Program Launch Manager
Cardless · San Francisco · $145,000–$180,000 (stated in the posting)
About Cardless
Cardless is building the infrastructure for the world's best companies to design, build, and launch financial products. Companies like Coinbase and Bilt use Cardless to create credit cards that feel entirely their own. In an industry where branded financial products usually mean shared logos and shared control, Cardless is built to disappear. Our APIs and components shape the journey from the first application to every purchase, reward, and moment of support that follows, while we handle lending, compliance, and operations behind the scenes.
In September 2025, we raised a $60 million Series C led by Spark Capital, bringing our total funding to $170 million. The team is over 70 people and scaling toward profitability by year-end 2026.
We're looking for kind, humble people with high standards and low egos. We take the work seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. We see what could be improved, make it so, and leave every product, system, and team better than we found it.
About the Role
Cardless is at an inflection point: the company has found product-market fit, raised the capital to scale, and is now executing against a clear roadmap to profitability. The work is consequential and the pace is fast. Launches are the moments the whole company organizes around, and this role sits at the center of every one.
And nobody runs launches forever. After a few of them you will understand how this entire business works better than almost anyone, and success looks like graduating into another part of the company - maybe a functional area you connected with along the way, maybe full oversight of one of our brand programs. People who have sat in this seat have gone on to senior operating and product roles here, and we expect the same for you.
What You'll Do
Run launches end to end
Own the launch plan for new brand programs from signed deals to cards in wallets - the timeline, the dependencies, the DRIs, and the single source of truth everyone works from.
Manage and execute the launch process and associated trackers on a daily basis: daily standups, partner syncs, and executive updates. Everyone should always know what's on track, what's at risk, and what you need from them.
Find blockers early and clear them yourself where you can - and when you do need to escalate, come with a proposed answer.
Go deep on every workflow
Learn (and track) how each function does its part of a launch: credit policy and underwriting setup, program configuration, rewards design, funding and settlement, compliance and bank approvals, fraud controls, servicing readiness, and card fulfillment.
Get into the details other people skip - the disclosure that hasn't been reviewed, the test case nobody ran, the vendor deliverable with no owner. Launches fail on small details, and it's your job to catch them.
Coordinate partners and vendors
Act as the launch-facing point of contact for the brand partner's team, and manage the shared plan across both companies.
Coordinate deliverables across the issuing bank, card networks, processors, and vendors - each with their own timelines, requirements, and quirks.
Keep external parties honest on dates the same way you do internal teams.
What we are looking for
2–6 years in roles where you shipped complex cross-functional work: launch or program management, operations, consulting, banking, or early-stage startup operating roles.
You have run at least one project where five or more parties had to deliver on the same date, and you were the person accountable for the whole thing.
Enough fintech, payments, or financial services exposure to know the terminology and what's what. You don't need to be an expert in underwriting or compliance or card fulfillment on day one - but you do need the curiosity to become one.
Detail oriented to an extreme: You read everything, and you notice when something doesn't add up - a date that quietly moved, a number that doesn't match the tracker, a requirement nobody actually closed out.
Comfortable across functions: You can follow an engineering conversation about an integration cutover and a compliance conversation about disclosures, and explain each side to the other. You won't be the expert in most of these rooms, but you can never be lost in them.
Calm when things break: Something always breaks close to launch. You re-plan, tell everyone what changed, and keep the room steady.
Compensation
This role has an annual starting salary range of $145,000–$180,000 + equity + benefits. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skills, experience, and specific work location.
Benefits
We're proud to offer our team excellent benefits:
💸 Meaningful Start-up equity
🏥 100% health, vision & dental primary coverage
➕ 75% health, vision & dental dependent coverage
🍱 Catered lunches
🚎 $250/month Commuter benefit
👶 Parental leave
✈️ Team building events & happy hours
🌴 Flexible PTO with a minimum of 15 days off per year
🖥️ Apple equipment
💸 401k plan
Location
We're headquartered in San Francisco, CA, with a beautiful office in Jackson Square. We’re in the office at least three days a week, and most of us are there more than that, because we do our best thinking and building together in person. We’re looking for someone who’s genuinely excited to be there alongside the team.