What Is It Like to Work on Closinglock’s Product Team?
As principal product manager at Closinglock, I lead our fraud mitigation offerings. My primary mission is building features designed to catch and stop real estate fraud before it’s too late — protecting massive, life-changing financial transactions from sophisticated bad actors.
I “herd cats” (strategically), which means translating big-picture market goals into clear feature specs so our engineering and design teams actually know what we’re building — and why.
It also involves navigating the AI arms race. The fraud landscape is shifting at breakneck speed thanks to generative AI (think hyper-convincing phishing, deepfakes and automated scam vectors). I focus on keeping our products at least one step ahead of the tech fraudsters are using.
I’m also building in the trenches, sitting side-by-side with customers to better understand their workflows and pain points, and bringing those insights back to our team to debate user experience, clear blockers, and ensure we’re building stuff people actually want to use.
How Kris McKee’s Career Journey Led to Closinglock
If you look at my resume, it might look like a varied journey across journalism, finance, tech and global development. I’ve always been a bit of a chameleon — ready to drop into completely unfamiliar environments, adapt and focus on how to drive value. But there’s one constant thread through it all: I only choose roles where I can solve high-stakes problems that make the world a bit better.
I studied journalism and economics at Northwestern University, learning how to ask probing questions, tell a compelling story and get to the root of a problem quickly. I then spent nearly 10 years living abroad in international development. Thriving in vastly different cultures taught me how to adapt anywhere and deliver grassroots value.
After earning an MBA at Columbia, I spent over seven years at Optimizely, mastering the enterprise SaaS software business model and scaling a mission-critical platform. After years of Optimizely’s growth, I realized I desperately missed the craft of building products. So, I took a leap to Closinglock to get back into the driver’s seat with an energetic, in-person team.
How Kris McKee Found Career Fulfillment at Closinglock
Early on, I thought success meant only working with the largest brands on high-stakes transactions. Over time, I realized that I wanted to work for the greater good. Titles don’t buy happiness, but solving real problems with good people does. My goals shifted from “How prestigious of a company can I work for?” to “How much direct impact can I have on the product?” Learning that it’s completely OK to step back toward hands-on craft was a game-changer for my career satisfaction.
“Titles don’t buy happiness, but solving real problems with good people does.”
How Kris McKee Handles Ambiguity and Challenges in Product Management
The single biggest challenge in tech is dealing with constant ambiguity. Strategies change, markets shift and sometimes the feature you spent three months on gets scrapped.
Strip Away the Drama: When things get messy, drop the jargon and ask, “What core problem are we actually trying to solve for a real human being today?”
Adopt a “Forever Student” Mindset: Whenever I feel stuck, I pick up a new tool or skill, whether that’s experimenting with AI to streamline my own work or diving into a totally new domain like real estate tech.
Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously: Tech changes fast. If you get too attached to your initial plan, you’ll burn out. Laugh at the chaotic days, learn from the bad launches and set up systems that allow you to pivot quickly.
Kris McKee’s Advice for Career Growth in Product Management
Life is too short to work in a vacuum or with a toxic culture. High-bandwidth, in-person, low-ego collaboration beats fancy corporate titles every single time.
Learn about fields outside your immediate job — economics, music, history, real estate or philosophy. The best product ideas usually come from connecting dots that other people aren’t looking at. Passion outside of the office drives passion inside the office.
Career ladders are a myth — it’s much more like a jungle gym. Don’t feel pressured to take the “logical next step” if it leads away from what you actually enjoy doing every day.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Closinglock combat real estate fraud?
Closinglock combats real estate fraud by building product features designed to catch and stop fraud before it happens, protecting large financial transactions from sophisticated bad actors. They actively navigate the "AI arms race" by keeping their products a step ahead of the generative AI tools and vectors that fraudsters use, such as hyper-convincing phishing, deepfakes, and automated scams. Team members work directly in the trenches alongside customers to understand real-world workflows and pain points, using those insights to refine the user experience and build effective fraud mitigation solutions.
What is the product team culture like at Closinglock?
The culture on Closinglock's product team is focused on hands-on craft and direct impact. It values high-bandwidth, low-ego collaboration, emphasizing teamwork over corporate titles or working in isolation. Team members maintain a "forever student" mindset, actively adapting, learning new tools like AI and embracing new domain knowledge.
