Program Manager

Kunai

$90K — $130K *
US-AnywhereRemote in United States
Finance & Insurance
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years managing complex integration programs in financial services
  • Experience in banking operations related to account opening and loan processing
  • Strong ops and risk management background
  • Technical literacy for architecture discussions and dependency understanding
  • Exceptional organizational skills; adept at managing multiple workstreams
  • Comfortable with ambiguity; ability to create structure

Responsibilities

  • Define and execute the integration governance model including decision rights and escalation paths
  • Proactively identify and track operational and compliance risks across organizational boundaries
  • Maintain communication and alignment to prevent misalignments between teams
  • Own the operational readiness framework for sustainable post-launch operations
  • Understand system dependencies and partner with technical PM for architectural decisions

Benefits

  • Collaborative working environment with cross-org interaction
  • Opportunity to build and define governance frameworks from scratch
  • Participation in a next-generation product launch
  • Potential for professional growth in a high-stakes merger integration context
  • Access to resources and expertise from two large financial institutions
Full Job Description
Two large financial services companies are merging proprietary technologies to bring a next-generation Personal Loans product to market. This role will own governance, operational readiness, risk visibility, and the day-to-day bridge-building that keeps two organizations aligned, especially where accountability, communication, or handoffs are unclear.

This role sits at the intersection of two organizations. You'll be the connective tissue translating across teams, surfacing risks before they become blockers, and keeping a complex multi-workstream program moving toward a durable operating model.

WHAT YOU'LL OWN

Integration Governance & Program Connectivity
Define and run the integration governance model: decision rights, escalation paths, RAID log, status rhythms. Connect workstreams (pre-app, marketing channels, ops, tech) so nothing falls through the seams between organizations.

Risk & Issue Management
Proactively identify operational and compliance risks unique to a new-to-acquirer use case. Track issues across org boundaries and drive resolution before they block the program. Know when to escalate and to whom.

Cross-Org Communication & Alignment
Spot gaps before they become misalignments. Maintain a consistent narrative across both organizations at multiple levels from working teams to senior stakeholders. Ask the inconvenient questions early.

Operational Readiness & Long-Term Operability
Build for scale, not just launch. Own the operational readiness framework for account opening, loan servicing, and ops handoffs. Work with finance and ops partners to ensure the model runs sustainably post-integration.

Architecture & Dependency Awareness
Not a hands-on-keyboard role, but you need enough technical fluency to understand system dependencies, integration points, and the downstream ops implications of architectural decisions. Partner closely with the technical PM.

WHAT YOU BRING

Required:
- Experience managing complex, multi-party integration programs at large financial services firms
- Background in banking operations, including account opening, loan processing, or similar
- Demonstrated ops and/or risk management orientation (not just delivery tracking)
- Enough technical literacy to hold architecture conversations and understand dependency chains
- Exceptional organizational skills, including comfortable running multiple workstreams simultaneously
- Comfortable navigating ambiguity; able to create structure where none exists

Strongly Preferred:
- Prior experience in a merger/acquisition integration context
- Personal loans product knowledge including originations, pre-app, marketing channel integrations
- Finance business partnering exposure (budgets, resource tracking, reporting)
- Track record building governance frameworks from scratch, not just inheriting them

WHAT MAKES THIS ROLE DIFFERENT

The technical program is being built. What's needed now is someone who can govern it, who asks "have we defined who owns this when it breaks?" and "does ops know what they're signing up for?" You'll work alongside a strong technical PM, not replace one. The value you add is connective: surfacing what's falling through the cracks, building the governance layer, and making sure the program is set up to run long after launch.

Minimum Degree Required:

  • Bachelor's Degree, in lieu of a degree, demonstrating in addition to the minimum years of experience required for the role, three years of specialized training and/or progressively responsible work experience in technology for each missing year of college is required

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