Founding Product Owner

We have partnered with an ambitious, tax technology start-up that is solving one of the accountancy profession's most complex challenges, encoding dense legislation into structured, executable rules to automate expert decision-making at scale.
Having secured initial seed funding and with a live accounting platform integration already driving revenue, they are now looking for a Founding Product Owner to drive the roadmap from zero to one.
This is not a corporate strategy role with layers of bureaucracy. It is a rare chance to step in as a founding product operator, working hand-in-glove with the founders and a newly appointed Founding Product Designer to build a disruptive B2B platform from its early foundations.
The Role
As the Founding Product Owner, you will take complete day-to-day ownership of the product lifecycle. You will be the vital engine that translates market needs into a clear, focused roadmap.
You will spend time on the ground with accounting clients, running deep user discovery sessions, and working alongside in-house specialists to dissect complex, data-heavy workflows. Your primary mission is to translate multi-layered compliance and financial data relationships into tight, definitive product requirements and actionable user stories for the engineering team
Key Responsibilities
* Define, manage, and prioritise the end-to-end product lifecycle, making the firm choices necessary to protect the engineering team's focus.
* Conduct deep research and interviews with existing clients, converting real-world observations into definitive product insights.
* Translate complex legal legislation and user feedback into exceptionally clear, logic-driven user stories and acceptance criteria with zero ambiguity.
* Partner closely with the Founding Product Designere to marry the structural what and why of the product with an intuitive user experience.
* Collaborate with internal domain experts to map high-stakes tax rules into robust, deterministic product workflows.
What We Are Looking For
* You have been a primary product decision-maker at an early-stage startup, ideally as employee number 1 to 20, meaning you understand the pace and reality of building from scratch.
* You do not need a tax background, but you must have a proven track record of mastering highly complex systems with dense, interlocking data points, such as Fintech, Regtech, Compliance, Legaltech, or advanced ERP workflows.
* You are a data-driven operator who prioritises core user value over simply shipping features, and you are comfortable holding your ground with founders when product trade-offs require it.
* You thrive in an environment with zero hand-holding, meaning you are happy to write your own specs, run your own user research, and actively unblock your own engineers.
Nice to Have
* Prior experience within tax, accounting, or professional services automation software.
* Hands-on familiarity with deterministic rule engines or advanced data logic, rather than purely probabilistic AI.
* Experience working with Xero, QuickBooks, or similar accounting API ecosystems.
The Package
This role offers fully remote working, a competitive £85,000 base salary + 50% bonus, and a meaningful equity allocation via an employee share scheme designed to ensure a significant financial reward.
Ripple Recruitment is acting as an employment agency for this vacancy. My client is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. Due to high volumes of interest, we can only respond to shortlisted applicants
Only candidates based in UK and eligible to work in UK are allowed