+ years of product management experience in fintech or digital lending
- Proficiency in SQL and product analytics tools for data-driven decision making
- Experience conducting user research and usability testing
- Understanding of credit risk, KYC and Kenyan financial regulatory requirements
- Proven ability to write clear PRDs and collaborate with engineering teams to ship features
Nice to Have
- Experience managing both B2C and B2B product lines simultaneously
- Familiarity with BNPL or instalment credit products specifically
- Prior exposure to multi-market African fintech operations (Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria)
- Experience defining and tracking credit-specific metrics such as NPL rates
Don't meet every requirement? Tailor your CV to close the gap →
Salary Context
Above market rate for a Product Manager — Lending in Nairobi
Product Manager salaries in Nairobi's fintech sector typically range from KES 120,000 to 220,000 per month for mid-level roles; this posting's upper band of KES 270,000 reflects a premium for specialist lending domain knowledge and the seniority expected. Pay in this field is heavily influenced by the candidate's depth in credit risk, data fluency and the employer's funding stage — Lipa Later's pan-African scale justifies the elevated ceiling.
About Lipa Later
Lipa Later is Africa's leading Buy Now Pay Later platform, enabling consumers and businesses across Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Nigeria to access goods and services on flexible instalment credit. The company partners with hundreds of merchants — from electronics retailers to healthcare providers — making credit accessible to millions of underserved consumers who lack traditional credit histories. For product professionals, Lipa Later offers the rare chance to shape financial inclusion at continental scale from a Nairobi headquarters that sits at the heart of Africa's most dynamic fintech ecosystem.
Likely Interview Questions
- 1
Walk us through a lending or fintech product you owned end-to-end — what was the roadmap, how did you prioritise features, and what metrics did you use to measure success?
- 2
How would you approach redesigning the onboarding and activation flow for a BNPL product to reduce drop-off while staying compliant with Kenya's KYC requirements?
- 3
Describe a time you had to balance the demands of a credit or risk team against a fast-moving engineering roadmap — how did you manage the tension?
- 4
If our NPL rate started creeping up after a new product feature launched, how would you investigate whether the product was a contributing factor and what would you do about it?
- 5
How do you use SQL or analytics tools in your day-to-day product work? Give us a concrete example of an insight you uncovered from data that changed a product decision.
Application Tips
Quantify lending product impact on your CV — highlight specific metrics you owned and improved, such as activation rates, disbursement volumes, repayment rates or NPL reductions, with actual numbers where possible.
Explicitly call out your SQL and analytics tool experience (e.g. Mixpanel, Amplitude, Looker, BigQuery) in both your CV and cover letter, as data fluency is flagged as a core requirement and will likely be tested at interview.
Demonstrate regulatory and credit risk literacy by referencing your experience with CBK guidelines, CRB reporting, or specific KYC frameworks — this specialist knowledge is what separates strong candidates in the Kenyan lending space.
Career Path
Roles that lead here
Where this leads
Skills & Keywords
Honest Assessment
Green Flags
- Salary range of KES 180,000–270,000/month is transparently disclosed and sits above the Nairobi fintech market median, signalling a mature hiring process and respect for candidates' time.
- The role offers genuine product ownership — the word 'own' appears explicitly for both the roadmap and key metrics, indicating real autonomy rather than a supporting or execution-only position.
- Lipa Later operates across four African markets, giving the PM exposure to multi-country regulatory and user contexts that significantly accelerates career development compared to a single-market role.
- Cross-functional collaboration with credit, risk, compliance and engineering teams provides rich domain learning for any PM looking to deepen their expertise in the high-growth African lending space.
Watch Out
- The role spans both B2C and B2B lending products simultaneously, which is a broad scope for a single PM — candidates should probe at interview how many direct reports or APMs they will have and how workload is managed.
- No mention of remote or hybrid work flexibility, which may be a concern for candidates who value schedule autonomy given Nairobi's traffic and the increasingly hybrid nature of product roles regionally.
A Day in the Life
A typical week starts with a Monday sprint planning session with engineering, reviewing the PRD backlog and unblocking any open questions on lending feature specs. Mid-week is dense with cross-functional touchpoints — a credit risk sync to review emerging NPL signals, a user research session with BNPL customers in Nairobi's Eastlands or Westlands to validate a new repayment flow, and an afternoon deep-dive into Mixpanel and SQL dashboards to track activation and retention cohorts. By Friday you're drafting a product brief for a new B2B merchant instalment feature, pulling together data insights, compliance input and engineering estimates to present to the leadership team the following week.
Frequently Asked Questions
What qualifications do I need to apply for the Product Manager — Lending role at Lipa Later?
You need at least 3 years of product management experience specifically in fintech or digital lending, along with strong SQL skills, experience running user research, and a working understanding of credit risk and KYC regulations in Kenya.
Is the Product Manager — Lending role at Lipa Later remote or office-based?
The role is listed as based in Nairobi with no remote or hybrid arrangement mentioned, so candidates should expect a primarily in-office or Nairobi-based working setup — it's worth confirming flexibility at the interview stage.
How much does a Product Manager — Lending earn at Lipa Later?
Lipa Later has published a salary range of KES 180,000 to KES 270,000 per month for this role, which is above the typical Nairobi fintech PM market rate and reflects the seniority and specialist lending domain knowledge required.
What are the career growth opportunities after this Product Manager role at Lipa Later?
Strong performance in this role naturally positions you for a Senior or Group Product Manager title with expanded scope across Lipa Later's four African markets, or for a Head of Product or VP Product role at a fintech, digital bank or credit-focused startup in the region.
Free Match Score
See how well you match this job
Upload your CV and get an instant AI score showing exactly how well your experience matches this Product Manager — Lending role. Free, takes 30 seconds.
Get My Match Score — FreeNo credit card needed
Boost your chances
AI-tailored for: Product Manager — Lending at Lipa Later