About the Role
Cake is seeking a strategic, commercially driven, and execution-focused Head of SME Banking to lead one of the bank's key growth platforms.
This role is responsible for shaping business strategy, product development, driving business growth, and building scalable financial solutions across SME banking such as merchant services, payments, lending, and embedded finance. Reporting directly to the CEO, this leader will play a critical role in building and scaling SME banking business and accelerating its vision as a NextGen AI Bank.
Key Responsibilities
Product Strategy & Business Growth
- Define and drive the long-term product vision, business strategy, and roadmap for SME Banking and Merchant Ecosystem.
- Identify market opportunities, customer segments, customer pain points, and new growth initiatives across SMEs, merchants, and digital platform partners.
- Design scalable financial solutions that support merchant operations, cash flow management, financing needs, and business growth.
- Explore adjacent business opportunities and ecosystem expansion models to accelerate revenue growth.
Product Development & Platform Execution
Lead product strategy and execution across core product domains, including:
- Business Accounts & Merchant Banking
- Payment Acceptance, QR & Payment Gateway
- Merchant Lending & Working Capital Solutions
- Embedded Finance & Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS)
- Cross-border Payment Solutions
- Merchant Engagement & Loyalty Platforms
Ensure product development is aligned with customer needs, business priorities, scalability, and regulatory requirements.
Business Ownership & Commercial Performance
- Own product and business KPIs, including acquisition, activation, engagement, portfolio growth, revenue, profitability, and customer lifetime value.
- Drive monetization strategies, pricing models, partnership economics, and unit economics.
- Balance growth ambitions with portfolio quality, operational efficiency, and risk management.
Technology, Data & AI Innovation
- Partner with Engineering, Data, Risk, and Operations teams to build scalable product platforms and API ecosystems.
- Drive automation, platform scalability, and digital infrastructure development.
- Leverage AI and data intelligence to optimize customer acquisition, underwriting, personalization, fraud prevention, and product decision-making.
Leadership & Organization Development
- Build, lead, and develop a high-performing business organization.
- Coach Product Managers/Product Owners and strengthen product culture across the organization.
- Partner with the management team on strategic business priorities, major partnerships, and organizational growth.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Banking, Technology, or related fields; MBA is a plus.
- 10+ years of experience in Product Management within digital banking, fintech, payments, lending, merchant ecosystems, or platform businesses.
- Proven track record in building and scaling digital financial products with business or P&L ownership.
- Strong understanding of MSME banking, merchant operations, payments, lending, and embedded finance models.
- Experience building platform products, APIs, or scalable digital infrastructure.
- Strong product-tech mindset with understanding of system architecture, data platforms, and AI-driven products.
- Experience leading cross-functional product organizations and high-performing teams.
- Strong commercial acumen, strategic thinking, and hands-on execution capability.
- Excellent stakeholder management skills, with experience working directly with C-level leadership.
- Comfortable operating in fast-paced, high-growth, and ambiguous environments.
