Strategic Product Lead
TL;DR
Position also known as (or close to): Strategic Product Lead / Product Strategist / Product Operations Lead
Location: Paris (hybrid)
Salary range: €80K–90K + BSPCE
Type of Contract: CDI, full-time
Direct reporting line: CEO
Start date: ASAP
🌍 About Relief
Relief unlocks manufacturers’ growth potential by leveraging quoting with AI.
We help industrial companies 10x their commercial processes - by enabling them to quote faster, more accurately, and more profitably.
In less than 12 months, Relief has:
Signed 10 paying clients,
Reached €300k in ARR,
Raised €2.6M in venture funding from top-tier investors.
Our ambition: become the AI assistant that powers profitability and speed for every manufacturing company in Europe.
🎯 Mission
As Strategic Product Lead, you’ll be the strategic brain of Relief’s Product function — operating between the CEO (acting VP Product), the Tech team, and the field (Sales & Ops).
You will not be a “feature PM” managing tickets — but rather a strategic operator, shaping the product direction, testing hypotheses, quantifying impact, and ensuring organizational alignment around the product vision.
🧱 What You’ll Do
1. Challenge & Structure the Product Vision
Decompose the CEO’s intuitions into testable, quantified hypotheses.
Conduct user research and market analyses to validate product direction.
Evaluate and prioritize opportunities for value creation (new AI capabilities, catalog extensions, automation layers).
2. Own & Formalize the Product Roadmap
Own the full Now / Next / Later roadmap.
Quantify potential impact vs. effort for product initiatives.
Define a clear, company-wide product narrative that aligns Sales, Ops, and Tech.
3. Bridge with Tech
Translate the roadmap into actionable deliverables for the technical team.
Secure clear commitments, timelines, and resourcing from engineering.
Ensure technical execution stays aligned with product strategy.
4. Align All Stakeholders
Maintain alignment across Sales, Ops, and Product on the value delivered.
Support internal and external storytelling (investor decks, client demos, product docs).
Act as the company’s reference point for “why and where the product is going.”
🧠 Who You Are
An ex-strategy consultant (McKinsey, BCG, Bain, or similar) who transitioned into Product or Strategy & Ops in a startup, and now wants to apply that clarity and problem-solving mindset to building a real product
Or an ex-engineer or data profile who evolved into product strategy - someone who loves translating technical potential into business value, and bringing structure to ambiguity
Proven ability to structure and deliver work on complex, cross-functional topics (GTM strategy, product-market fit, operating model design).
Exceptional analytical and abstraction skills — you can go from raw problem to structured insight.
Outstanding stakeholder management — you inspire clarity and alignment across founders, engineers, and sales leaders.
Exposure to product, data, or engineering environments. Used to system thinking
Strong curiosity for AI, SaaS, and industrial innovation.
🚫 Don’t apply if…
You’re looking for a “feature PM” role focused on ticket management or UX delivery.
You need a fully defined process or a large product team to rely on - we’re still early, and you’ll be building structure as you go.
You’re uncomfortable with ambiguity, imperfect data, or fast pivots.
You prefer analyzing from the sidelines rather than owning decisions and outcomes.
You value hierarchy and formal titles over direct collaboration with founders and engineers.
You’re not genuinely curious about how AI and data can transform real-world industries.
👉 This role is for someone who thrives in complexity, builds clarity from noise, and wants to shape both the product and the company itself.
📊 Success Metrics
Clarity and alignment of the product roadmap.
Percentage of product initiatives tied to measurable business outcomes.
Internal alignment across Sales, Ops, and Tech on product direction.
Velocity and reliability of Tech commitments vs. roadmap goals.
💡 Why Join Relief
🧩 Strategic impact: you’ll shape the product trajectory of one of Europe’s most promising AI industrial startups.
⚙️ Deep, meaningful problem space: AI, manufacturing, productivity, and profitability.
🤝 Direct exposure: work hand-in-hand with the CEO and CTO.
💸 Competitive package (80k-90k) + BSPCE.
🌍 Culture: lean, written, analytical, kind - built for people who think and act fast.
⚙️ Recruitment Process
Q&A with Relief’s CEO - understanding fit, mindset, and motivation.
Background deep dive - explore prior experience and problem-solving style.
Strategic product case - real Relief scenario: structure, quantify, recommend.
Final conversation with CTO & team.