Product Lead

NLV Overview

NextLadder Ventures is a time-bound venture with one goal: empower millions of Americans to reach their potential by 2040. A first-of-its-kind fund, NextLadder Ventures invests in breakthrough technologies that remove barriers to economic success and put people in control of their futures. Blending philanthropic and venture capital, we invest in accelerating the design, development, and deployment of promising solutions in a new market for Navigation Technology - tools that help people navigate pivotal moments and access the resources they need. Backed by more than $1 billion in capital, we offer flexible, risk-tolerant funding — in the form of grants and direct investments — to nonprofits and early-stage companies building products that are impactful and scalable.

Position Summary

NLV is working toward a seamless, personalized navigation journey for low-income Americans in their critical moments. As our first full-time technical hire, the Product Lead will enable the technical vision for how we get there across our portfolio and in the broader NavTech field. This is a high-autonomy role where you will shape our technical strategy; identify the most significant technical unlocks and connection points (including across NLV’s portfolio) to accelerate the NavTech field. You will be empowered to make high-impact, frontier-oriented technical bets that unlock value for the entire ecosystem, build critical infrastructure in a range of forms from standards to products, and define NLV’s role alongside partners to make seamless navigation journeys possible. Good candidates for this role can take a mandate and turn it into quick and strategic action, shaping their own position as they go.

Key Responsibilities

• Owns and continuously sharpens NLV's working view of the NavTech stack, including direct solutions (our portfolio and other NavTech builders), the potential connection points, and the foundational infrastructure that could unlock impact and value for the whole field. 
• Identifies patterns across the portfolio and wider NavTech builder ecosystem that could inform reusable components in the NavTech stack (e.g., connectors, evaluation harnesses, reference implementations, data or context layers, common schemas) and finds innovative paths to advance them. 
• Architects solutions, including guiding design and build of proofs of concept through to reusable components and open source infrastructure and ensures builds meet user needs and are sustainable in the long-run. 
• Advises and enables NLV portfolio organizations – sitting shoulder-to-shoulder to understand success, work through technical challenges, advise on roadmaps, architectures, and frontier technology use, and connect them to other technical expertise. 
• Develops and tests technical delivery models in partnership with the NLV team, our portfolio, builders, and field leaders. Finds the right ways to encourage adoption and integration with existing workflows.  
• Galvanizes technical expertise and resources from individuals and institutions to support NLV’s portfolio and the broader NavTech field. 
• Shapes investment decisions and pressure-tests technical assumptions during diligence in close partnership with both the grantmaking and venture teams. 
• Partners with internal teams to prioritize and advise on NLV’s use of AI to advance our mission. 
• Represents NLV's technical perspective externally with portfolio leaders, government partners, co-funders, and the broader NavTech field.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Enjoys zero-to-one work and thrives in ambiguity. 
• Exceptional systems thinker and actor, able to identify root issues and how to affect change both directly and indirectly. 
• Excellent product taste and judgment: can tell when a technical bet should be a lightweight workflow, a robust system, a portable widget, an open-source project, a standard, a partnership, or something we should not build at all.
• Strong user-centered orientation with demonstrated commitment to prioritizing trust and quality as well as an understanding of the potential risks and opportunities in deploying frontier technology to empower low-income Americans.
• Action oriented with a pragmatic but ambitious approach to barriers. Deploys a range of approaches to make progress – from frontier proofs of concept to show what’s possible to aligning requirements across disparate stakeholders. 
• Skilled at building meaningful relationships and influencing diverse leaders and stakeholders to define and act on a vision; achieves results through clearly communicating ideas, collaboration, credibility, and inspiration rather than formal authority
• Comfortable with both strategy and execution – willing to lean into the details when appropriate but also able to see the big picture.
• Genuine commitment to NextLadder Ventures' mission, values, and focus on expanding economic opportunity — bringing both conviction and humility to the work.
• High ethical standards, sound judgment, and discretion; handles sensitive information and situations with integrity and professionalism.
• Takes ownership of their work with a strong sense of accountability — follows through on commitments, communicates proactively, and treats setbacks as information, not failure.
• Hands-on, entrepreneurial work style with the ability to operate both collaboratively and independently, navigate ambiguity, and adapt quickly in a fast-paced, evolving environment. Brings urgency to the work without losing care for how it's done.
• Curious and actively seeks out new information from the field, the frontier, and the people we serve, and changes course readily when something isn't working.
• Kind, intentional, and warm. Listens generously, leads with humility, and assumes good intent.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of product experience, including zero-to-one, data platforms, systems infrastructure, AI products, or other relevant areas. Founder, early product hire, or product area leadership is a strong signal.
• Experience building out early stage product vision, including user research, go-to-market design and implementation, evals, and improvement cycles. 
• Strong technical capability, including AI-native thinking and LLM implementation — evaluation frameworks, agent architectures, retrieval, connector protocols, etc. – and building at the frontier.  Able to build rapid prototypes, write a robust specification, assess feasibility honestly, judge whether a technical claim holds up, and evaluate work in delivery.
• Understanding of high-stakes systems that require high trust, stakeholder coordination, and face privacy, security, or regulatory constraints — e.g., healthcare, benefits, financial services, education, or civic technology.
• Industry perspective on the lifecycle of technical products, from MVP to scale.
• Direct customer-facing experience managing technical and business stakeholders. 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly and concisely convey ideas, make recommendations, and persuade others. 

Additional relevant qualifications

• Open source community or standards-setting experience.
• Developer tools or community experience. 
• Familiarity with investing, grantmaking, or diligence.

Compensation & Benefits

NLV’s goal is to compensate for this position at a competitive level. NLV offers competitive compensation for this position, determined based on several factors, including the scope and responsibilities of the role, relevant experience, professional accomplishments, internal equity, geographic location (where applicable), and market benchmarking. The estimated base compensation is expected to be in the range of approximately $250,000-$350,000. In addition to base salary, eligible employees may participate in short- and long-term incentive programs, including annual bonus and equity opportunities where applicable. NLV also offers a comprehensive benefits package, which includes medical, dental, and vision coverage, retirement savings benefits, paid time off, and other employee programs. 

Physical Requirements | Work Environment

This position is fully remote and requires the ability to work effectively from a home office or other suitable remote workspace. Occasional travel and attendance at Company meetings, events, or other business activities may be required. 

The employee must be able to remain in a stationary position for extended periods, use a computer and other standard office equipment, and communicate effectively with colleagues and external partners in person, by phone, and through electronic communications. 

NLV is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to enable them to perform the essential functions of the position, consistent with applicable law. 

Equal Opportunity Employer

NLV is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Work Authorization

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of hire. NLV is unable to provide employment sponsorship for this position unless otherwise specified.

At-Will Employment

Employment with NLV is at will. This means that either the employee or the Company may terminate the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause or advance notice, subject to applicable law. Nothing in this job description or the hiring process creates a contract of employment.

Background Check

Any offer of employment is contingent upon the successful completion of a background check appropriate for the position and conducted in accordance with applicable law.

This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by individuals in this position. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications. Responsibilities may change based on business needs.