Khaled M. Araj · Lead Product Manager
Lead Product Manager · KFUPM Alumnus

Khaled M. Araj

Shipping 0→1 and 1→100 FinTech, B2B, and B2C products across Saudi Arabia, with a focus on embedded finance and product strategy. Partnership initiatives involving Al-Rajhi Bank, Takamol Holding, & other leading KSA enterprises to lead partnerships and product end-to-end.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 5+ Years in Product B.Sc. Software Engineering · KFUPM
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Introduction

About Me

Khaled M. Araj

I'm a Lead Product Manager based in Riyadh, a KFUPM alumnus, and a builder at heart. For the past 5+ years I've been shipping scalable B2B, B2C, and FinTech products — leading partnerships with Al-Rajhi Bank, working alongside Takamol Holding, and integrating platforms with some of the largest enterprises in Saudi Arabia.

My focus is on financial services, merchant platforms, and PropTech — where I get to bridge business, technology, and design. I care about the small details that make a product feel right: clean integrations, honest metrics, and teams that ship with intent.

Outside the spreadsheets and PRDs, I lean heavily on modern AI tooling — Claude, ChatGPT, Framer, Lovable, and Perplexity — to prototype faster, write sharper, and think more clearly.

5+
Years in Product
10
Products Shipped
Collaborations

Companies & Partners I've Worked With

Career Journey

Professional Experience

Oct 2025 – Present
Lead Product Manager
Qawafel
B2B · Riyadh · Full-time · Hybrid
  • Led integrations between Qawafel and ERPs (Xero, Qoyod, SAP …etc) and owned the middlewares (Reachware and ActivePieces).
  • Owned the Al-Rajhi Bank partnership end-to-end — bridging Qawafel and ARB on SME financing, aligning legal, product, and tech tracks, and managing all stakeholders across both sides.
  • Owned product roadmap, KPIs, and OKRs across teams.
  • Ran sprint planning and authored PRDs.
Jul 2023 – Sep 2025
Product Manager
Qawafel
B2B · Riyadh · Full-time · Hybrid
  • Built and prioritized the marketplace roadmap.
  • Increased retailer satisfaction by 30% via automated dispute workflows.
  • Optimized 3PL logistics integrations and reduced operational cost.
  • Drove user research to shape feature priorities.
Nov 2024 – Sep 2025
Lead Product Manager
Innovate Gate
B2C & B2B · Riyadh · Consultation Contract · Hybrid
  • Established and hired the full tech, design, and product teams.
  • Integrated 3rd-party providers (Statista, ClickPay, Unifonic).
  • Signed MOUs with IMAMU & KKU — drove a 40% user increase.
  • Set department KPIs and ran sprint prioritization.
Jan 2024 – Mar 2026
Product Manager & Senior Business Analyst
Squadio
B2C & B2G · Part-time · Remote
  • Led Musaned (TAKAMOL) update — escrow accounts and expanded admin authority.
  • Authored Musaned's BRD as official tech & business reference.
  • Drove SAMA regulatory approval to launch the FinTech app.
  • Managed MUNASEB backlog and bug prioritization.
Jul 2022 – Jul 2023
Business Analyst
Shgardi
B2C · Khobar · Full-time · Onsite
  • Reduced delayed orders by 66% by identifying root causes.
  • Redesigned the partner app — moved admin tasks to a dedicated portal.
  • Led market-entry case studies for a package delivery subsidiary.
Feb 2022 – Jun 2022
Business Analyst
Misaan FinTech
P2P · Riyadh · Full-time · Onsite
  • Documented and tracked all features of Dawul social trading app.
  • Launched the MVP of Nosooh.com — wealth consultation platform.
  • Analyzed user behavior for audience segmentation.
Nov 2021 – Jan 2023
Quality Assurance Engineer
Innosoft
B2G · Part-time · Remote
  • QA across 5+ governmental Agile projects (SPA, PEP, Eastern Chamber, EC Incubator).
  • Ensured delivery matched BRD documents and project requirements.
Expertise

Skills & Capabilities

Product Strategy

Defining the why, the what, and the when — and getting the room to agree on it.

Product Vision OKRs & KPIs Roadmapping Go-to-Market Prioritization Frameworks (RICE, MoSCoW) Product-Market Fit Competitive Analysis Discovery North Star Metrics

Business & Analysis

Turning raw business needs into structured, shippable, measurable specs.

Business Requirements (BRD) PRDs Workflow Mapping Process Optimization Market Entry Studies Stakeholder Management Revenue Modeling Unit Economics SAMA Compliance

Technical Fluency

Comfortable in the engineering room — software engineering background helps.

API Integrations Middleware (Odoo, Qoyod, SAP) System Design Database Logic Webhooks & Cronjobs Payment Gateways Escrow Architecture QA & Test Planning

Tooling

The day-to-day stack — for planning, tracking, designing, and shipping.

Jira ClickUp Notion Confluence Figma Miro Google Analytics Mixpanel Postman Excel / Sheets

AI & Modern Workflow

An AI-native operator — these tools sit inside every part of my workflow.

Claude ChatGPT Perplexity Framer Lovable Vercel Midjourney Prompt Engineering AI-assisted Prototyping

Leadership

Building, hiring, and coaching cross-functional teams that ship.

Team Building & Hiring Cross-functional Leadership Mentorship Sprint Planning Conflict Resolution Executive Communication Decision Making

Partnerships & GTM

Closing the deals and integrations that move the product forward.

Strategic Partnerships 3rd-party Integrations Bank & FinTech Onboarding MOUs & Agreements Vendor Management B2B Sales Enablement

Research & Data

Letting the user — and the numbers — settle the argument.

User Research User Interviews Behavioral Analysis Cohort Analysis Funnel Optimization

Domains

Industries where I've shipped, scaled, and learned the hard way.

FinTech B2B Marketplaces PropTech Logistics & 3PL Wealth Management Social Trading GovTech (B2G) EdTech
Portfolio

Products I've Shipped

Qawafel FinTech
Automated SME Financing Platform
iGate
Entrepreneurship Platform
Munaaseb
PropTech · KSA
Amlak.sy
PropTech · Syrian Market
Musaned
Takamol Holding
Qawafel Marketplace
B2B Marketplace
Qawafel Merchant
Merchant Platform
Shgardi Partner
Logistics
Misaan Dawul
Social Trading
Misaan Nosooh
Wealth Management
Selected Work

Case Studies

Qawafel · B2B Marketplace

Automating Retailer Disputes at Scale

Product Manager · Marketplace & Operations
+30%
Retailer Satisfaction
Problem

Retailers were losing trust in the platform. Dispute resolution was manual, inconsistent, and slow — hurting retention and burying the support team in repetitive escalations.

Role

Owned the marketplace roadmap end-to-end. Led discovery with retailers and support, then drove cross-functional execution with engineering, design, and operations.

Decision

Built automated dispute management and support workflows — clear SLAs, status visibility, auto-routing, and a self-serve resolution path for the most common cases.

Result

+30% retailer satisfaction, faster resolution cycles, reduced support load, and stronger marketplace retention.

Shgardi · Last-Mile Logistics

Cutting Delayed Orders by Two-Thirds

Business Analyst · Operations & Logistics
−66%
Delayed Orders
Problem

A high share of orders were being delivered late. Customer trust was eroding, and the team had no shared view of why orders missed their SLA.

Role

Owned the delayed-orders project end-to-end. Coordinated with finance, logistics, courier ops, and partner support to define the problem and the measurement model.

Decision

Built a delay-reason tracking system, segmented root causes (courier, partner, address, peak hours), then shipped targeted operational and product fixes for each segment.

Result

−66% delayed orders, measurable improvement in on-time delivery, and a sharper operational picture for the leadership team.

Innovate Gate · Entrepreneurship Platform

Bringing Entrepreneurship into Saudi Universities

Lead Product Manager · Strategy & Partnerships
+40%
User Growth
Problem

iGate's pipeline of student-led ventures was thin. Limited reach into Saudi universities meant fewer qualified entrepreneurs entering the platform and a slower growth curve.

Role

Led iGate's growth and partnerships track end-to-end — from strategy and outreach to drafting agreements and aligning legal, academic, and product stakeholders.

Decision

Signed MOUs with governmental universities including IMAMU and KKU, embedding iGate's entrepreneurship services directly into student and researcher journeys.

Result

+40% user growth, a healthier pipeline of student-led projects, and entrepreneurship services reaching researchers across two major universities.

Writing & Insights

Product Thinking in Practice

Pricing Strategies and Cost calculations

Strategy of Product
Read Article

The AI-Native PM: My Daily Workflow with Claude, Lovable, and Framer

AI & Product
Read Article

Working with Al-Rajhi: A PM's Playbook for Bank × Startup Partnerships

Embedded Finance
Coming Soon
Credentials

Education & Certificates

B.Sc. Software Engineering

King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM)
Sep 2017 — Jan 2022 · Honors Grade
  • Graduated in 4.5 years, one semester ahead of schedule.
  • KFUPM Toastmasters mentor alongside with Toastmasters Okadh club member (1st Club in Saudi Arabia).
  • Participated in multiple courses and hackathons with awards winning

    • Certifications

    • Certified Business Analysis (ECBA) IIBA · 2023
    • Certified Software Engineer SCE · 2022
    • Business & Marketing for Engineers KFUPM · 2021
    • Project Management KFUPM · 2021
    • Leading Cultural Diversity Teams Coventry University · 2021
    • Essential Management Skills IBMI · 2020
    Other Chapters

    Beyond Work

    Author

    The Best Gate for GAT

    Authored a study guide for the Saudi General Aptitude Test (GAT), built to help students approach the exam with sharper structure and stronger fundamentals.

    Public Speaking

    Toastmasters Member

    Active member of Toastmasters International, sharpening communication, storytelling, and leadership through structured speaking and feedback.

    On Stage

    Mentor & Presenter

    Hosting and presenting at events & workshops with Social Development Bank, panels, and community gatherings. Comfortable on stage and behind the mic when the room needs a steady voice.

    Say Hello

    Always happy to talk product.

    Whether it's FinTech, PropTech, marketplaces, or just a good conversation about building things, my inbox is open.

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