About our client…
You may have not heard of them but chances are you own one of their products. Our client understands that behind good products are great people. We are excited to present this opportunity to join such a talented group of individuals. Being able to do this during one of the toughest recessions we will see in our lifetime is uplifting. During these tough times our client has not only survived, but thrived. The road was not an easy path, but they made the changes necessary to come out on top. They are able to accomplish this for a few reasons, a strong leadership team, the ability to be the best in their market, and being able to recruit the best talent out there to make it all happen.
We are recruiting for a Product Manager
The Product Manager position has both strategic and tactical ownership and accountability for their assigned product category or categories. In sum, this requires the development and execution of long-term strategic business plans, annual product management plans and the general management and oversight of all new product development projects. The end goal of any product manager is to create a world-class product line that creates strategic advantages for our client, barriers to entry for our competition and builds long-term shareholder value. The position will be held accountable for sales and profit success, but especially the steady stream of new products from inception through launch and into the marketplace; including accountability for timelines and financial objectives outlined in strategic plans.
Key Responsibilities/Objectives
- The position works closely with all of Marketing and especially R&D, Brand Managers, Industrial Design, Engineering, and Operations, to develop hearth products and systems that meet the needs of consumers and specific corporate, channel, and brand objectives. This position can be broken down into 3 key areas:
- 25% consumer awareness and field research,
- 25% strategy formulation (short and long term) and
- 50% annual product management and new product development execution
Scope and Impact of Responsibilities
- Consumer/Channel/Competitor Awareness and Field Research
- Proactively develop a firm understanding of consumer and channel product needs and develop long and short term strategic plans to meet/exceed these requirements and commercialize value-added, “unshoppable” system products.
- To be the expert in the assigned product category relating to products, competition, trends, designs, etc which therefore drives category strategy, priority and execution.
- Annually and by new product development project position should validate strategy and product development direction via channel partner and consumer validation processes.
Strategy Formulation
- 3-5 year product category strategic plans, which includes:
- “Big picture” industry, competitive and trend positioning relative to product line and alternative and substitute products
- Formulation of long term product platform and accessory plans and how this vision will be executed; which then drives annual product management plans.
- Annual Product Management and New Product Development
- Annual product management plans
- Accountable for regular product / product category performance tracking, analysis, pricing and reporting;
- Accountable for driving appropriate product obsolescence;
- Benchmark with other products and industries outside our immediate scope for trends and new ideas.
- Work with brand management to ensure given product systems live up to brand promise, positioning, and is appropriately differentiated;
- Work directly with customers, marketing and sales team for market research and competitive analyses to develop a good working knowledge of the competition, the marketplace and our industry.
- Ensure appropriate training and communication efforts, targeting both internal and external audiences, for release of new products and product changes as well as on-going product management;
- Provide subject matter expertise and content for relevant product information, marketing materials and training sessions for channel sales and marketing members.
- New product development strategic business plans and projects
- Work with the Brand Managers, Channel Managers, Sales and end customers to prepare Business Analysis documents (BAs) including projected ROI, product positioning, attainment of company strategy, and specific product systems strategies;
- Coordinate Design Requirement Documents (DRDs), including estimated product costs, including actual technical specifications and design/style parameters depending on scope of project, level of complexity and technical expertise required;
- Lead assigned product development efforts for new and current products from inception to introduction into the marketplace, including launch and sustaining marketing needs; this may include leading the final industrial design decision effort depending on scope of project and level of complexity.
- Partner closely with cross functional team members in Industrial Design, and Operations R&D. In addition, coordinate with Engineering to drive required product changes; initiate ECO and ECR (Engineering Change Orders and Requests);
- Audit new products before they are released to production to ensure quality and design standards are met. May conduct design review depending on scope, level of complexity and technical expertise required;
Other
- Facilitate correspondence with Legal and other trademark specialists;
- Model the values and practices of our company;
- Other duties as assigned
Relationships
Internal– Engineering, Brand Managers, Marketing
External– Key Vendors
Requirements: Background and Skills
- Education and/or Experience:
- Bachelors degree in business administration, marketing
- MBA preferred
- Minimum of 5-10 years of progressively responsible and successful experience in brand and/or product marketing; or equivalent combination of education and experience
Additional Personal Attributes
- Self motivated, demonstrated passion for success;
- Good mix of strategic thought ability with balance of managing details and tactics
- Proven analytical abilities in planning, forecasting, and analyzing trends, and opportunities;
- Creative abilities to envision new approaches, consider alternatives and evaluate course of action, make sound decision and take appropriate business risks;
- Strong team building, collaborative skills and cross functional leadership abilities;;
- Excellent communication and presentation skills;
- Strong writing and editing skills;
- High level of business ethics and personal integrity;
- Must be able to travel overnight for approximately 25% of the job;
- Attendance at 1-2 industry trade shows is required annually (requires evenings and weekends);
- Solid experience with Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook
- Familiarity with Durable Goods or Consumer Product Goods industry specifically
- Background in Trade Marketing or CPG Marketing product industries.
Personal Trait Profile
- Emotional and Motivational Factors: Stress resilience required; overall level of personal and professional maturity; level of drive and energy required; aggressiveness of goal-setting; level of ambition to take on increasing challenge; empathetic/supportive vs. tough-minded; desire to be leader vs. strong follower, etc. Ability to drive Policy Deployment.
- Intellectual Factors: Overall intellectual capacity level; strategic and tactical thinking; practical vs. creative/imaginative; detail-orientation vs. big-picture perspective; capacity to deal with complexity and ambiguity; decisiveness; independence of thought, etc.
- Insights: Level of self-insight and understanding; ability to read and calibrate other people; tough-mindedness about decisions; business or commercial savvy and insight. Strong business focus provides appropriate context to deal with business issues.
- On the Job Behaviors: Degree and pace of change required for: people, business organization; individual contributor emphasis and teamwork emphasis; hands-on with process and ability to navigate multiple layers of people and organization.
- Interpersonal Characteristics: Team orientation; level of personal presence and poise; ability to influence others; necessity for indirect influence; level of assertiveness/forcefulness; level of cross-functional influence; ability to manage conflict, using metrics, policy deployment reviews, etc.
Career Track
This is an outstanding and highly visible business leadership opportunity with potential progression to other roles within our corporate division or parent company.
