Head of Product, Core Banking Systems
N26 · Berlin
About the opportunity
N26 is looking for a Head of Product - Core Banking Systems to partner with our Engineering, Treasury, Risk, and Banking Operations teams. In this role, you will own the Core Banking Systems product roadmap and lead a team of product & business managers delivering foundational capabilities that power N26 — from rapid product configuration to balance sheet infrastructure and regulatory reporting.
You will work at the intersection of Core Banking architecture, financial data integrity, and compliance on one side, and real-world banking and product challenges on the other. Your mission is to transform Core Banking Systems from a cost center into a composable platform that enables product managers to configure and launch products in days, embeds compliance by design, and lays the foundation for growth beyond N26. You will be the connective tissue between technical platform excellence and business outcomes, ensuring that our core engine powers flawless banking across N26 and eventually external financial institutions.
In this role, you will:
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Own and drive the Core Systems product roadmap across Product Enablement (lending, deposits, payments gateway) and Balance Sheet Infrastructure (financial data products, treasury, books & accounting), balancing near-term execution with long-term strategic horizons.
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Partner closely with N26 Product Segments and functional stakeholders across Treasury, Credit Risk, Risk Controlling, Accounting, and Regulatory Reporting on priorities, planning cycles, and shared OKRs.
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Lead the end-to-end product lifecycle for Core Banking initiatives — from self-service product enablement and third-party vendor in-housing through migration, platform scalability, and iteration.
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Define and roll out core platform best practices across the organization — including product configuration standards (Product Factory), ledger data integrity, evaluation frameworks, and progressive rollout guardrails.
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Contribute to N26's company-wide strategy to establish single sources of truth for financial data, eliminate core vendor dependencies, and reduce risk concentration across endpoints.
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Support domain optimization by transitioning stable, non-core services to appropriate segment owners while maintaining operational excellence and zero material audit findings.
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Manage and develop a team of Core Systems Product Managers, fostering a culture of operational rigor, precision, and platform enablement.
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Act as a trusted advisor to other Product & Tech teams looking to integrate with core banking engines, sharing best practices and enabling rapid go-to-market execution.
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Manage stakeholder communication across Product, Engineering, Finance, Treasury, Risk, Compliance, and senior leadership.
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Define and track domain KPIs that measure product enablement speed, system uptime, compliance metrics, OPEX cost savings, and balance sheet data integrity.
What you need to be successful:
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5-7+ years of product management experience, with a significant portion focused on core banking systems, ledger infrastructure, payments, or core platform products.
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Proven experience partnering with Core Banking and Platform Engineering experts — you understand how transaction processing, ledgers, and accounting engines work and know how to build scalable platform products.
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Strong technical literacy — you understand backend platform trade-offs, core endpoint dynamics, multi-currency ledgers, and data pipelines, allowing you to engage credibly with engineering teams.
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Data-driven mindset — comfort working with complex financial datasets, defining meaningful operational and compliance KPIs, and making decisions grounded in evidence.
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Financial services experience required — familiarity with regulatory requirements, audit standards, compliance considerations, and the operational realities of banking.
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Agile practitioner — experience managing multiple mission-critical workstreams in fast-paced, high-availability environments.
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Excellent communication skills — the ability to translate complex technical and financial concepts for non-technical audiences and align diverse stakeholders around a shared vision.
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Strong translator between worlds — you can bridge the gap between Core Infrastructure experts and Product/Business stakeholders in both directions, ensuring mutual understanding and aligned priorities.