Founding Product Manager (m/w/d)

About the company

Join an early-stage, AI-focused startup that already has product-market fit. The company develops advanced AI software for governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) used by enterprises across the world. Its users include auditors, risk managers, and compliance specialists, so the product must meet high standards for evaluation, traceability, and readiness for the EU AI Act.

Role overview

As the first Product Manager, you will take end-to-end ownership of the product and work closely with the founding team. This is a hands-on role with broad responsibility for discovery, prioritization, customer learning, and shaping how product work is run inside the company.

Key responsibilities

• Take full ownership of product discovery and be responsible for business and customer outcomes, not just shipped features.
• Set and manage the product roadmap and priority stack based on customer evidence and company direction rather than internal pressure.
• Lead customer discovery directly by speaking regularly with auditors, risk managers, and compliance teams.
• Create the product operating model from the ground up, including discovery rhythms and how product, design, and engineering collaborate.
• Work closely with design and engineering as one integrated team to balance customer value, usability, and technical feasibility.
• Collaborate with the CEO on go-to-market and pricing, bringing product insights and customer evidence to the discussion.
• Build deep expertise in the GRC domain, including controls, RACM, audit evidence, and relevant regulatory frameworks.

Requirements

• Prior experience in a product organization that gave real autonomy, with clear examples of effective discovery work and measurable outcomes.
• A strong record of driving outcomes through product decisions, supported by customer evidence.
• Background in B2B SaaS product management.
• Ability to independently access and learn from customers without needing introductions handed to you.
• Comfort working as the only Product Manager and setting up the operating model from scratch.
• Ability to learn complex, regulated domains quickly and with genuine interest.
• Sound product judgment in ambiguous situations, including the ability to build conviction through discovery and know when to commit.
• German at C1 level and English at C1 level, since the role involves German-speaking customer conversations and daily collaboration with an international team.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience working closely with technical founders and engineering teams.
• Exposure to AI-native products or products with LLM-based features.
• Experience in GRC, compliance, audit, risk, or other regulated environments such as regtech, Big4, or infosec.

Benefits

• Full ownership of the product as the company’s first Product Manager, with direct collaboration with the founding team.
• Opportunity to work on the leading edge of AI-native product development.
• A strong learning opportunity across product management, enterprise GRC, and AI.
• A path toward Head of Product as the company and product team grow.
• Direct exposure to enterprise GRC customers and their real-world needs.
• Hybrid work setup in Munich, with a minimum of three days per week in the Munich North office.
• Relocation support that covers the moving company if you are relocating to Munich.

Additional information

The company is building AI-powered GRC solutions for enterprises and is in an early-growth stage with real customer backing. The current technology stack includes Java and Spring Boot, Angular, Kubernetes on Azure, and LLM capabilities from OpenAI and Anthropic.

Work arrangement

This role is based in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The setup is on-site/hybrid in practice, with at least three days per week expected in the Munich North office.