Senior Director, Product Management (Trade Execution)

Apex Fintech Solutions is seeking a Senior Director, Product Management (Trade Execution) to serve as the Product Owner responsible for Trade Services and Partnerships. You will lead the product strategy and development of trading platform capabilities, including order management, execution services, and post-trade processing in alignment with the company’s vision and goals. The role requires a deep understanding of trading systems, market structure, and experience with FIX protocol and order management systems. The role also demands strategic vision (informed by experience), leadership and influence prowess, and a hands-on approach to drive the continuous evolution of value to the market, clients, and end-investors via this product set.  By being directly responsible for the costs of product delivery versus the adoption and revenue acquisition, this role acts as, essentially, the CEO of the trading product set, and holds full accountability for the achievement of profitability goals and client penetration. 
 
Duties/Responsibilities

Strategic Product Management & Market Analysis

• Conduct competitive analysis to assess the product landscape, including identifying the addressable market, key personas, and market trends.

• Define the product target state in collaboration with Technology leadership, supported by an incremental feature roadmap tied to ROI and timeframe expectations.

• Understand the end-to-end implications of the Trade Execution product within the custodial ecosystem and ensure alignment with business objectives.

• Develop and refine OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) to measure product development progress and adoption rates objectively.

Leadership & Stakeholder Collaboration

• Lead, mentor, and inspire cross-functional teams comprising product managers, technologists, sales, and business professionals to achieve product goals.

• Foster strong, collaborative relationships with stakeholders across Product, Technology, Finance, Sales, Marketing, Compliance, and Legal teams to align objectives.

• Develop lasting client-facing relationships to gather feedback and advocate for optimal trading experiences.

• Act as a point of escalation for product development challenges and service incidents.

Roadmap Development & Execution

• Define and manage the product roadmap, aligning with the “North Star” vision for the Trading Ecosystem and delivering incremental milestones through a microservices/reusable component strategy.

• Steward detailed specifications to execute roadmap initiatives, enabling compliance for multiple asset classes within a cohesive architecture.

• Consistently evolve the product leveraging client feedback, industry insights, and internal data analytics to drive innovation.

Regulatory & Quality Oversight

• Partner with Compliance and Legal teams to ensure trade reporting, comparison, settlement, and regulatory requirements are met.

• Establish robust QA metrics for agile retrospectives and sprint reviews, tracking progress and identifying issues for improvement.

• Conduct regular audits, ensuring adherence to QA standards and industry regulations.

Communication & Thought Leadership

• Act as the primary communicator of the Trade Execution product roadmap to Apex leadership, clients, internal teams, and external industry stakeholders.

• Develop a compelling "Trading Story" in partnership with Product Marketing, generating energy for adoption internally and externally.

• Represent the organization at relevant industry events and speaking engagements to share the product vision and establish relationships with key trade execution partners.

Metrics & Performance Management

• Establish clear performance expectations and develop scorecards to objectively track progress against stated OKRs.

• Foster an environment of continuous improvement by facilitating feedback loops and incorporating data-driven decision-making practices.

Client & Industry Collaboration

• Enhance adoption of the Trade Execution product suite by working closely with Sales and Relationship Management teams.

• Collaborate directly with clients to understand their needs and integrate valuable feedback into the product evolution.

• Build and maintain partnerships with trade execution stakeholders in the industry to strengthen relationships and facilitate seamless integrations.

Education and/or Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Finance/Economics/Engineering, Marketing or related field (or equivalent work experience) required

• 12+ years of Product experience including 6+ years in a leadership role in Trading product development, owning a P&L.     

• Strong analytical, organizational, and communication skills. 

• Strong track record of execution and building strong teams.  

Required Skills/Abilities

• Strong leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to inspire and lead teams in an agile environment. 

• Strong ability to listen, but also to question assumptions. 

• Excellent written and oral communication skills and ability to adapt storytelling to different audiences based on their priorities and level of knowledge. 

• Experience in building and managing high-performing products within agile development frameworks. 

• Excellent problem-solving abilities and attention to detail, with a proactive approach to identifying and mitigating regression risks within an agile environment. 

• Understanding of user experience, web development, API standards, and Agile practices, with a strong preference for best practices and incremental delivery. 

• Ability to make decisions with imperfect information, lead without authority and be comfortable managing a team through ambiguity and complexity. 

Work Environment

• This job operates in a hybrid, office environment  

• Position requires up to 25% travel to other offices. (We’re a distributed company.) 

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