Ossama Soliman Chief Product Officer, TrueLayer
Previously
General Manager B2B Lending, AmazonDirector Product Management, American Express
Company
TrueLayer builds universal APIs that allow companies to access the financial data of their end user and initiate direct bank payments, securely, reliably and efficiently. Bank connectivity is complex and fragmented, but since founding the business in August 2016, on the back of the OpenBanking initiative, TrueLayer has helped open data access across the finance industry.
TrueLayer enables companies to capitalise on new Open Banking initiatives in the UK, and the broader European wide PSD2 rules by providing secure, clear and simple access to banking infrastructure. Developers can quickly meet security requirements, comply with their regulatory obligations, and gain access to data and payments, allowing them to focus their resources on developing innovative products and services.
TrueLayer has raised $47M from investors such as Tencent, Temasek, Northzone, Anthemis and Connect Ventures.
Search Background
Having closed their Series C, and built the foundations of an excellent Product Function, Truelayer were looking for a Chief Product Officer to own and drive their long-term product strategy. The product function had been built and led by the CEO, Francesco Simoneschi, who was an experienced product-shaped founder and they needed to hire a CPO to manage the transition from a Founder-led product function, into one which is built to scale. The CPO would be responsible for the performance, strategy and alignment of the organisation’s product operations, as well as inspire, drive and optimise activities to lift all product functions within the organisation. They will be a central part to how TrueLayer will achieve their ambitious product targets as they embark on a ground-breaking international expansion.
Requirements
We were looking for an exceptional product executive, who could build robust and scalable product methodologies into the business, as well as shape the strategic direction of the product roadmap and future releases. They had to have deep experience in payments, and data, as two of the core tenants of the existing Product set. Truelayer also wanted to see a track record of building and leading high-performing teams within best in class product environments. This was critical at the stage of business Truelayer had reached, as international expansion was imminent.
Result
Ossama Soliman was placed from Amazon. He joined Amazon to lead the b2b lending Product team, but his role evolved into being the General Manager for the business with a multi-disciplinary and international mandate and core focus around product and data. His heritage was in a variety of Product and Strategy roles at Amex, having begun his career as a Software Engineer.
Vaso Parisinou
Head of People, TrueLayer
We partnered with Erevena to find our CPO and were delighted with their approach and execution of the search. We were impressed by the content and search strategy they presented in what can be a notoriously difficult function to hire.
We worked closely together in scoping the role in the early stages of the project and felt confident that they had listened to and understood our requirements in detail. We were delighted with the overall quality of the candidates we met, giving us confidence that we were choosing from the best world class talent available. In Ossama Soliman, we found someone who stood out from this group as a genuinely exceptional Product leader in Payments, and a fantastic fit with our culture and values. He has made a great impact since joining and are confident he will continue to do so throughout our journey.
We would be delighted to work with Erevena again and have built a strong relationship with them across the multiple functions which have been hired into our business.
