Product Manager- Air Treatment & Accessories

Description

Summary of the position:

The product manager is tasked with achieving sustained growth, profitability, and customer satisfaction for his/her defined product line in support of the company’s overall strategy and goals.  This involves working at both a strategic and tactical level across all relevant markets/channels and regions.  The incumbent will manage the lifecycle and roadmap of the assigned products across all facets of the organization; including but not limited to NPD/Sustaining engineering, program management, sales, marketing, finance, supply chain, and manufacturing.  Success in this role requires a comprehensive understanding of the market conditions and customer needs combined with a technical understanding of the features/benefits/functions of the products.

This role reports to the Director of Global Product Management.  The position may be based out of our executive office in Chicago, Illinois (primary) or Sullair’s Manufacturing Plant in Michigan City, Indiana (secondary).  This could also be a remote opportunity. 

Duties and responsibilities:

Product line strategy and planning

• Gather and analyze market, customer and competitor intelligence to identify and quantify opportunities for growth and margin expansion
• Gather the voice of customers & insights of key stakeholders
• Define value proposition / product differentiation that provides competitive advantage
• Develop, maintain and gain approval for product line strategies and plans
• Develop business cases and determine feasibility to achieve revenue growth and profitability targets in support of business strategy
• Define and drive technology and product roadmap initiatives through project teams to achieve growth plans.
• Through on-going customer and marketplace interaction, define and document customer requirements for new products, as well as desired changes/enhancements for existing products
• Collaborate internally and externally to scope & define product requirements
• Develop List Pricing and discount strategy to maximize revenue and margin
• Develop product support and aftermarket strategies
• Coordinate with Global Supply Chain for negotiation on sourced products and contract manufacturing

Product Lifecycle Management

• Gather and analyze product performance, including financial, technical and operational data to identify and quantify opportunities for growth, new product and existing product improvement opportunities
• Develop product lifecycle management roadmaps for products already in the market
• Identify the need for, and drive value engineering projects, product extensions, and next generation product initiatives
• Rationalize and retire products at the appropriate point in their lifecycle
• Ensure products achieve targeted price margins
• Ensure products meet specifications & agency certifications
• Drive both technical and commercial innovation
• Collaborate with sales, engineering, marketing, manufacturing, and operations to develop product definitions responsive to customer needs and marketing opportunities
• Provide and maintain Market Requirements Document (MRD) for Stage Gate NPD process
• Coordinate with marketing and communications to support effective product launches

Product & Market Training and Promotion           

• Define and maintain Product Training plan
• Provide technical and commercial support to Sales and Operations as required
• Assist with development of promotional strategies based on marketing research and competitive analysis; implement these strategies in conjunction with Sales and Marketing to establish and maintain market position. 
• Coordinate with Marketing Communications to facilitate market collateral strategies
• Provide direction to Marketing communications for sales collateral
• Support promotion of the product externally with customers, partners, & media
• Deliver Product training (internal & external)

Qualifications:

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business Administration, or Equivalent field
• MBA preferred

Professional experience:

• 5 years of relevant experience in industrial/manufacturing/capital equipment environment
• Experience with operating in a matrixed organization including cross-departmental initiatives required
• Experience with compressors/rotating equipment preferred

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• New product development process or stage-gate development process
• Product strategy and product roadmap development
• Product line Profit & Loss (P&L) management and forecasting
• Business case development
• Strategic product pricing
• Product launch and product lifecycle management
• Product marketing and channel strategy development
• Product value engineering tools and techniques
• Team management, cross functional team experience, matrix management experience
• Divergent thinking, Courage, Creativity
• Supplier contract negotiation

Key behaviors:

• Planning and organization
• Influence and negotiation
• Communication for understanding
• Collaboration across boundaries
• Customer insight and curiosity
• Information analysis
• Improvement and innovation mindset
• Decision making and risk taking
• Business and financial acumen
• Holds themselves accountable for results

Direct reports:

• N/A

The successful candidate is responsible for complying with Sullair’s Code of Ethics and related policies. In performing the job, the incumbent shall take all steps necessary to comply with our safety rules and requirements and must actively support the organization's efforts to meet and exceed its goals of creating and maintaining a safe workplace.

This description is to serve as a guide. It is intended to be flexible and will continue to evolve over time with business needs and demands and may be updated periodically and at the Company's discretion.

Sullair is an equal opportunity employer and will not discriminate based on race, religion, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, genetic information, veteran status, physical or mental disability, or other protected categories under applicable law, whether in recruitment, employment, promotion, transfer, compensation, or other conditions of employment.