About the position
The Product Manager (PM) position within the company is responsible for leading the profitable growth and direction of a product category (or multiple categories). The role involves the management of the full product portfolio and helps to define and implement successful sales and distribution strategies. The Product Manager works closely with the Sr. Product Manager/Director, as well as Sales, Innovation, and Manufacturing to optimize efficiency and deliver profitable growth. In some cases, the role includes worldwide brand ownership and responsibility for planning, investment and execution of communication strategies and brand guidelines. The product marketing manager exhibits a deep understanding of markets and buyers in order to devise and lead a category’s go-to-market strategy. He or she must work cross-functionally, unifying and motivating peers from different teams (e.g. product management, R&D, marketing communications, market development, insights and innovation, and sales). The product marketing manager must have an expert understanding of the product’s buying audiences and their needs and often acts as a subject matter expert (SME) who transfers knowledge about markets, buyers and product across marketing and sales functions.
Responsibilities
- P&L ownership for the category, including identifying key issues and managing tactics for long term top line and bottom-line growth.
- Collaborates with the Sales team and Marketing Communications support functions to ensure that new items and product plans are communicated effectively and executed at the customer level to drive the sales and profits of the category according to the company plan.
- Set the vision and priorities for holistic brand plans on a worldwide basis. Develop brand guidelines and enforce across packaging, communications, and presentations.
- Define the market opportunity for a product; perform segmentation and targeting exercises that identify the segments with the highest propensity to buy.
- Conduct market and customer research to gather data and insight about target personas, buyer needs and the purchasing decision process for the product.
- Leads product development through well-defined market requirements.
- Write and socialize product-level documents: marketing plan, sales enablement plan, launch plan, solution guides.
- Develop product positioning, value propositions and messaging that resonate with the buying audience.
- Manage launch planning and orchestrate execution of the commercial release of a product.
- Participate in product development efforts and manage cross-functional NPI/NPD projects.
- Manage the product life cycle of the full category portfolio to maximize growth while balancing manufacturing efficiency, profitability and inventory optimization.
- Integrate merchandising as part of a full plan to achieve category goals.
- Oversee the development and implementation of all category packaging.
- Work with the marketing operations team to oversee the new item setup process.
- Provide market pricing guidance and work with pricing manager to set internal net pricing.
- Serve as market-facing SME/thought leader for the product and interface with industry influencers and associations.
- Conduct win/loss interviews and perform ongoing analysis to determine the level of customer product adoption.
- Monitor and report on the performance of products in the market.
Requirements
- BS/BA in Business, Marketing or related major.
- Strong computer skills including MS Office and Analytic tools.
- Strong presentation skills, verbal and written.
- Strong financial acumen.
- Demonstrated creativity in developing products and programs.
- Demonstrated success in managing teams of people.
- Understanding of corporate strategic planning process.
- Motivation to get the job done to exceed performance standards.
- Ability to travel overnight 10-20% of the time.
- 3 - 5 years in a management/marketing role, preferably with product marketing and/or consumer products experience.
Benefits
- Open, collaborative workspace.
- Team building activities and social events.
- Prioritization of work-life balance.
- Company culture values innovation, inclusivity and a positive attitude.
