Context

Dfns is a cybersecurity company that builds custody SaaS protocol for web3 apps. Think of it as a developer tool that provides secure cloud for crypto. Our mission is to bring serenity to DeFi by eliminating new blockchain risks and making crypto transactions easier, faster, more affordable, and compliant with existing regulations.

From fintechs to large banks to e-commerce sites, Dfns gives financial institutions and businesses the freedom to own and transfer crypto on a battle-designed security infrastructure. Our API is designed to offer best-in-class developer experience allowing any platform to deploy custodial wallets in a matter of days, with streamlined feature delivery and frequent security upgrades.

Founded in 2020 in Paris, Dfns is a startup incubated at Station F (awarded Future 40), accelerated by Techstars and recognized DeepTech by the French Ministry of Economy. Our company is fully remote with offices in Paris, Amsterdam, New York, London, Stockholm, Sofia, and other cities.

Job Description

You will contribute to one of the most ambitious technology projects in crypto today: building a trustless custody infrastructure for the trillion-dollar digital asset industry.

You will join an amazing team of leaders (CTO, CISO, VP of Research) and experts (R&D Engineers, Infrastructure Engineers, Security Engineers) in a highly challenging and collaborative environment.

We are looking for a maverick Chief Product Officer who will improve client experiences, generate new product ideas, and outline detailed product strategies. You will need to manage diverse teams spanning engineering and marketing, requiring both a strong technical background and excellent business skills. As an ideal candidate, you will have a keen eye for gaps in client product offerings and the innovative mindset to fill them. You’re a highly skilled market analyst with a proven ability to strategize the full lifecycle of software production—from conception through release.

As Chief Product Officer, you must act as a visionary and an avid evangelist of the product. The responsibilities of the CPO are inclusive of product vision, product strategy, product design, product development, and product marketing. You essentially oversee every element of the product from its conceptualization to its launch and post-launch performance.

Mission

Your primary goal will be to lead and facilitate the creation of market-fitted products that deliver amazing value to both customers and the business.

Example of a primary metric would be Product-Market Fit Rate.

Your day-to-day projects will involve:

• Sharing the big picture to your team, defining the levels of priority within the product roadmap, and being accountable for the deadlines and the quality of production.
• Acting as a powerhouse of ideas on all product issues.
• Acting as a product evangelist and representing the company at public events.
• Developing a vision and setting the strategic direction of the product which aligns with customer needs, business growth, and overall technology strategy.
• Owning and driving the whole product lifecycle from design, launch and developing cross functional partnerships.
• Defining multiple roadmaps in-line with company vision and strategy, and gathering product requirements including things like feasibility, time, cost, and impact.
• Hiring, mentoring and managing a product team including product managers and UX designers, and nurturing a customer-led product culture.
• Driving scalable processes and methods around the product development cycle.
• Developing metrics and KPIs to measure success and identifying areas for improvement.
• Analyzing client needs, current market trends, and potential partnerships from an ROI and build vs. buy perspective.
• Embedding security best-practice into product specifications and documentation like SDLC.
• Authoring and updating internal and external documentation.
• Facilitating cross-team communication and know-how exchange between team members.
• Processing the testing of new product ideas to encourage innovation within your team.
• Working closely with CEO and product team to determine feature requirements, improve customer experiences, define product roadmaps and releases, understand product selling points, develop product pricing and positioning strategies.
• Working closely with CMO and marketing teams to manage product launches.
• Working closely with CTO and product team to transform feedback into features.
• Working closely with CISO to embed best-in-class information security processes within the product specifications and the internal workflows.
• Working closely with the Head of Legal and the compliance team in charge of crunching our legal requirements to translate the product evolutions into features that take into account jurisdictional constraints and regulatory frameworks.
• Assessing current competitor offerings, seeking opportunities for differentiation
• Keeping abreast of the latest developments in crypto, DeFi and blockchain to feed the company's strategic orientations.
• Continually researching current and emerging technologies and propose changes.
• Continuously participating in client meetings and customer care calls to gain insights into their user experience that will help improve the product.

Requirements

• 10+ years experience as a Chief Product Officer or similar role.
• Proven track record working on dev tools, cybersecurity software, and/or API products.
• Proven work experience in blockchain, DeFi and/or cybersecurity industries.
• Proven experience overseeing all elements of the product development lifecycle.
• Past track record of recruiting and developing a high performing product team.
• Experience leading deeply technical and security-first products.
• Notable dexterity with modern product development methodologies, like Shape Up.
• Great with customers and demonstrated experience at building a relationship with them.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Exceptional writing skills combined with strong presentation and public speaking skills.
• Founding-spirited with grit and guts to pursue complex worldwide ambitions.
• Humble, respectful, and very professional to others.
• Able to decide even in stressful, unstable situations.
• Appetite for Cybersecurity, Fintech, Blockchain and/or Crypto industries.
• [Bonus] Hands-on experience and willingness to contribute to open source projects.
• [Bonus] Extensive knowledge about the crypto custody industry and its use cases.
• [Bonus] Actively holding and trading cryptocurrencies and/or NFTs.

Benefits

• Role: Chief Product Officer
• Salary: €180-300K / year (avg base range).
• Equity: 0.8-1.2% (≈ €32-40M in case of €2B exit).
• Bonus: peer and spot bonuses after 8 months with us.
• Location: Hybrid. You can either work in our offices, from home, or remote.
• Paid time off: No less than 30 days per year, plus national holidays.
• Employee benefits: healthcare, life insurance, retirement plan, sponsored transportation, gym cards, food, Apple devices and home office equipment, tuition fee assistance, team retreats, and more.