---
title: 'VP, Product at Smalls'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/vp-product-smalls-united-states-a2a8xp0dzsfa'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-06'
---

# VP, Product at Smalls

- **Company:** Smalls
- **Location:** United States
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-10-02
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-06
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/smalls/d53e3e4d-2cbe-47f6-ac50-6a9cebc28177

## Job description

Smalls is on a mission to make nine lives ten, building a brand and a digital experience that cat people genuinely love. Our website and product aren't just a storefront; they're the clearest expression of who we are and the engine of our growth. This role owns both. We're looking for a VP of Product & Engineering to set the vision for our digital product, digital experience, and the technology that powers them — and to be accountable for the business results that vision delivers. Reporting to Ed (SVP, Growth & Data), you'll sit on the leadership team and act as the connective tissue between what we want the business to become and what we build to get there.

## What you’ll do

Product & Technology Strategy

- Define a multi-year vision for our digital product and the platform beneath it, and turn it into a roadmap the team can rally around.
- Decide where to invest, what to build, and how team resourcing and tech stack need to shift to support that roadmap.
- Tie every call to the long-term vision and financial goals of the overall business in a way that is clear and motivating for the teams you lead.

Digital Product Experience

- Hold the vision and the bar for everything a customer touches once they reach us — the onsite experience, paths to purchase and checkout, the account and subscription experience, and the product surfaces that keep them coming back.
- Bring a real perspective on how UX, merchandising, and onsite flows shape behavior, and make sure the experience we ship reflects the brand at its best.

Metrics & Revenue Accountability

- Own the product and experience metrics that ladder up to revenue — conversion, AOV, LTV, retention — and feel personally accountable for the topline you influence.
- Bring that commercial lens into every prioritization decision; be as fluent in the economics of the business as in the product.

Product & Marketing Partnership

- Build a shared agenda with Marketing across acquisition, retention, and reactivation.
- Bring a strong point of view on how product and brand compound each other to grow the business.

Engineering Leadership

- Set the technical direction and build an org that ships with quality and speed.
- Make the build-vs-buy and platform calls, keep the stack healthy, and make sure engineering is pointed squarely at what matters most.

## Team Building

- Attract, develop, and motivate a cross-functional product and engineering org.
- Get the best out of your people, put resources where they'll have the most impact, and create a culture where ambitious builders do the best work of their careers.

## What we’ll love about you

- You lead with a point of view: you arrive with a bold, well-formed take on the experience and where it should go. You can describe a future others can't yet see and build the organizational conviction to chase it — while staying honest enough to update when the evidence says you're wrong.
- You start from the customer: your strategy is grounded in a genuine understanding of who you're building for. You use data, testing, and research to sharpen your bets, not to make them for you.
- You're commercial: you think in business outcomes and are comfortable being measured by them. You can articulate the tradeoff between a long-term experience investment and this quarter's number to anyone in the building, including the board.
- You've scaled consumer commerce: you've built and grown across DTC subscription and traditional ecommerce, and understand what changes when a subscription-first business opens up to one-time purchase and subscribe-and-save. You know the modern DTC stack well, Shopify included, and carry enough technical depth to set engineering direction and earn your engineers' trust.
- You operate at the product–marketing seam: you've owned the place where growth, brand, and product meet, and know how to make those functions pull in the same direction.
- You're a builder of teams: an exceptional people leader who attracts strong talent, manages resources with judgment, and creates the conditions for a team to do its best work.
- You communicate with clarity: your team and peers always understand the why behind the roadmap. You can go deep enough to debate architecture with engineers and high enough to align the exec team.
- You have the track record to back it up — 12+ years (or equivalent) across product and technology leadership, with proof you've set strategy, led teams, and grown the metrics that matter.
- You're a cat person: you care about cats and the people who love them, and you're genuinely excited to build for this community.
- You lead with gut and opinion, and validate with data — not the reverse; purely analytical, data-first decision-making is not the right fit for this seat.
- Your orientation is closer to a GM of ecom than a features-focused PM — you've owned broad commercial outcomes, not just a narrow conversion/CRO scope.
- Subscription and Shopify experience are strong signals.

## What you’ll love about us

- Mission-Driven Company: We love cats and we're here to make nine lives ten.
- People-Driven Company: We treat our people like people; we're committed to Smalls, and we work hard but also respect everyone’s lives outside of work.
- Data-Driven Culture: We love using data to guide decision-making where appropriate, but we also know when to move quickly and go with our gut.
- Competitive Salary: Make some $$$.
- Very Competitive Benefits: Fully paid Health, Vision, and Dental insurance. 4-day work week. Unlimited PTO.
- Fully Remote Office & Culture: Our team is spread across the US day to day, but we travel for department & company off-sites and retreats.
- Free Product: Free cat food every month.

## About Smalls

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Smalls crafts and delivers fresh, human-grade, high-protein cat food directly to customers via a subscription model, with a focus on feline-specific nutrition.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B)
- **Headquarters**: New York, New York, United States
- **Founded**: 2016
- **Founders**: Matthew Michaelson (CEO) and Calvin Bohn

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Pet food (cat-focused, direct-to-consumer)
- **Target customers**: B2C – cat owners seeking high-quality, minimally processed food
- **Mission or purpose**: Provide cats with ultra-high protein, filler‑free, human‑grade meals that prioritize health and longevity.

## Products & Services
- **Fresh Cat Food (Subscription)**: Gently cooked, human‑grade meals shipped monthly; customers complete a quiz to select the optimal plan.
- **Shelf‑Stable Cat Treats**: Functional, lickable treats launched in October 2025.
- **Cat‑Focused Goods**: Additional products for cats and their owners.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding – $34 M raised across 3 rounds (latest: Series B, $19M led by Left Lane Capital in March 2023)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Left Lane Capital, Forecast Labs, Valor Equity Partners, Founder Collective, Digitalis Ventures, Mars, and Companion Fund
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Employee count grew to 125 as of May 2026
  - Expanded into physical retail through partnerships with Mud Bay (Pacific Northwest) and Fauna (NY, NJ, CT)
  - Appointed Nate Kredich as COO in September 2025 to oversee retail expansion
  - Launched a new line of shelf‑stable cat treats in October 2025

## Competitive Advantages
- **Cat‑exclusive focus**: Unlike most fresh pet food brands that serve dogs and cats, Smalls is 100% cat‑centric, allowing deeper formulation expertise.
- **Ultra‑high protein, no fillers**: The product is intentionally low in carbohydrates and free from artificial ingredients.
- **Subscription direct‑to‑consumer model**: Recurring revenue and data‑driven personalization through a quiz‑based ordering system.
- **Strong brand loyalty**: Positive reviews emphasize consistent quality and customer‑centric service.

## Strategic Focus
- **Retail expansion**: Growing brick‑and‑mortar presence while maintaining DTC core, led by new COO.
- **Product line extension**: Diversifying into treats and other cat goods.
- **Operational scaling**: Increasing headcount and infrastructure to support a recession‑resistant pet category.

## Why Work Here
- **Remote‑friendly**: Multiple roles listed as remote (e.g., Senior Art Director, SVP Marketing, CFO).
- **Cat‑loving culture**: Company ethos revolves around improving feline health; employees report a “great place for cat lovers to work from home.”
- **Growth & transparency**: Raise and compensation tied to performance metrics; recently introduced an education opportunity credit and a yearly work‑from‑home stipend.
- **Fast‑paced startup environment**: Employees note that “things change often and quickly,” which suits those who enjoy agility.

## Sources
1. [smalls.com](https://www.smalls.com/)
2. [jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/smalls)
3. [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/smalls)
4. [tracxn.com](https://tracxn.com/d/companies/smalls/__FpeSQpex2saveYzlT4W0f2Rk7lAAQJRC6jtQZ54K18w)
5. [indeed.com](https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Smalls)

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