Product Manager

Job Details

Description

Napoleon leads the way with innovative engineering, advanced manufacturing techniques, unsurpassed customer service and remarkable product quality. Our award-winning products offer a best-in-class experience for all customers’ home comfort needs. While we are proudly Canadian, Napoleon is also fortunate to operate on a world-side scale.

The warmth and experience that a Napoleon product brings to the homes of our customers transcends borders, language, and cultures to enhance everyday living across the globe. Throughout North America, Europe, South America and Asia, Napoleon creates memorable moments through our stunning designs and innovative technologies.

**Reports To**: Director, Product Management

**Location**:24 Napoleon Road, Barrie (hybrid)

**Key Responsibilities**:

- 1. PRODUCT PORTFOLIO - The Product Manager works with senior department leadership to understand product portfolio strategy to ensure product line life cycle (execution to down-the-road improvements, and eventual rationalization where/when required) is properly aligned.- Evaluate potential benefits and prioritize initiatives amongst overall product line objectives; develop and track action plans gaining cross functional support for executions
- Manage forecasts and overall budgets for the product portfolio
- Conducts product portfolio reviews to ensure alignment and execution to the strategy including clear milestones and metrics to assess progress and performance
- 2. MARKET RESEARCH - The Product Manager specifies market requirements for current and future products by conducting market research, developing a comprehensive and overarching product portfolio strategy and product roadmap.- Participate in on-going visits to customers and non-customers for market research
- Provide and maintain an in-depth analysis for all aspects of market, industry and competition
- Develop hands-on, in-depth knowledge of competitive products, with particular focus on features and benefits and positioning
- Conduct market assessments and competitive analyses to identify product opportunities whether new or redesigned to address different/future needs
- Obtain and analyze all relevant available secondary market research, identifying information gaps and filling them with primary research when deemed necessary.
- 3. PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & LAUNCH - act as a stakeholder in the product innovation process, identifying future market requirements and potential product opportunities. They partner with Sales and R&D to develop products with clear timelines. They ensure products meet customer satisfaction objectives while adhering to legislative requirements. They develop product line extensions and support product improvement plans that are in tune with market trends.- Support Engineering to ensure technical robustness and error proofing for the end consumer, ensuring that launch teams have all of the required information to deliver a complete product to market
- Support Engineering initiatives that optimize time to market
- Support Manufacturing (including quality, purchasing and logistics) in identifying opportunities for improvement in quality, productivity and profitability that necessitate product line consideration and/or changes
- Participate in the creative process of generating, developing and curating new ideas. Determine which should be promoted into features to push the product strategy forward.
- In conjunction with senior department leadership, establish product line sales targets in direct collaboration with sales team, prioritize and then monitor progress to targets and strategic goals/initiatives, track variance and take necessary corrective action within, and in, the next product cycle to maximize product line revenue and profitability
- Support Sales in the development of product pricing and reimbursement strategies for products to meet revenue and profitability
- Run beta and pilot programs with early-stage products and samples to judge potential success in the market.
- 4. PROJECT MANAGEMENT - for new products (i.e., stage gate projects) initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria at the specified time. To achieve our primary business objectives, the Product Lead will be responsible to organize key activities of a cross-functional team.- Lead weekly project status update meetings.
- Make sure all team members know what is required, by when and that the stage gate process is followed.
- Develop and maintain project plans for all key projects, through development and through launch (Gate 0 - Gate 5)
- Working with senior department leadership, support marketing (and marketing firm) to develop and approve the core product positioning, value proposition and messaging for the product
- Support the development of FAQs, product notes, user guides, field training presentations, online marketing, packaging, print materials, conten