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Nikhil Kashid

Head of Product (Contract)

Nikhil Kashid
Berlin, Germany

Experience

Sep 2025 - Present
6 months
Berlin, Germany

Head of Product (Contract)

illuminem

  • Leading product strategy and platform development for B2B sustainability solutions.
Jan 2023 - Present
3 years 2 months
Berlin, Germany

Product Strategy Consultant

Freelance

  • Conducted market research and discovery workshops to define product investment strategy for Parkopedia in-car payments.

  • Designed MVP, go-to-market strategy and monetisation for fleet-focused payment platform, collaborating with CXOs and tech teams.

  • Led mission-critical payments platform migration at Outfittery during company merger, managing stakeholder engagement across legal, compliance, and technical teams.

  • Designed and led MVP development for Procurabl, an AI-powered industrial procurement platform, using low-code tools (Supabase, n8n).

Jan 2023 - Aug 2023
8 months
Berlin, Germany

Entrepreneur in Residence

Antler (Chargebird)

  • Researched charging and energy ecosystem, understood protocols like OCPI, OCPP and connected car software to identify needs and partners.

  • Defined core problem statement, solution architecture and quantified market opportunity for co-founders and investors to evaluate business viability.

Apr 2022 - Dec 2022
9 months
Berlin, Germany

Senior Product Manager

topi

  • Joined as first product hire to define product vision, establish KPIs and build out the product organization.

  • Directed platform development enabling retailers to offer hardware-as-a-service across e-commerce and in-store channels, taking product from conception to launch with first four retail partners.

Sep 2020 - Apr 2022
1 year 8 months
Berlin, Germany

Senior Product Manager - Online Payments Platform

SumUp

  • Led two cross-functional squads (nine engineers, UX designer, analyst) building a payment processing platform enabling online card acceptance and alternative payment methods across 31 countries in Europe and Latin America.

  • Drove strategic platform transformation using a data-driven approach, achieving 50% year-over-year growth in new merchants and exceeding €1 billion GMV.

Apr 2018 - Aug 2020
2 years 5 months
Dortmund, Germany

Product Manager - Core Payments

Zalando SE

  • Led the new deferred payments (buy-now-pay-later) product from ideation and prototyping through rollout across three major European markets, expanding payment flexibility for customers.

  • Worked on strategic initiatives to mitigate the impact of PSD2 Strong Customer Authentication regulation on GMV, preventing an expected decline in checkout conversion rates through optimized user flows.

May 2017 - Feb 2018
10 months
Mumbai, India

Senior Product Manager - Consumer Payments

PayU India

  • Launched PayU’s consumer wallet on Unified Payments Interface (UPI), facilitating over 10 000 daily transactions and establishing a new revenue stream in digital payments.

  • Conceptualized and designed seamless integration of a Pay Later product offering faster, frictionless merchant payment experience.

Dec 2014 - Apr 2017
2 years 5 months
Mumbai, India

Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer

Coin

  • Led company from inception through $500 000 seed round, managed a team of 20 employees and delivered three major product releases.

  • Pioneered India’s first hands-free mobile payment using BLE and Wi-Fi tokenization.

  • Successfully exited via acqui-hire to PayU India.

May 2013 - Apr 2014
1 year
Mumbai, India

Credit Analyst - Collections Strategy

JPMorgan Chase

  • Managed a multi-billion dollar credit card workout program portfolio.

  • Developed business controls for disaster relief programs.

Jul 2011 - May 2013
1 year 11 months
Bengaluru, India

Analyst - Retail Risk and Credit Policy Analysis

HSBC

  • Conducted stress testing for secured and unsecured portfolios of HSBC’s North American business.

  • Managed portfolio for sub-prime mortgage products.

Industries Experience

See where this freelancer has spent most of their professional time. Longer bars indicate deeper hands-on experience, while shorter ones reflect targeted or project-based work.

Experienced in Banking and Finance (7.5 years), Fashion (5.5 years), Automotive (3 years), Manufacturing (3 years), Retail (3 years), and Information Technology (1 year).

Banking and Finance
Fashion
Automotive
Manufacturing
Retail
Information Technology

Business Areas Experience

The graph below provides a cumulative view of the freelancer's experience across multiple business areas, calculated from completed and active engagements. It highlights the areas where the freelancer has most frequently contributed to planning, execution, and delivery of business outcomes.

Experienced in Product Development (11 years), Strategy (5.5 years), Information Technology (4.5 years), Procurement (3 years), Project Management (3 years), and Finance (3 years).

Product Development
Strategy
Information Technology
Procurement
Project Management
Finance

Summary

Product leader with 12+ years building scalable platforms across FinTech, Sustainability and Industrial B2B SaaS domains. Proven track record taking products from 0→1 to multi-country scale, leading cross-functional teams through complex domain challenges, and translating strategy into resilient systems. Co-founded mobile payments startup (acquired by PayU), built multi-country payment platforms at SumUp and Zalando. Hands-on executor comfortable in ambiguity, obsessed with outcomes.

Skills

Core Competencies

  • Product Strategy & Vision
  • 0→1 Development
  • Platform Architecture & Scalability
  • Cross-functional Leadership
  • Data-driven Decision Making
  • Client-facing Discovery
  • Rapid Prototyping & Mvp Development

Domain Expertise

  • Fintech & Payment Systems
  • Card Processing
  • E-commerce
  • Climate Tech
  • Industrial B2b Saas
  • Regulatory Navigation (Psd2, Upi)

Technical & Tools

  • Machine Learning
  • Low-code Development (Supabase, N8n)
  • Apis & System Design
  • Sql
  • Python
  • Analytics (Mixpanel, Google Analytics)
  • Figma
  • Github
  • Postman

Languages

English
Native
Hindi
Native
Marathi
Native
German
Intermediate

Education

Jul 2007 - May 2011

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

BTech · Metallurgical Engineering & Materials Science · Mumbai, India

Certifications & licenses

AI In Finance

DeepLearning.AI

Neural Networks & Deep Learning

DeepLearning.AI

Structuring Machine Learning Projects

DeepLearning.AI

Profile

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Frequently asked questions

Do you have questions? Here you can find further information.

Where is Nikhil based?

Nikhil is based in Berlin, Germany.

What languages does Nikhil speak?

Nikhil speaks the following languages: English (Native), Hindi (Native), Marathi (Native), German (Intermediate).

How many years of experience does Nikhil have?

Nikhil has at least 14 years of experience. During this time, Nikhil has worked in at least 10 different roles and for 10 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 1 year and 5 months. Note that Nikhil may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

What roles would Nikhil be best suited for?

Based on recent experience, Nikhil would be well-suited for roles such as: Head of Product (Contract), Product Strategy Consultant, Entrepreneur in Residence.

What is Nikhil's latest experience?

Nikhil's most recent position is Head of Product (Contract) at illuminem.

What companies has Nikhil worked for in recent years?

In recent years, Nikhil has worked for illuminem, Freelance, Antler (Chargebird), topi, and SumUp.

Which industries is Nikhil most experienced in?

Nikhil is most experienced in industries like Banking and Finance, Fashion and Apparel, and Automotive. Nikhil also has some experience in Manufacturing, Retail, and Information Technology (IT).

Which business areas is Nikhil most experienced in?

Nikhil is most experienced in business areas like Product Development, Strategy and Planning, and Information Technology (IT). Nikhil also has some experience in Procurement and Purchasing, Project Management, and Finance.

Which industries has Nikhil worked in recently?

Nikhil has recently worked in industries like Automotive, Fashion and Apparel, and Manufacturing.

Which business areas has Nikhil worked in recently?

Nikhil has recently worked in business areas like Product Development, Strategy and Planning, and Information Technology (IT).

What is Nikhil's education?

Nikhil holds a Bachelor in Metallurgical Engineering & Materials Science from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.

Does Nikhil have any certificates?

Nikhil has 3 certificates. These include: AI In Finance, Neural Networks & Deep Learning, and Structuring Machine Learning Projects.

What is the availability of Nikhil?

Nikhil will be available full-time from April 2026.

What is the rate of Nikhil?

Nikhil's rate depends on the specific project requirements. Please use the Meet button on the profile to schedule a meeting and discuss the details.

How to hire Nikhil?

To hire Nikhil, click the Meet button on the profile to request a meeting and discuss your project needs.

Average rates for similar positions

Rates are based on recent contracts and do not include FRATCH margin.

1000
750
500
250
Market avg: 820-980 €
The rates shown represent the typical market range for freelancers in this position based on recent contracts on our platform.
Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.