Job: Head / Director of Product Management (Wall Art & Home Decor)

Our Client

Our client for this Head / Director of Product Management role is a successful, independent fast growing wall art and home decor company. Their channels of distribution in the order of importance are (1) their own direct-to-consumer website, (2) market places like Wayfair, Amazon, Restoration Hardware etc, and (3) brick and mortar stores.

Objective

The Director of Product Management will define the product strategy, the channel mix, and oversee the entire lifecycle to meet the company’s quarterly and yearly objectives. This role will have financial accountability, including P&L and performance of the strategy implemented.

As the Head / Director of Product Management, you will be responsible for defining channel mix, product launch strategies and building annual consumer and channel innovation plans by understanding the consumer’s needs, customer and competitive landscape, business model metrics and market dynamics. You will spearhead the development and execution of products from a data-backed planning process to launch. You will manage the ongoing innovation pipeline, identifying opportunities for future growth and bringing to market new product launches. You will be a champion of execution, working closely with operations to ensure that launches are rolled out on time and within budget.

In your day-to-day you will compose strategies to distribute and create appealing product assortments and pricing strategies for all our brands and client types. These will align with brand vision/strategy and through an omni-channel lens, owning and understanding the positioning, pricing and branding for all assortments.

The DPM also translates strategy into actionable tactics that execute and meet or exceed objectives including sales, gross margin dollar, and inventory turn. As the Head / Director of Product Management, you will build a team as well as cooperate with the creative development, marketing and sales teams to define and deliver the products, guide development and monitor performance throughout the product life cycle.

This role is for someone who thrives in an entrepreneurial environment with the ability to work autonomously. If you are a strong executor, using experimentation and user research to inform decisions, learning from new information and adjusting accordingly, communicating and managing relationships with stakeholders, this role is for you.

Job Description

Strategic Planning and Management

• Set the strategy, roadmap, and vision for products across all sales channels.
• Accountable, one voice owner for product management from initial planning to product termination.
• Set vision and define success for product innovation pipeline.
• Support the development of brand strategy and annual brand marketing plans via proper products planning.
• Develop and execute go-to-market strategies and pricing through continuous learning of the environment and studying of the data.

Product Lifecycle Management

• Responsible for developing, defining, and overseeing the product’s roadmap and managing it as required for the purpose of meeting deliverables for the business.
• Incorporate the existing development backlog and make priorities as determined by the business, consumer, and market needs.
• Manage the product lifecycle and end-of-life process from start to finish.
• Identify appropriate actions to ensure a healthy portfolio.
• Monitor sales movement and recommend retirement, innovation, rebranding, repositioning or improvement.

Business Results and Opportunity Assessment

• Own the product performance P&L and other KPIs to monitor strategies and progress towards quarterly and yearly company goals.
• Analyze market and business to identify opportunities for growth, define strategies and ensure objectives are being realized.
• Exercise critical thinking to set high performance standards, measure for success, and adjust plans to deliver against a growth agenda.
• Conduct post-launch analysis.
• Perform gross margin analysis to ensure regular product and price improvements are implemented and tracked.

Product Education & Evangelism

• Act as an evangelist to build awareness and understanding of product management across all sales channels and internal teams.
• Develop sell-in materials to communicate key features & benefits and product positioning for commercialization.
• Represent the business and promote the product by advocating for its value and benefits at executive briefings, marketing events, online consumer platforms, and so forth.

Project Management and Execution

• Define the business plan to deliver the product objectives.
• Manage projects including focus on innovation and merchandising to deliver on-time with executional excellence.
• Manage communication with production departments, review product samples, manage QA/QC, and define all processes to assure efficient production execution across the board.

Cross Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with Design, Product, Sales, to create distinctive products.
• Partner with internal teams and external agencies to ensure all product/seasonal activations are executed on schedule and to budget.
• Drive alignment strategy with senior management and key commercial stakeholders.
• Responsible for consulting with cross-functional partners and driving alignment across the organization.
• Participate in key sales and marketing presentations.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in related field of study or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of 4 years of CPG product management experience.
• Excellent project management skills, gantt chart development and excel use.
• Great people skills paired with a high level of assertiveness.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, managing multiple deadlines and adapting quickly to change, demonstrates learning agility with desire to grow and develop.
• Leverages creative thinking, problem solves and generates successful solutions through strategic agility.
• Ability to build credible, effective relationships with stakeholders and cross functional teams.
• Team player with a growth, development and challenge accepted mindset.
• Excellent verbal and written communication, including cross cultural communication and interpersonal skills.
• Analytical with reporting fundamentals and quality decision making skills.
• Excellent customer focus with professional presence.
• Self-directed, motivated and the ability to organize and prioritize multiple tasks and projects.
• Action and results oriented.
• Flexibility and willingness to take on additional responsibilities when needed.
• Proficient in using technology.
• Appreciated previous experience:
• Appreciated previous titles: Head of Marketing, Marketing Director, VP of Marketing, Brand Director, Sr Product Manager