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AI Product Owner Vacancy at Umweltbundesamt, Leipzig
Employer: Umweltbundesamt
Sector: Environmental protection and public administration
Location: Leipzig, Saxony, Germany — Alte Messe 6
Open roles: 1
Employment information: Fixed term; full-time or part-time; 39 hours per week for employees
Umweltbundesamt has an opening in Leipzig for an AI Project Management Specialist and AI Product Owner within its Application Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence and Big Data. The post brings product ownership, agile delivery and public-sector project oversight together around AI applications intended for administrative implementation. It is a fixed-term position with both full-time and part-time work possible, and the vacancy places the role in a setting where environmental policy, digitalisation and practical delivery meet.
The work is suited to a professionally grounded project manager who can turn a need into a product concept, guide development toward maturity and keep a clear view of resources, risks and budgets. It also calls for someone comfortable working between specialist colleagues, users and UX/UI design. Candidates with substantial experience in hybrid and agile methods, a sound grasp of software-development principles and strong written and spoken English will recognise the combination of responsibilities described in the official role profile.
Opportunity Details
Product ownership for AI applications in public administration
A role connecting user needs, agile delivery and portfolio oversight
The advertised post is assigned to the Application Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, referred to in the vacancy as the KI-Lab. The laboratory is part of the Environmental Policy Digital Agenda and is described as a space for innovation, experimentation and testing. Its remit gives the role a practical focus: product and project work should support AI applications that are capable of being implemented in administrative enforcement.
Product ownership starts with understanding a need and shaping a product concept through to product maturity. In this position, that includes developing and clarifying product ideas and requirements, as well as preparing business cases. The successful candidate will prepare and steer agile product development while bringing together the specialist side, users and UX/UI design rather than treating these perspectives as separate streams of work.
The project-management dimension goes beyond a single delivery track. The vacancy includes leading, or contributing to the leadership of, hybrid or agile projects and developing product, portfolio and multi-project management for AI work. Financial planning and monitoring, resource management, risk management, stakeholder coordination and coaching on agile and crisis management are all named parts of the assignment.
About the Employer: Umweltbundesamt
Environmental evidence, advice and implementation
The public purpose behind the AI work
Umweltbundesamt is the German Environment Agency. Its stated mission is to help secure a healthy environment in Germany in which people can live as far as possible protected from harmful environmental impacts. The agency identifies clean air, clean water and freedom from pollutants among the environmental concerns that inform this mission, alongside a broad range of subjects such as waste avoidance, climate protection and pesticide approvals.
The agency's work includes gathering data on the condition of the environment, investigating relevant relationships and making projections. On that basis, it provides policy advice to federal bodies, including the Ministry of the Environment. It also informs the public and responds to questions on the issues it addresses, placing evidence and explanation alongside the public task of environmental protection.
Environmental law is another stated area of activity. Umweltbundesamt describes its role in supporting the application of law in areas that include emissions trading and approval processes for chemicals, pharmaceutical drugs and pesticides. Its wider task also involves early detection of environmental risks and threats so that they can be assessed and addressed with viable solutions in a timely way.
Cross-disciplinary work on environmental questions
A laboratory context within a broader environmental mission
Research is conducted in the agency's own laboratories and is also commissioned from scientific institutions in Germany and abroad. The official information describes the agency as a German contact point for numerous international organisations. Its workforce includes specialists from biology, chemistry, economics, sociology, law and engineering, reflecting an approach to environmental issues that considers more than one discipline.
For this vacancy, that broad institutional context is paired with the KI-Lab's remit as an innovation and testing environment. The employer's public-sector work links scientific and practical knowledge with policy advice, dialogue with society and the implementation of environmental law. The advertised product-owner and project-management responsibilities therefore sit within a mission-oriented setting focused on sustainability, climate protection and digitalisation.
Open Positions
1. AI Project Management Specialist and AI Product Owner (Spezialistin*Spezialisten im Bereich KI-Projektmanagment und KI Product Owner für das Anwendungslabor für Künstliche Intelligenz und Big Data)
Official title: Spezialistin*Spezialisten im Bereich KI-Projektmanagment und KI Product Owner für das Anwendungslabor für Künstliche Intelligenz und Big Data
Location: Leipzig, Germany — Alte Messe 6 Employment information: Fixed term; full-time or part-time; 39 hours per week for employees
This role combines the day-to-day discipline of an AI product owner with the wider responsibility of project and portfolio management. It requires careful movement from needs assessment to product definition, then through agile development toward a product that is ready to be used. The vacancy makes clear that product ideas, requirements and business cases are part of that continuous chain rather than isolated planning exercises.
Alongside delivery work, the specialist will help establish and further develop product and portfolio or multi-project management for AI projects. The post calls for considered coordination across internal and external stakeholders, practical control of resources, budgets and risks, and constructive advice to specialist project coordinators. It is not framed as a purely technical development position; it is a role for translating structured management practice into an AI application context.
Responsibilities
- Conduct needs assessments and shape product concepts for AI development projects through to product maturity.
- Develop and refine product ideas and requirements, including the preparation of business cases.
- Prepare and steer agile product development with specialist colleagues, users and UX/UI design.
- Lead, or contribute to leading, hybrid or agile projects that develop AI applications for administrative implementation.
- Build and further develop product, portfolio and multi-project management for AI projects.
- Plan, monitor and steer the financial budget for projects within the stated remit.
- Advise and coach specialist project coordinators on agile project management and crisis management.
- Coordinate and moderate collaboration with internal and external stakeholders while managing resources and risks.
Qualifications
- Completed research-oriented university degree at Master's or university-diploma level in a relevant discipline.
- In-depth knowledge and extensive experience in hybrid and agile project management.
- Methodological knowledge of software-development processes, including the principles and roles of agile software development such as Scrum.
- Confident use of Microsoft Office applications and project-management tools such as MS Project, OpenProject and Kanban boards.
- Very good written and spoken English skills.
- Gender competence.
- Preferred: a degree in a STEM field, economics, administrative sciences, innovation management or a comparable area.
- Preferred: experience as a Product Owner or in a comparable function, and project-management certifications such as PMP, IPMA, PRINCE2, Scrum or Product Owner.
Skills and Competencies
- Ability to organise work across hybrid and agile delivery approaches.
- Clear communication and collaborative working with specialist stakeholders, users and design colleagues.
- Analytical thinking, creativity, initiative in shaping work and problem-solving ability.
- Competence in coordinating stakeholders and moderating cross-functional collaboration.
- Capability to handle budget, resource and risk-management tasks in project work.
- Working knowledge of agile software-development principles and associated roles.
Benefits and Employment Information
- Fixed-term employment with full-time or part-time arrangements possible.
- A 39-hour working week for employees.
- Remuneration under the TVöD-Bund E 13 public-sector pay scale.
- Possibility of mobile work, flexitime and part-time options as described in the vacancy.
- Collectively regulated pay, including performance-related pay, retirement provision and an annual special payment.
- Personal and professional development options, with supported onboarding and further qualification opportunities.
- A health-promoting work environment and the possibility to obtain a job ticket.
Application Guidance
Show the connection between product work and public implementation
Use the vacancy's delivery language to organise relevant evidence
Applicants can use the advertised responsibilities as a practical map for their application materials. It may be useful to describe examples in which a user need was explored, converted into a product idea or requirement, and carried through an agile delivery process. Where relevant, explain how business-case thinking, prioritisation, stakeholder dialogue or UX/UI collaboration informed the work. The aim is not to repeat a generic project history, but to make the link between management decisions and usable outcomes understandable.
The role also has a portfolio and advisory dimension. Candidates may wish to identify examples of managing several workstreams, monitoring a project budget, handling risks or helping colleagues use agile methods. They can distinguish clearly between direct Product Owner experience and comparable responsibilities, since the official profile treats Product Owner experience as preferred. The vacancy does not publish a fixed document checklist or a language for submitted materials; the official application route is the appropriate place to check the requested fields and attachments.
- Map degree evidence to the required university-level qualification and relevant academic discipline.
- Select examples that demonstrate hybrid or agile project-management experience rather than only technical delivery tasks.
- Describe how requirements, product concepts or business cases were made concrete in prior work.
- Include evidence of collaboration with users, specialist stakeholders or design counterparts where applicable.
- Note relevant use of Microsoft Office, project-management tools, Scrum or Kanban practices accurately.
- Review how written and spoken English capability can be substantiated without overstating language experience.
How to Apply
Submit Your Application Through the Verified Route
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Before opening the form, keep the official role description to hand and check the requested fields and attachments directly in the application flow. The employer has not set out a public document checklist or a required submission language in the captured vacancy text, so applicants should follow the instructions displayed in the official form.
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