TL;DR
Dryft builds AI agents that automate complex decision-making in manufacturing operations. We’re taking on ERPs — the systems that silently power the global economy and one of the largest software categories in the world. Today, we work with small machine manufacturers to some of the most influential industrial companies in the world, solving a pain point that saves millions per year. We’re challenging how humans interact with enterprise tools and build a system that thinks and acts - and it makes customers today already say that it’s ‘nothing like they have ever seen before’.
We’re backed by the world’s leading investors and board members of industrials and have assembled a deeply technical, execution-focused team with experience across 10+ manufacturing companies and academic backgrounds from Stanford, Berkeley, CDTM, TUM AI and top international scholarships.
As Founding Product Operations Lead, you’ll be the bridge between our customers and product — leading deployments, scoping solutions on-site, and shaping features with our engineering team. This is a rare chance to work directly with C-level execs, design the future of how humans interact with enterprise software, and build the processes that set us up for scale. This is one of the most critical roles at dryft - and the ideal launchpad for anyone who wants to become a founder or future operator.
What You’ll Own
🔥 Customer Onboarding & Product Scoping
Lead customer onboarding end-to-end — from pre-kickoff prep to post-implementation feedback across Germany and occasionally in the US, and beyond
Travel on-site (1–3 days/week) to deeply understand customer workflows, build trust with users, and map their operational challenges to dryft’s current & future features
Communicate with C-level execs of multi-billion dollar businesses, heads of supply chain, and operational leaders on project plan, product roadmap and progress on a regular basis
Onboard new users, gather feedback & translate them into features together with engineering
Define clear data requirements; coordinate IT, supply chain, procurement, and management to make integration work
🔧 Product
Own product demos & product testing - help prioritize what matters, and shape Dryft’s roadmap
Act as a user of the product: test features, suggest improvements, co-design better workflows with the team
Challenge the status quo of what it means to interact with enterprise resource planning software & prototype novel user interactions together with engineering
🚀 Build For Scale
Build a repeatable, world-class onboarding process that can scale with automation over time
Turn common onboarding processes into product features
Contribute to building out a customer success & product team
Who You Are
Ultra-professional & organized – You show up prepared, write crisp emails and create well-structured docs that get you respected by C-levels. You love structure and are often the one documenting and tracking progress.
Strong product instincts – You can translate messy, real-world processes into clear product requirements — and know when to push back or simplify. Big plus if you love to think about how to make tools feel magical.
Technically fluent – You are deep into the newest AI trends, truly understand what tech is capable of, can talk through data constraints with engineers, and guide customers through integration
You get into the weeds — and bring clarity – You’re the kind of person who spots inconsistencies in a spreadsheet, listens closely sometimes for hours and goes beyond surface-level needs to uncover the real workflows and data behind them
Quality-obsessed – You care how things look, read, and feel. Whether it's a slide, a document, or a user interface, you strive for quality - without overthinking.
Hustler attitude – You’re willing to travel, roll up your sleeves, and work on hard problems that most people don’t even want to touch.
Scrappy & resourceful – When there’s no tool, you build one. When there’s no process, you invent one.
Down-to-earth & relatable – Customers like you. You bond with rural shop-floor users as easily as with C-level execs.
What You Bring
We mostly care about your ability to learn quickly. Experience on the following will help you succeed:
✔ 1–5 years in fast-paced, high-pressure environments — whether as an early-stage startup operator, a founder, a VC wanting to build, or a Tier 1 consultant who's tired of just making slide decks
✔ Hands-on experience managing complex projects or product rollouts, ideally in B2B or enterprise settings where you owned execution across functions
✔ A track record of collaborating closely with engineers — writing specs, scoping features, or helping deliver technical outcomes
✔ Exposure to C-level executives or senior stakeholders — you’ve prepared materials and lead key meetings or workshops
✔ Strong writing and visual communication skills — you’ve created polished slide decks, structured docs, and know your way around tools like PowerPoint, Notion, or Canva
✔ Fluency in German and English
Big plus
Experience working with messy, real-world data — whether through integrations or finance-heavy projects
Familiarity with SQL or other database tools to explore or validate data directly
You built up scalable processes from scratch, e.g. at a Series A startup
You developed your own product or worked on side projects & hackathons during university
International experience — working with global teams, or abroad stays
Why Join Dryft?
💥 High impact from Day 1 — You’ll own critical customer projects, shape our product, and build a company that will change how humans interact with operational software
💸 Strong upside — We’re early, backed by the world’s leading investors, and have more customer demand than bandwidth.
📈 Learning rocketship — You’ll be exposed to C-level negotiations, enterprise deployments, product sprints, technical details and challenged your assumption on what means to deliver— fast.
💫 A problem worth solving– We’re operating in one of the largest software markets in the world — but it’s so complex that no one has truly challenged what was built in the 1970s. We’re taking a novel approach that breaks from convention. It takes deep operational insight and world-class engineering to do it right — but the upside is massive, and customers feel it: “Nothing else comes close.”
💡 Founders who’ve lived the industry — We love the messy, boring, weird world of manufacturing. Leonie’s entire family works in manufacturing and AJ has sold multi-million dollar contracts to them. We know them and we love them.
🛠 Work with top entrepreneurs & engineers – Our network includes AI researchers, the world’s best investors, and top industrial tech advisors/board members. We surround ourselves with the people we want to become & learn from.
🌍 Global playground — While you are based in Munich, you’ll travel to industry hubs in Europe and occasionally to San Francisco
👩🚀 Your future path: Grow into Head of Germany, CPO, COO, or start your own startup.
