About the Role
At Camunda, we've moved our entire product organisation to an AI-native model — teams ship fast, autonomously, and close to the customer. That speed only creates value if we're building the right things, which is exactly why validation matters more than ever. As Manager · Validation, you'll lead the function that keeps the whole Strategy pillar honest: a generative researcher, an evaluative researcher, and a product analyst, together forming the independent signal layer that tells us whether what we're building actually lands. This is a builder's leadership role. You'll own two promises that the entire model depends on — that validation stays genuinely independent of the PMs who set direction, and that it stays fast and well-resourced enough that it never becomes the thing teams wait on.
What You Will Do
- Lead and grow the validation function — a generative researcher, an evaluative researcher, and a product analyst — owning their development, their craft, and the quality bar for everything the function produces.
- Protect the independence of the signal layer: validation reports alongside the strategic PMs, never through them, and your job is to keep it that way so the signal stays honest rather than confirming decisions already made.
- Own the speed and resourcing of validation so it never becomes a bottleneck — as the number of active product teams grows, you make the case for capacity rather than letting the signal slow down or weaken.
- Set the standard for how validation works in an AI-native org: fast enough to still matter, advisory rather than gatekeeping, and keyed to the teams' build loop rather than a separate calendar.
- Own the failure library as a living, shared artifact — the definitive record of every customer who couldn't reach value, and the primary input for what we fix next.
- Partner with the strategic PMs and the wider Strategy team to make sure validation signal actually changes decisions.
What You Will Bring to the Role
- A strong track record in product research, UX research, data analytics, or a closely related insights discipline.
- The judgment to lead a multi-disciplinary team across both qualitative and quantitative work.
- A clear point of view on what keeps a validation function independent and credible.
- Experience operating in a fast-moving, autonomous environment.
- Strong written communication and the ability to make findings land with PMs, designers, and engineers.
- Nice to have: Prior people-management or team-lead experience; familiarity with process automation, orchestration, agentic AI, or developer tooling.