Product Manager (f/m/d) | 65-85k EUR | Cologne

YOUR IMPACT AT UMH:
Hi, Alex and Jeremy here from UMH.

8 years ago, Jeremy was absolutely frustrated with the status quo of data infrastructure in manufacturing. Companies paid millions per year for "shitty 90s software" and are still doing that today, when there is much better software out there for open-source. So we decided that we can do this better, first founded a System Integrator, realized most of the tasks in setting up and maintaining a data infrastructure can be standardized, and decided to found the currently VC-backed UMH, which is built on open source software and is open source itself.

What we're actually building:

We build and scale a real-time data platform that runs hundreds of Benthos pipelines inside a single Docker container (UMH Core), processing millions of industrial messages that control actual production processes.

Plus a local-first user interface (Management Console) where both non-technical factory workers and power-users/developers can work together. And yes, we care about UI in enterprise/industrial software.

Parts of the platform have been running in production for years and just need fine-tuning. Others are being built from scratch. Customers are finding us through RFPs, and the market is pulling, but there's still a lot to figure out.

You'll work with product-minded engineers. Some also carry code owner or product owner roles. They already talk to customers, check PostHog, and care whether their work gets used. Your job is to give them better data for the product decisions they're already making.

You'll love this if you want to:• Close the gap between "shipped" and "used." At 6+ engineers shipping fast, nobody has time for proper follow-ups. You make sure "is anyone using this?" has a real answer within a week of shipping.
• Be the person engineers come to before making product decisions. Not because you have authority over what gets built, but because the data packages you build (PostHog dashboards, customer feedback, seller signals) make their decisions better. Challenge them to think bigger when the data supports it.
• Run the product meeting. The most important room at UMH: engineers present their work, hear customer signals, decide what matters. You write the agenda, open with a roadmap pulse, and run the room.
• Build a feedback loop that doesn't exist yet. Weekly user outreach. Bi-weekly seller check-ins. Written briefs engineers actually read, not slide decks. Right now, product signals reach some engineers but not others.
• Work inside a technical product. Not a SaaS dashboard. MQTT and OPC-UA traffic from PLCs and industrial sensors, running on edge devices with limited resources and unreliable networks. You don't need to write code, but navigating a codebase, following architecture discussions, and finding which customers hit which bugs in Sentry should feel natural.
• Shape this role from zero. No PM function exists yet. No inherited dashboards, no established process. We follow PostHog's model: PM as compass, not captain. PostHog built that model over years with multiple PMs. We're adapting it for one PM in a smaller team. Some of it will work, some won't. You'll figure out which. This is a single role embedded in the engineering team, not the start of a PM department. There are no plans to hire a second PM in the next 1-2 years. You're not building a team. You're building the dashboards, research practices, and feedback channels that make engineers smarter.
• Enable sellers to demo without engineering in the room. Per major feature: a demo script, talking points, competitive differentiation.

What to expect: In your first 30 days, you observe, learn the product, meet the team. By day 60, you deliver your first data packages. By day 90, you run the product meeting. We have detailed 30/60/90 goals we'll share in the process.

YOUR PROFILE:
You might be a fit if you have:• Shipped products in a technical role. As a founder, product engineer, technical PM, or developer advocate. You understand engineering decisions from the inside and know what it feels like to ship something nobody uses.
• Built product analytics from scratch (PostHog or similar), not inherited someone else's dashboards.
• Changed a team's direction with data, not authority. You can name the specific example.
• Strong writing. Your primary output is written: user research briefs, adoption summaries, competitive analysis. Polished, direct, no filler.
• Technical literacy. You can follow an architecture discussion, navigate Sentry, and understand the difference between a latency regression and a throughput problem.
• Product sense. You notice when a flow adds unnecessary friction, when defaults lead users the wrong way, or when a decision would be hard to reverse. You care about whether the product feels right, not just whether it works.
• Domain interest in manufacturing or industrial IoT. Our users are system integrators and OT professionals who know their protocols and tolerate no nonsense.
• Fluency in German and English.

Also a good sign: You've worked where engineers owned product decisions and thrived. Ran user interviews that actually changed what got built. Can articulate what you would NOT do in this role.

This probably isn't for you if you want to own the roadmap, prioritize the backlog, or be "the CEO of the product." You'll have strong opinions on users, adoption, and positioning, and you should. But on what gets built, engineers decide. When you disagree, say so with data. Then commit to the team's call.

But honestly, we care more about genuine obsession with users and the product than years of PM experience. Our engineers already have it. How we evaluate: You'll help define what success looks like for this role. But since you exist to make engineers better at product decisions, their honest assessment matters. We check in weekly.

WHAT WE OFFER?:
• Salary: 65-85k EUR (depending on your experience) + equity
• Remote: We work on-site. Most decisions happen in the office, and being there matters. But we know people live different distances away. The further you live, the less sense it makes to come in every day. We'd rather you work than sit on a train. Monthly onsites for anyone fully remote.
• Virtual Company Shares: We're building a generational company, and those who join us on that multi-year, all-in journey should share in the upside. Through our VSOP program, you participate directly in the value you help create.
• Benefits: the standard stuff you'll expect in a startup (well-designed office in central Cologne, free drinks/snacks, ergonomic tables/chairs, Urban Sports Club/EGYM Wellpass, etc.)

How To Apply: Upload your CV and answer this question (2-3 paragraphs): "What have you built before that wasn't assigned to you"