Fractional CPO

Meridia is an AgTech company specialised in software solutions for field data within complex agri-commodity supply chains. Our mission is to improve the veracity of datasets that drive decision-making in global agri-commodity supply chains, and our purpose is to build transparent and inclusive supply chains.

Our flagship product, Meridia Verify®, is a SaaS solution that verifies supply chain field data against regulatory and voluntary sustainability frameworks in minutes, providing hands-on guidance for risk mitigation. Procurement and sustainability teams use Meridia Verify® to eliminate commercial and reputational risk, prevent supply-chain disruptions, and shift from guesswork to confident, evidence-based decisions.

The Role

Meridia is seeking a hands-on Fractional Chief Product Officer (CPO) to join our team. This senior position is for 8 days a month, with at least 1 day each week. The role can be remote within +/- 2hrs of the CET time zone or based in our Amsterdam office. If working remotely, the CPO should be available to travel to Amsterdam as required (likely no more than once a quarter).

The Fractional CPO will lead a small product team, consisting of a Lead Product Manager, a Senior Product Manager (to be recruited), and a Product Designer. The day-to-day focus will be on coaching direct reports, acting as a sparring partner for the CEO on product strategy decisions, and reviewing key initiatives crafted by Product & Engineering. The CPO will also contribute to strategic projects as needed.

Responsibilities

• Strategy
  • Own the articulation of the Product Vision.
  • Review and refine the Product Strategy every 3 to 6 months to ensure alignment with company strategy and leverage up-to-date customer, market, and competitor insights.
  • Provide strategic input on market selection, investment in existing vs. new propositions, target markets, sequencing of new propositions, prioritization, pricing, and organizational design. Serve as a sparring partner to the CEO through limited async communication (voice notes/messages) within the agreed 8-days/month commitment.
• Leadership
  • Lead and proactively coach the Product team (2 product managers and a product designer), including weekly 1:1s with both Product Managers. The Product Designer currently reports to the Lead Product Manager.
  • Recruit the second product manager as a remote hire in Indonesia, leveraging Meridia’s successful partnership with a local recruitment agency.
• Roadmap
  • Guide product managers on the narrative for each quarterly roadmap planning cycle.
  • Review and provide feedback on draft roadmap initiatives and sign off the final version alongside the CEO.
  • Note: The roadmap process (initiative crafting, t-shirt sizing, and scoring for impact & effort) is well established. The Lead PM and Senior PM will lead these sessions and compile the draft roadmap based on the CPO’s direction.
• Project Delivery
  • Coach the Product team through execution of high-risk or strategic initiatives, including:
    • Reviewing UI/UX designs in Figma or via Loom videos
    • Commenting on Notion pages or Miro boards covering scoping or design choices
    • Responding to key threads on Mattermost (our instant messaging tool), with an emphasis on batching asks and async collaboration
• Collaboration and Cross-Functional Work
  • Collaborate with Commercial, Engineering, Methodology, and R&D departments to align product strategy and roadmap with Meridia’s broader company strategy.

Requirements

• Essential Experience
  • 10+ years of Product experience, including 6+ years in a leadership role
  • 5+ years B2B SaaS experience
  • Product leadership experience in startups or early-stage scale-ups
  • Demonstrable experience coaching teams to high performance
  • Experience managing products with a front-end
  • Experience managing API products
• Desirable (but not essential) Experience
  • Domain experience in the sustainability sector, agricultural commodities, deforestation, or land use change
  • Geospatial experience or experience building products with a strong geospatial component
  • Experience building Enterprise products
  • Experience building and maintaining component libraries and design systems
• Skills
  • Strong leadership, coaching, and people management abilities
  • Ability to craft and evolve portfolio product strategies in a nimble scaleup environment
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills for engaging senior clients and stakeholders
  • Analytical and strategic thinker, able to make strategic decisions quickly to keep teams unblocked
  • Proficiency with building and interpreting dashboards on product analytics platforms (Segment + Mixpanel)
  • Comfortable with the detail of Figma designs for high-risk or highly strategic features
• Personal Attributes
  • Open-minded, collaborative, and low ego
  • Thrives in a fast-paced environment
  • Entrepreneurial mindset with resilience to build and scale new propositions
  • Comfortable in a lean business environment

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to jobs@meridia.land for more information about this position.