For an industry-leading consumer products Arts & Crafts Company; whose products are sold through mass, e-commerce, and specialty retail channels throughout the world. www.plaidonline.com

The Product Manager is responsible for the development and execution of the product portfolio’s vision, strategy, and product roadmap working under the direction of the Category Director. This is accomplished through the management of the entire product lifecycle from the market and consumer needs assessment, new product ideation, competitive analysis, launch strategy, and product rationalization. The Product Manager is a hands-on leader of a cross-functional team of external partners and internal resources responsible for successfully managing timelines to meet all customer deadlines.

Primary Responsibilities

· Develop and create marketing plans for new products and line extensions capable of meeting and exceeding the category annual sales plan.

· Ideate specific product vision and strategy to create a unique selling proposition for all product and program elements including product features and benefits, along with packaging and merchandising strategies.

· Champion product development process from inception to ship date with cross-functional, highly collaborative teams including designers, lab, legal, manufacturing, purchasing, sourcing, graphics, quality control, consumer testing, and sales to establish the product specifications to meet consumer, trade, and production expectations.

· Develop product design, packaging, and merchandising objectives and work with internal teams to execute the vision.

· Develop and manage pricing strategy for new products that meet internal and customer margin goals and returns on investment. Manage product development expense budget.

· Responsible for creating and managing timelines to ensure milestones and ship dates are met.

· Create compelling presentation materials to support customer-specific sales presentations.

· Work with the sales team to optimize merchandise assortments and analyze product performance.

· Collaborate with the communications team to create consumer, retailer, and e-commerce assets.

· Monitor and stay ahead of competitive activity. Leverage trends in consumer lifestyle, social media, and consumer products for future innovation

Knowledge, skills, and abilities

· Minimum of 5 years of Product Management in a consumer-packaged goods environment, plus a bachelor’s degree in marketing is required

· Excellent project management skills and attention to detail.

· Creative and strategic mindset, inquisitive with a knack for transforming ideas into impactful initiatives.

· Strong financial and analytical skills.

· Ability to juggle priorities and be flexible in a fast-paced environment.

· Positive outlook when business priorities, customer needs, and deadlines shift.

· Great communicator and motivated team player with a positive attitude.

· Must be creative, flexible, and can think outside of the box.

· Excellent computer skills – Word, Advanced Excel, and PowerPoint.

03.2023