Senior Product Manager — Production & Pipelines

👥 Product / Executive 📍 Remote — preferably France-based, with regular travel to Paris (biweekly exec all-hands + frequent CEO syncs) 💼 Full-time 🏆 Senior (8+ years)
AAA Games Digital Humans Production Pipelines CGI / VFX Studio Building Product Strategy R&D Productization

About the Role

Lit8 is a privately funded European AI lab, founded in 2022 by the makers of Shadow.tech, building patented neural rendering technology that achieves photorealistic graphics on any device. We've spent years in R&D — now we're at the inflection point where this technology needs to become a product. We need someone who has built studios and shipped AAA content to make that happen.

We're looking for a Senior Product Manager who has lived inside the highest-end production pipelines in the industry — someone who has shipped AAA titles on PlayStation and Xbox at the top graphics tier, or produced cinematic-quality digital humans in VFX. You'll take over our R&D pipelines, structure a team around them, and drive toward production-grade results on aggressive timelines.

This is a leadership role, not a backlog-management role. You'll report directly to the CEO as a strategic advisor, helping translate between the worlds of AI research, content production, and business strategy. You'll also be central to scaling the company from a small lab into a production-capable organization — recruiting the team, defining the process, and building the relationships with industry partners that will define Lit8's market entry.

We work in English across the team — fluency is required.

What You'll Do

  • Take over Lit8's R&D pipelines for photorealistic interactive humans and drive them toward production quality on defined timelines
  • Build and scale the production team from the ground up — define roles, recruit key hires, establish production processes
  • Work closely with the cofounder (transitioning to architect role) and the AI/tech teams to prioritize and sequence the path from prototype to shippable demo
  • Engage with world-class industry partners to shape proposals, demos, and technical narratives
  • Advise the CEO on company direction, resource allocation, hiring priorities, and fundraising narratives — translating production and industry realities into business strategy
  • Establish quality gates and milestone cadence that keep the team shipping without introducing bureaucracy

What We're Looking For

Must-Haves

  • 8+ years in production, technical production, or pipeline leadership roles in AAA video games (PC, PlayStation, Xbox) or high-end CGI/VFX
  • Track record of shipped AAA titles or productions at the highest graphics and production quality tier
  • Experience scaling a team or studio from the ground up — hiring, structuring, and leading a production organization
  • Deep familiarity with production pipelines for photorealistic content — character creation, digital humans, facial animation, cinematics, or equivalent
  • Connections in the AAA game or entertainment industry — the kind of network that opens doors
  • Hands-on understanding of game engine workflows (Unreal and/or Unity) and standard DCC tools
  • Fluent in English (team language) — strong written and verbal communication across technical and business audiences
  • Straightforward, autonomous personality — comfortable with ambiguity, driven by challenge, moves fast without waiting for permission

Strongly Preferred

  • International career or experience working across multiple markets/studios
  • Familiarity or genuine interest in AI/ML as applied to graphics, rendering, or content creation
  • Understanding of real-time rendering constraints: frame budgets, LOD, streaming, platform certification
  • Experience advising founders or executives on production/market strategy — chief of staff, VP Production, Head of Studio, or similar
  • Connections with or exposure to the US games/entertainment market

Nice to Have

  • Experience with digital human programs (MetaHuman, Codec Avatars, Digital Domain, Weta Digital, or similar)
  • Background in entertainment beyond games — film VFX, virtual production, live events, K-pop/music, or immersive experiences
  • Comprehensive understanding of the full lifecycle of video games: creation, production, certification, distribution, and live operations
  • Experience at a deep-tech startup transitioning from R&D to market
  • Familiarity with 3D scanning hardware and photogrammetry pipelines
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