Product Manager

Summary

The Product Manager is responsible for developing products by identifying potential products, conducting market research, generating product requirements, determining specifications and production timetables, pricing, and time-integrated plans for product introduction, as well as developing marketing strategies.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Product Life Cycle

1. Develop and manage the entire product line life cycle from strategic planning to tactical activities, maintaining required margins to reach target life-cycle profitability on new and existing products.

2. sourcing finished products from Asia with various materials including steel, vinyl, foam, plastics, as well as designing and developing.

3. Experience with traveling to Asia to visit suppliers.

4. Align long-term strategies for product categories and product programs with strategic business plans & target customers.

5. Establish a deep understanding of customer pain points, identify, and fill product gaps and generate new ideas that solve real customer problems, grow market share, and drive category growth

6. Developing exit strategies for unsuccessful products

7. Leverage engineering processes to make suggestions for product improvements and innovations.

8. Other duties may be assigned by Manager or Supervisor

Managing Product Margin

1. Direct and verify the implementation of annual price changes.

2. Set monthly and annual goals for product categories and programs, assess and report on past performance

3. Work collaboratively with Marketing to establish product packages and product configurations that meet targeted margin expectations for promotional activities.

4. Other duties may be assigned by Manager or Supervisor

Product Management Gate Keeping

1. Lead gatekeeping meetings to report on the status of products being developed and the sales/margin history of products that were released in prior years

2. Network cross-departmentally to keep projects on pace to hit internal deadlines

3. Manage product development schedule set for each product category annually to ensure timely launch of new product

4. Other duties may be assigned by Manager or Supervisor

Supply Chain

1. Develop, lead, and execute product sourcing strategies that ensure the best cost with consideration of quality, reliability of source, and urgency of need.

2. Develop, lead, and execute a negotiation strategy that delivers against business objectives and achieves sustainable relationships with suppliers.

3. Negotiate, write, and execute supplier contracts working directly with suppliers and Corporate Legal.

4. Search patent databases to identify potential intellectual property (IP) infringement risks and champion patent protection application for new ideas.

5. Make forecast recommendations for product demand that aligns with annual category targets and market opportunity.

6. Other duties may be assigned by Manager or Supervisor

Product Market Knowledge/Product Expert

1. Conducts research on emerging trends and initiatives in health and fitness to grow leadership position within the marketplace and identify continuous improvement initiatives to support market share growth.

2. Assist sales as product expert during new product launches, customer/dealer on boarding as needed.

3. Attend tradeshows to remain current with industry trends and build relationships with key customers and suppliers

4. Ensure product is marketed in the most effective manner, to include catalog positioning, trade show marketing, and promotional materials. Evaluate promotional plans to ensure that they are consistent with product line strategy and that the message is effectively conveyed.

5. Work alongside sales & marketing teams on RFP/RFQ projects that require product research, pricing considerations, and/or facility design plans.

6. Other duties may be assigned by Manager or Supervisor

Education and/or Experience

Bachelor’s in Communication, Marketing, Life Science, or related fields.

Travel

<25%

Computer Skills

Basic computer and office equipment skills needed. Proficient in all Microsoft Office applications.

PlayCore is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: From $103,733.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Experience level:

• 5 years
• 6 years
• 7 years
• 8 years
• 9 years

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift

Ability to Relocate:

• Knoxville, TN 37909: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Knoxville, TN 37909