Product Marketing Manager

Air Lift, a third-generation family-owned company, was founded in 1949 in Lansing, Michigan. Air Lift supplies the automotive aftermarket with load assist products and performance suspensions for show and track. Our goal is to consistently provide products and services that meet and exceed customer’s requirements and expectations. We do this by recruiting top talent and retaining them through our commitment to professional development and preservation of our culture.

Job Description Summary

As the Product Manager for Air Lift Company, you will play a critical role in shaping the success of our products by conducting comprehensive market analysis and gathering insights to inform our product development and marketing strategies. You will be responsible for identifying market opportunities, assessing customer needs, and ensuring our products align with market demands. You are responsible for the product roadmap from a market-centric perspective, focusing on customer needs, competitive positioning, and market strategy. This role is for you if you are a market research enthusiast who thrives on gathering and translating market insights into successful product strategies.

Essential Duties

• Conduct thorough and ongoing market research to identify emerging trends, customer preferences, and competitive landscapes to support product decision-making.
• Develop a deep understanding of our target customers, their pain points, and their evolving needs.
• Utilize surveys, interviews, and other research methods to gather valuable insights and feedback.
• Assess the strengths and weaknesses of competitors and identify opportunities for differentiation.
• Keep abreast of competitor product offerings, pricing strategies, and market positioning.
• Segment the market to identify key customer groups with distinct needs and preferences and develop strategies for each segment to maximize product success.
• Effectively manage the relationship with research and development teams to ensure that the product roadmap aligns with market realities and customer expectations.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop and refine product features and specifications based on market research findings.
• You will define the market strategy and ensure that the product roadmap aligns with the market demand.
• Create compelling business cases for new product initiatives, outlining market opportunities, revenue projections, and ROI analysis.
• Work closely with product development teams to ensure that products are designed and developed in alignment with market research findings and customer insights.
• Analyze and interpret data from various sources, providing actionable recommendations for product improvements and market strategy adjustments.

Position Requirements

• Able to develop strategies, define action plans, and share results.
• Ability to frame forward-looking solutions, aligned with business goals and customer needs.
• Excellent business judgment; effective at articulating value propositions to stakeholders.
• Explores different approaches and solutions to a problem, gathers feedback, and redesigns until the best possible solution is found.
• Comfortable working within a “Hands-on/Roll-up the Sleeves” culture.
• Must be able to build relationships, negotiate, and influence others to drive change.
• Able to influence and motivate internal teams to accomplish the strategy.
• Encourages problem-solving, strategic thinking, and customer orientation across a cross-functional team.
• Ability to work independently, prioritize effectively, & manage multiple projects at once.
• Strong presentation and facilitation skills in person and via video conference.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and ethical judgment.
• Appreciates that a diverse perspective creates better solutions.
• Interest in increasing industry, technical, and business knowledge through continuous learning.
• Adapts own ideas or perceptions in response to a changing environment around them.
• Highly organized, analytical, and data driven.

Minimum and Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in the automotive aftermarket is preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, economics, or a related market research field.
• 3 to 5 years’ progressive experience in product marketing.
• Advanced Excel proficiency, including pivot tables, macros, and charts.
• Solid knowledge of productivity tools including the Microsoft 365 Suite