Head of Product

Job Description

Job Description

About Just Badge Worldwide

Just Badge Worldwide is building ELITE—the global skills verification platform that transforms how professionals prove capability through real-time behavioral data, not resumes. We've proven the concept, validated our acquisition model, and we're finishing the final 20% of platform development. We're pre-revenue, founder-funded, and preparing for public launch. Join now to help us build the foundation, onboard our first subscribers, and position for scale.

The Role

This is a strategic product leadership role for someone who can own a complex, multi-layered platform with interconnected user experiences. ELITE is not a single product—it's an ecosystem with a professional social network, a behavioral verification system, community infrastructure, marketplace features, and premium subscription services, all working together to create compounding value for members.

You'll lead product strategy, roadmap execution, and feature prioritization across the entire platform. This means balancing social engagement features with verification intelligence, community tools with marketplace dynamics, and free-tier growth with premium conversion. You'll work closely with engineering, design, and growth teams to ship fast, iterate based on user feedback, and position ELITE for rapid scaling from launch through Series A.

What You'll Own

Product strategy and vision : Define the product roadmap that balances user acquisition, engagement, retention, and monetization across free and premium tiers.

Social network experience : Own the core networking features—profiles, feeds, connections, groups, messaging, and engagement mechanics that drive daily active usage.

Verification and intelligence systems : Work with engineering to refine the behavioral tracking infrastructure that captures real-time skill data and translates it into verified credentials.

Community and group features : Design and optimize group experiences, moderation tools, event systems, and member engagement features that create network effects.

Marketplace and monetization : Build features for peer-to-peer sessions, service exchanges, job matching, and community-funded ventures that unlock earning opportunities for members.

Mobile and multi-platform experience : Ensure seamless experiences across web, mobile apps (iOS / Android), and browser extensions with consistent UX and feature parity.

Feature prioritization and execution : Balance competing priorities—launch readiness, user feedback, growth experiments, and long-term platform infrastructure—to ship high-impact features on tight timelines.

Cross-functional collaboration : Partner with engineering on technical feasibility, design on UX consistency, growth on conversion optimization, and customer success on feedback loops.

Data-driven iteration : Use analytics, user testing, and behavioral insights to continuously improve product-market fit, retention, and conversion rates.

What Success Looks Like

Month 1-3 : Onboard into product architecture, roadmap, and team workflows. Audit current product state, identify friction points, and prioritize launch-critical features. Ship 2-3 high-impact improvements to beta users.

Month 4-6 : Lead platform launch with polished onboarding, social features, verification systems, and premium conversion funnels. Drive initial user feedback loops and rapid iteration based on early traction.

Month 7-9 : Scale product features to support 6,000+ premium subscribers. Optimize retention, engagement, and monetization. Build product foundation for Series A readiness—proven unit economics, network effects, and scalable infrastructure.

What You Bring

5+ years in product management—ideally leading complex consumer or B2B2C platforms with social, marketplace, or community features.

Experience with social networks or community platforms—you understand engagement loops, network effects, content discovery, and what makes users return daily.

Marketplace or two-sided platform experience—you've built features that balance supply and demand, enable transactions, and create value for multiple user types.

Technical fluency—you can collaborate effectively with engineering teams, understand API architectures, and make informed trade-offs between technical debt and speed.

Data-driven product thinking—you use metrics, user research, and experimentation to guide decisions, not assumptions.

Startup experience—you've shipped products under tight timelines with lean teams, prioritizing ruthlessly and iterating fast.

Strong UX instincts—you know what great product experiences feel like and can articulate why certain flows work better than others.

User empathy—you deeply understand professional users, their pain points, and what motivates behavior change.

Bonus Experience

Built or scaled products with behavioral tracking, gamification, or skill verification features.

Managed products with freemium or subscription monetization models.

Led product through fundraising cycles and Series A preparation.

Experience with AI / ML-powered personalization or recommendation systems.

Designed products with multi-platform experiences (web, mobile, browser extensions).

Mindset Values

Owner, not executor : You take full accountability for product outcomes—user growth, retention, monetization—and obsess over solving problems.

Bias toward action : You ship fast, learn from real users, and iterate quickly rather than over-planning in isolation.

Systems thinker : You see how features connect across the platform and design for compounding effects, not one-off wins.

User-first : You balance business goals with user needs, ensuring features create real value, not just metrics.

Mission-aligned : You believe in the vision of verified professional capability and understand how product decisions shape that future.

Compensation Equity

Competitive base salary : $140K-$180K (depending on experience and location)

Equity : 0.5%-1.0% in stock options (4-year vesting with 1-year cliff)

Performance bonus : Tied to product milestones (launch metrics, user growth, retention, Series A readiness)

Full benefits : Health, dental, vision, 401(k), unlimited PTO

Start Before Funding (Preferred Candidates)

For exceptional candidates who want to start contributing immediately :

Part-time or full-time on equity-only basis with vesting beginning on day one

Equity grant remains the same (0.5%-1.0%) with immediate vesting start

Transition to full salary + benefits package upon funding close

Early vesting credit for pre-funding contributions

This option is ideal for product leaders who believe in the mission and want to shape the platform from the earliest stage while accelerating their equity position.

Timeline

This role will be hired upon funding close, anticipated in the coming weeks. However, we're open to bringing on the right candidate earlier on an equity-only basis to begin vesting immediately.

Why This Role Matters

ELITE is not a simple product—it's a platform where social networking, skill verification, community infrastructure, and earning opportunities converge to create a flywheel of value. As Head of Product, you're the architect of that experience, ensuring every feature reinforces the next and the platform scales without breaking.

This is a founder-level product role where your decisions shape user behavior, business model success, and long-term platform value. If you're a product leader who thrives on building complex, interconnected systems in high-growth environments, this is your opportunity to define the future of professional capability.