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We Are Hiring – Product Owner

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The Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project (JDCRP) Foundation

The Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project (JDCRP) Foundation is seeking a Product Manager to support the development of our digital platform and data repository, which facilitates the identification, linking, and retrieval of archival records related to looted art and cultural property stolen during the Nazi regime.

This is a limited-term contract, with the possibility of an extension depending on funding availability.

About Us

The Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project Foundation, founded in 2019 by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) and the Commission for Art Recovery (CAR), is based in Berlin, Germany. The Foundation is creating and populating a central scalable digital data platform for archival source material on the cultural plunder conducted during the National Socialist regime. The JDCRP foundation portfolio additionally includes research and education projects that demonstrate the use of archival material to reconstruct the theft and recover the legacy of the cultural contributions of European pre-WWII Jewry. State-of-the-art technology is supporting the development of cross-archival links and improved search capabilities across various databases on objects, owners, and perpetrators, thereby revealing for the first time a fuller scope of the plunder. The archival project uniquely targets both specialists and general users.

Role Overview

The Product Manager will lead the strategic development of the JDCRP platform by defining its vision, overseeing feature development, and ensuring alignment with user needs. This person will work closely with provenance researchers, art historians, data officers, and technical teams to build a platform that effectively supports matching, searching, and linking between fragmented archival records on looted art and cultural assets.

The ideal candidate will have experience managing data-driven digital products, particularly in fields related to art history, Holocaust studies, digital archives, or cultural heritage.

Key Responsibilities

Develop and execute the product vision and roadmap for the JDCRP archival platform, ensuring alignment with both expert and non-expert user’s needs.
Define, prioritize, and oversee the development of features that enhance searchability, cross-referencing, and usability of archival records.
Work closely with provenance researchers, art historians, and data officers to ensure that the platform meets scholarly and archival standards.
Coordinate with development teams to develop data models, matching algorithms, and cross-archival linking capabilities.
Conduct user research to identify pain points and improve engagement for both specialists and the general public.
Oversee the integration of state-of-the-art technology to enhance archival search and record linkage.
Monitor project milestones, adjust priorities, and communicate progress to the Executive Board and key stakeholders.
Ensure the platform’s data integrity, accessibility, and long-term sustainability.

Qualifications

Proven experience in product management, ideally within digital archives, cultural heritage, or research platforms.
Strong understanding of user experience (UX), data-driven decision-making, and agile development methodologies.
Familiarity with archival research, provenance studies, art history, or Holocaust studies is highly desirable.
Experience working with data-driven products, particularly those involving search, retrieval, and record-linking functionalities.
Ability to bridge the gap between researchers, archivists, and technical teams to develop a user-centered digital product.
Strong problem-solving and strategic-thinking skills.
Excellent project management and communication skills, with the ability to translate complex research needs into actionable development steps.
Experience with databases, metadata standards, digital repositories, or linked data technologies is a plus.
Proficiency in English is required; knowledge of German is an advantage.

What We Offer

A key role in a dynamic, international non-profit organization, ideally based in Berlin.
A limited-term contract with the potential for extension, subject to funding.
Flexible working hours, including options for remote work.
Competitive remuneration aligned with comparable NGO positions.
The opportunity to contribute to a meaningful mission, collaborating with an interdisciplinary team of experts.