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Product Director, Head of Product & GM

Jason Lea

I build and scale regulated digital products, marketplaces and fintech platforms across the UK, Europe and the Middle East.

Product leadership across uSwitch, 11:FS and Ajlan & Bros, covering consumer platforms, regulated fintech and zero-to-one marketplaces.

Previously

11:FS
Ajlan & Bros
Banque Saudi Fransi
Giraffy
uSwitch
Zoopla
15+
Years building products
25
Largest product team led
£100M+
Platform trading volume
3
Regions · UK, Europe, MENA
0→1
Products, platforms and teams built
Regulated
Banking · trading · comparison

About

Commercial product leadership, from zero to scale.

I am a commercial product leader with experience building products, teams and operating models across comparison, fintech, banking and marketplaces.

I combine product strategy with revenue ownership, distribution, regulation and execution — from zero-to-one launches through to products operating at significant scale.

What I bring
  • Commercial leadership — Connecting product decisions to revenue, margin and customer economics.
  • Zero-to-one execution — Building products, platforms and teams from concept through launch.
  • Regulated delivery — Experience across banking, trading, comparison and marketplaces.
  • International scale — Operating across the UK, Europe and the Middle East.

Product leadership experience

Teams led. Outcomes owned.

Leadership across regulated platforms, marketplaces, fintech and zero-to-one products.

01
Multi-market comparison & intelligence

Giraffy

Founder / Chief Product Officer (AI & Data)·2025 — 2026

I built a multi-market comparison and intelligence platform across financial services and telecoms.

Selected outcomes

  • Defined the product and commercial strategy across consumer comparison and B2B market intelligence
  • Built the multi-market data platform and AI-enabled intelligence products across telecoms and financial services
  • Led product, UX, engineering, growth, SEO and monetisation from concept through launch
30K+
Monthly active users
1.5K+
Monthly clickouts
45 markets
Product and provider data coverage
Giraffy Intelligence platform
02
0→1 marketplace · Saudi Arabia

Ajlan & Bros (YOX)

General Manager·2023 — 2025

I led the development and launch of a regulated collectibles marketplace combining physical and digital ownership.

Selected outcomes

  • Owned the strategy, proposition and operating model from concept through market launch
  • Led product, technology, operations, legal, retail and partnership workstreams across the business
  • Designed the marketplace, monetisation and fractional ownership model alongside regulatory engagement
0→1
Platform launch
SAMA
Regulatory engagement
Saudi Arabia
Market Launch
Explore ecosystem PDF
YOX flagship store interior
Flagship retail experience
YOX digital fraction purchase flow
YOX physical and digital collectible card
03
£100M trading platform

Block3

Chief Product Officer·2021 — 2023

I led product strategy across CeFi and DeFi in a high-growth exchange environment.

Selected outcomes

  • Led product across trading, wallet and token infrastructure
  • Managed two core product squads
  • Defined roadmap and product priorities in a regulated market
£100M+
Platform trading volume
2
Core product squads
FCA
Regulated environment
CoinBurp trading product — mobile order ticket, markets and BTC chart
04
Digital banking platform

11:FS → BSF

Product Lead, 11:FS embedded at Banque Saudi Fransi·2020 — 2021

I worked on core product architecture for a digital banking launch within a cross-functional team of more than 20 people.

Selected outcomes

  • Shaped product architecture for onboarding, payments and core banking
  • Worked across product, engineering, compliance and operations
  • Supported delivery in a highly regulated banking environment
20+
Cross-functional team
KYC
Compliance and payments
Regulated
Banking environment
BSF digital banking product
05
Built from zero. Acquired.

Omniowl → Studee

Co-Founder / Head of Product·2018 — 2020

I co-founded, bootstrapped and scaled a European university comparison marketplace through to an acqui-hire by Studee.

Selected outcomes

  • Built the marketplace product from scratch
  • Led product, growth and SEO-led acquisition
  • Structured supply across universities and countries
200+
Universities
40+
Countries
Acqui-hire
Studee
Studee university application workspace website
06Commercial growth to product leadership

Forward3D → uSwitch → Zoopla

Performance Marketing Lead → Head of Product·2011 — 2018

A connected seven-year chapter from 2011 to 2018 across three companies, two acquisitions and four operating phases, spanning performance marketing, senior leadership in uSwitch Energy, building the mobile app from zero to one, expanding it across the comparison business and building customer accounts across web and mobile.

Operating journey

  1. 01 · Forward3D

    Commercial growth

    2011–2014

    I led performance marketing and commercial growth across enterprise clients including British Airways, Hertz and NET-A-PORTER.

    • Owned forecasting, budget allocation and acquisition performance
    • Built analytical and optimisation workflows using SQL, Python and R

  2. 02 · uSwitch

    Senior leadership in Energy

    2014–2018

    I was part of the senior leadership team for uSwitch Energy, a business generating approximately £60m in annual revenue, around half of which came through paid acquisition.

    • Helped lead paid acquisition across a major commercial business unit
    • Connected acquisition decisions to conversion, revenue and unit economics

  3. 03 · uSwitch

    Built the mobile app from 0→1

    I built the uSwitch mobile app from the ground up, launching first around Energy before expanding it across telecoms, banking and insurance.

    • Defined the proposition and product strategy
    • Took the app from concept through launch
    • Expanded it across four comparison verticals

  4. 04 · uSwitch / Zoopla

    Built and owned customer accounts

    I built and owned customer accounts across web and mobile, creating a joined-up logged-in experience across the comparison platform.

    • Defined the customer account proposition
    • Connected customer identity and journeys across channels
    • Built the foundation for repeat engagement beyond a single comparison

Impact across the chapter

£60m
Energy business revenue
~£30m
Paid acquisition revenue
0→1
uSwitch mobile app
1m+
App downloads
4 verticals
Energy · Telecoms · Banking · Insurance
Web + mobile
Customer accounts ownership

Ownership environments

  1. Private company

    Forward3D

    2011–2013

    uSwitch acquired by Forward Internet Group for $10.3m in 2009

    I joined Forward3D in 2011 and began in performance marketing and commercial growth.

  2. Private equity

    uSwitch · LDC

    2013

    LDC-backed management buyout

    I operated through the LDC-backed period while leading Energy, mobile and customer accounts.

  3. Public company

    Zoopla Property Group

    2015

    £160m–£190m · Upfront plus earn-out

    Zoopla acquires uSwitch

    I continued operating within uSwitch as part of a listed-company environment.

  4. Private equity

    Silver Lake / ZPG

    2018

    £2.2bn · Wider ZPG group

    Silver Lake takes ZPG private

    The £2.2bn value relates to the wider group, including Zoopla and uSwitch.

I operated across entrepreneurial ownership, an LDC-backed private-equity period and Zoopla's listed-company environment, with the wider group subsequently taken private by Silver Lake.

Commercial achievements

Outcomes that compound.

Generated £2–3m in annual mobile product revenue and helped lead approximately £30m in annual paid-acquisition revenue
Led product across a platform processing approximately £100m in trading volume
Built Giraffy to 30k+ monthly active users across 45 markets
Co-founded Omniowl and scaled it through to an acqui-hire by Studee
Delivered products across FCA, CMA, Ofcom, Ofgem, SAMA and Ministry of Culture environments
Led multidisciplinary product teams of up to 25 people across the UK, Europe and the Middle East

How I Think

Four principles I build by.

01

Start with the commercial mechanism.

Clarify who pays, why they pay and what needs to be true for the model to scale.

02

Treat distribution as part of the product.

SEO, partnerships, lifecycle and product-led loops should be designed alongside the core experience.

03

Build for regulatory and operational reality.

Regulation, local market behaviour and operational constraints are product inputs, not late-stage blockers.

04

Ship, measure and compound.

Launch the smallest credible product, learn from real behaviour and strengthen the model over time.

Recognition & talks

Recognised talks.

2024

LEAP Conference

Building a technology startup in Saudi Arabia · Riyadh

2021

Apple Ads panel

Maximising App Store Visibility · London

2020

Google panel

Marketing & Product · Dublin

2019

Best Use of Mobile App

Industry award

2018

Most Innovative Use of Mobile

Industry award

2019

Acqui-hire

Omniowl → Studee

—

Speaker & panelist

Product, marketplaces and fintech

Open to

What I am seeking.

  • Product Director and Head of Product roles
  • GM roles with product and commercial ownership
  • Permanent or contract leadership
  • London, Europe or the Middle East
  • Fintech, marketplaces, comparison and regulated digital platforms

Contact

Let's talk about a leadership role.

Open to Product Director, Head of Product and GM opportunities across London, Europe and the Middle East.

hello@jasonlea.xyzLinkedIn