about 1 month ago

NB KAROS

Public carpooling services for daily commutes in Europe.

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Freelance

Paris

A few days home

Salary: Not specified

about 1 month ago

Skills we're looking for

Cross-functional team leadership

Leadership

Communication skills

You'll be part of

90 employees

Application mobile

Mobilité

Économie collaborative

Average age: 30

Founded in 2014

60%

40%

Founded in 2014, Karos is the European leader of carpooling for daily commutes. By changing at scale the way people commute, Karos is a major actor of the ecological transition.
The company now operates public carpooling services for more than 100 local authorities and 600 employers, with over 1.5 million users and rollouts across 6 European countries.
Since 2024, Karos is a mission-driven company (French “Société à mission”).
Our mission, written into our bylaws:
✨ We are creating a new way of carpooling that is desirable and efficient, wherever it is useful, in order to improve everyday life and accelerate the ecological transition. As a trusted partner of key players in the territories, we are fighting to make carpooling a new standard for everyday transport. ✨
Our impact is greatest where alternatives are lacking: daily commutes by private car.
It is on these trips — mainly home–work, peri-urban and rural — that we are committed, working with public and private stakeholders to change habits at scale.
Today, we are 100 team members, mainly based in France and Germany, and we are rapidly expanding across Europe (🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇪🇸 🇨🇭 🇮🇹 🇳🇱).

You'll be working on

Job description

At Karos, our mission is to make short-distance carpooling a new form of public transport.

We are entering a particularly exciting chapter. The acquisition of BlablaCar Daily gives us the opportunity to join forces to build a stronger, unified platform. At the same time, growing momentum in France and internationally is pushing us to rethink our market fit and how deeply our solution can integrate with cities and public transport networks.

Meanwhile, AI is transforming how product organisations operate - from discovery and delivery to design and user support.

To lead Karos through this pivotal period, we are looking for an Interim Chief Product Officer to cover maternity leave from January to August 2027 (with some handover time to be planned in December 2026 & September 2027).

In this role, you will join the Executive Committee and take ownership of major strategic decisions, team development and product performance in a key transitional period for the company. You will lead a multidisciplinary team spanning across Product Management and Design primarily but also managing the User Support lead. Working as a close CPO-CTO duo with Tristan Croiset, our CTO, you will set the vision, priorities and cadence of the Product & Engineering organisation.

Your scope

Your mandate will focus on four priorities:

Shape our offering: Complete the Daily migration, turn the acquisition’s learnings into a stronger unified platform, and guide strategic product decisions for major opportunities in France and internationally.
Grow the team: Coach team members and define the right organisation following the Daily integration, and ensure teams remain focused on high-impact outcomes.
Transform our practices with AI: Help Product Managers and Designers use AI to work faster and better, improve operational efficiency and support internationalisation.
Drive product impact: Lead OKR planning, maintain a strong review rhythm and continuously align priorities, delivery and measurable outcomes with the CTO and Executive Committee.

🗺️ Location: Paris

📅 Contract period: January-August 2027

Why join Karos for these eight months?

This role offers an unusually rich interim leadership mandate:

A genuine seat at the Executive Committee table.
A close partnership with an experienced CTO and a CEO as sparring partner.
Major strategic challenges about our offering and market positioning in a complex B2B2C model.
The opportunity to shape the integration of Karos and BlaBlaCar Daily.
Strong market momentum in France and internationally.
A broad scope covering Product Management, Design and User Support.
The opportunity to redefine how an entire product organisation works with AI.
A clear mandate to leave the organisation stronger, faster and better positioned for its next stage of growth.

We're looking for

Candidate profile

You have significant leadership experience as a CPO, VP of Product, Head of Product or in a comparable senior product role.
You have operated at Executive Committee level and are comfortable contributing to company-wide strategic decisions, making consequential decisions with incomplete information and within a limited timeframe.
You have a strong track record of shaping a vision and translating it into a with clear priorities, effective OKRs and measurable outcomes.
You have led multidisciplinary teams that include Product Management, Design and customer-facing or operational functions and understand how Product and Engineering organisations operate together and enjoy working in a close CPO-CTO partnership.
You have experience leading teams through periods of integration, transformation or significant organisational change.
You are an excellent people leader who knows how to coach senior team members, create clarity and build high-performing organisations.
You are curious and pragmatic about AI, with a strong point of view on how it can improve product, design and support practices.
You communicate clearly with internal and external stakeholders.
You speak both English and French fluently.

Nice to have

You have contributed to major tenders or complex partnerships involving public authorities.
Karos’ ambition motivates you, and you are excited about helping millions of people adopt more sustainable mobility habits. 💚🌍

How we hire

Recruitment process

An initial interview to understand your experience, aspirations and interest in the interim mandate.
A strategic leadership & technical interview focused on Karos’ 2027 product challenges.
An interview with our founders
- Tristan Croiset, CTO, focused on the CPO-CTO partnership and the leadership of Product & Engineering.
- Olivier Binet, CEO, focused on the CPO-CEO partnership and shaping together the right company direction
A team and culture interview with members of the Executive Committee and Product organisation.

♀️♂️ We know that many women do not apply unless they meet every listed requirement - so please take the leap. We look forward to receiving applications from candidates of all backgrounds.

❗️Please send a short cover letter explaining what excites you about leading Karos through this pivotal eight-month period.