Emerging Categories Product Manager

The Emerging Categories Product Manager owns share growth, portfolio lifecycle, and new product development across critical product lines that focus on structural integrity and moisture protection within residential building materials. By gathering and synthesizing market and competitive insights, supporting the development of product roadmaps and strategy, creating strong commercial and cross functional ties, the product manager will be seen as the subject matter expert across these categories.

Key responsibilities include investigating and understanding competitive landscape and market trends (especially within building envelope, decking, and structural building materials), defining the needs of the customer, understanding critical financial metrics, and leveraging product technology to drive business results.

Successful leadership will accelerate organic growth for the business while achieving desired profitability targets.  This individual will work closely with Strategic Marketing, Insights, Manufacturing, Sales, Customer Service, Supply Chain, and Finance.

Reports to: Senior Product Leader

Span of Control: This is an individual contributor role. 

Product Strategy

• Key stakeholder in the development of portfolio strategies and multi-phase innovation roadmaps that ensure long term leadership and profitability across categories within structural integrity and moisture protection.
• Manage products throughout the product lifecycle, gathering and prioritizing product and customer requirements, conducting Voice of the (VOC) research, defining the product vision, and making sure products meet customer FFU’s.
• Responsible to support commercialization of new products. Ensures stage-gated project deliverables are completed, including product stewardship and business specific requirements.
• Translate codes/specs, regulatory trends, and market signals into clear product visions and business cases (revenue, EBIT, cost-to-execute, and risk plans).
• Work cross-functionally to develop and align a multi-phase innovation portfolio that ensures the long-term leadership and profitability of each product line. 

Business Case Analytics

• Prepare/present plain language statements of market opportunities that accurately forecast revenue and profitability as well as costs to execute.
• Work with partner organizations, identify and gather critical data to manage risk.
• Recommend appropriate courses of action, clearly stating assumptions and risks.

Market & Customer Insight

• Develop a basic understanding of how we create unique value across each specific customer type, and knowledge of key influencers: contractors and builders. 
• Specify market requirements for current and future products by conducting market research supported by on-going visits to our sales teams, customers and non-customers.
• In partnership with Strategic Marketing, Insights and the Sales organization, the Product Manager will continuously build insights and knowledge of our products in order to provide differential value to our customers and their businesses, and key influencers. 
• Build deep understanding of our contractors, strategic customers, channel partners, and influencers to capture insights.
• Connects across industry partners to ensure listing and fit-for-use with fasteners, accessories, etc.

Project Management

• Create and execute a plan of work to deliver projects according to strict deadlines and within budget.  This includes acquiring resources and coordinating the efforts of team members (including Marketing, Insights, S&T, Operations, Supply Chain, Customer Service, Finance, Sales) in order to deliver projects according to plan.
• Define the project’s objectives and oversee quality control throughout its life cycle.

• Assess buying patterns and market trends by focusing on the entire product category.
• Develop features and benefits to support the product hierarchy, refine the value proposition of products in the category to extract value and conduct annual product rationalization and simplification.
• Partner with the Sales, Marketing and Pricing teams to support commercialization, pricing, and promotional strategies to effectively launch new and improved products. This includes defining product positioning and messaging to highlight benefits and value to establish a competitive advantage in the market with all customer channels.

Competitive Analysis

• Recognized as a product knowledge expert for their product segment.
• Monitor market needs and requirements, taking into account future technologies, codes and standards, competitor products/services and regulatory issues to develop and implement innovative customer solutions for existing and new products

Leading across the Components business

• Lead cross-functional teams (including marketing, sales, operations, supply chain, science & technology, and finance) by effectively utilizing each team member to his/her fullest potential to ensure project goals/milestones are met.
• Engage, motivate, and coach peers and team members across the marketing organization and in other functional areas to deliver results.

• Communicate business strategy and performance to external constituents (customers, industry) effectively and engages them in the vision of the business.  

• Provide clear, timely communications to all stakeholders regarding product changes, packaging changes, new products, etc. This includes providing product training for customers and the sales team.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree is essential, MBA preferred
• 3+ years of Brand/Product Management experience with building materials, consumer products or consumer durable business
• Understanding or experience in building materials, roofing or residential decking preferred
• P&L management experience
• Successfully executing full product / service management including positioning, pricing strategy, margin management, investments, and channel management
• Developing and marketing new products and services; attracting new customers
• Demonstrated quantitative capabilities, including financial, statistical and predictive modeling.
• Increasing margins through management of mix, cost and price
• Proven ability to influence sales organizations to act and achieve goals
• Experience with segmentation and defining strategic brand/product targets
• Collaboration with top customers to develop mutually beneficial growth plans
• Gaining customer, market and competitive insight
• Development of successful internal and external relationships (including with, research & development, operations, finance, sales and external suppliers is highly desired.)
• Flexibility to travel up to 50% of time

EXPERIENCE:

• Product or category management experience within the building products industry desired
• Successfully executing full product / service management including positioning, pricing strategy, margin management, investments, and channel management
• Operating across geographic and cultural boundaries
• Delivering rapid improvement in an organization.
• Participating in the development of strategic plans.
• Three-plus years working in marketing or strategic consulting.
• Two-plus years of direct, customer-facing work experience.
• Demonstrated ability to consistently meet or beat high bar targets and deadlines.
• Development of successful relationships with suppliers and co-marketing partners, highly desired.