Founding Product Manager

San Francisco on site Until 10/1/2026 First posted August 2, 2026 Last posted August 2, 2026
Job description

About the Role

A fast-moving, seed-stage B2B SaaS company building software and AI-powered tools for the home services and trades sector in Germany is looking for a Founding Product Manager to join their tight, ambitious early-stage team in Berlin-Mitte.

This is a true founding-team role — you will own product direction end-to-end, ship features alongside engineering, and directly shape how product work scales at the company. If you thrive in high-velocity, low-ceremony environments with real ownership and direct feedback, this is for you.

Note: Visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Fluent German and English are both required.

What You'll Do

  • Own product direction from understanding user problems to shaping solutions and shipping them.

  • Translate company goals into clear product bets, priorities, and tradeoffs — including AI-first considerations.

  • Work closely with engineering to scope, design, and ship features quickly.

  • Make product decisions with incomplete data and course-correct as needed.

  • Develop a deep understanding of users, workflows, and real-world constraints in the trades/home services space.

  • Bring clarity to the team on what is being built, why, and what "done" means.

  • Help define how product work is structured and scaled as the company grows.

  • Operate in a fast, low-ceremony environment with direct feedback and minimal management layers.

  • Be present in-office daily in central Berlin.

What We're Looking For

Must-haves:

  • Fluent German (spoken and written) — required for product interface and partner communications.

  • Fluent English — required for internal communication.

  • An AI-native mindset with hands-on experience applying AI-first product patterns and tools in product development.

  • End-to-end product ownership experience: from problem discovery through to shipping.

  • Comfortable making decisions under uncertainty and correcting course quickly.

  • Experience collaborating closely with engineers to scope, design, and iterate on features; ability to reason about systems and technical constraints.

  • Experience in fast-paced, early-stage startup environments.

  • Domain experience building products for crafts, trades, home services SMBs and/or similar environments.

  • Experience translating company goals into product priorities and strategic tradeoffs.

  • High agency — you take ownership, push things forward, and do not wait for permission.

Nice-to-haves:

  • Strong UX sensibility and attention to UI/UX details, even without formal design training.

  • Personal side projects or things you have built independently.

  • Good product taste and a clear point of view on what makes a product great.

This is a mindset-focused hire. The team cares more about how you think and act than years of PM experience on a CV.

Compensation & Benefits

  • Salary: €80,000 – €100,000 per year

  • Founding team equity opportunity at an early-stage, venture-backed company

  • Direct impact on product strategy and company direction from day one

  • Modern, light-filled office workspace in central Berlin

Location

  • Berlin-Mitte, Germany — on-site, daily presence expected

  • Remote work is not available for this role

  • Visa sponsorship is not available

About this role

Summary

Own product vision, ship features, and shape product growth in a fast-paced AI startup.

Job title

Founding Product Manager

Experience level

mindset-focused, no specific experience required

Industry

software

Location requirements

on-site in Berlin-Mitte, no remote work allowed

Salary

$80k–$100k

Management role

No

Skills & keywords

Required skills

product ownershipAI-firstsystem reasoningdecision making under uncertaintyengineering collaboration

Preferred skills

UX sensibilityside projectsproduct taste

Specializations

AI-firstproduct ownershipuser researchscalingearly-stage startup
Locations

Structured locations inferred from the posting.

Unknown location

On-site