Product Manager

Job Overview

This Product Management role is essential to developing and improving Buckhorn’s product portfolio to support continued growth and success. The candidate must have the technical expertise to understand product development in an injection-molding environment and engineering’s role in the process. Success requires a highly organized, management-focused professional who can manage multiple projects and understand production and manufacturing costs.

This position collaborates across marketing, sales, customer service, branch operations, manufacturing, and procurement. Key responsibilities include leading the product portfolio and/or company-wide commercialization process; chairing the Product Review Meeting within Sales & Operations Planning; managing key Sales & Marketing performance indicators, commercialization stage-gate metrics, and project delivery statistics; and actively participating in the overall Sales & Operations Planning process.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Define the product strategy & development roadmap
• Lead and manage the Product Engineering Team
• Establish baseline internal production costs
• Define optimal product mix with Marketing Manager
• Lead periodical product portfolio reviews (ABCxyz and profitability analyses) to determine SKU rationalization
• Assess competitive challenges and deliver clear strategic recommendations
• Deliver product cost reduction opportunities
• Support Marketing with Competitor Intelligence
• Work with internal and external SME’s to scope, design, test and deliver product solutions
• Work with sales, customer service and operations to review and refine customer service policies consistent with market expectation and business capabilities
• Create and maintain the by-SKU Phase-In/Phase-Out plan

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Ability to recognize and envision the future and develop effective plans to get there
• Communication skills to express and gain support for ideas and concepts verbally, visually and in writing
• Team orientation, customer communication, presentation and people skills
• Ability to gather and analyze information quickly to drive decisions in a fast-paced work environment
• Systematic-process approach, analytical skills, problem solving skills and decisiveness
• Comfortable navigating speed, change and ambiguity
• Proven high level of project management using the stage-gate process
• Proven leadership of cross-functional teams delivering sustainable process, financial, and operational results.
• Proactive, results focused, and striving for continuous improvement.
• Planning and organization to set targets, milestones and follow through on commitments.
• Ability to motivate others to a high level of performance without administrative authority (work through others)

Education and Experience

• BS/BA required. Engineering degree preferred. MBA desired or relevant certifications
• 4 years in related role

Working Conditions

• Typical office and plant environment

Physical Requirements

• Technical Skills:Able to assess own strengths and weaknesses; pursue training and development opportunities for self and others; strive to continuously build knowledge and skills; share expertise with others.
• Language Skills: Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.
• Mathematical Skills: Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference. Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.
• Reasoning Ability: Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.
• Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; talk or hear and taste or smell. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

While performing the duties of this Job, the employee may be exposed to wet and/or humid conditions; moving mechanical parts; high, precarious places; fumes or airborne particles; outside weather conditions; extreme cold; extreme heat and vibration. The noise level in the work environment varies but is usually moderate.

• Travel: Must be able to travel 30% percent; more on exception basis.