Posted by Klean Kanteen on 06/21/2019

Job Basics

Industry Sector: Outdoor

Job Categories: Manufacturing

Company Type: Retail

State: CA

City: Chico

Country: United States

Required Experience:

Job Type: Full Time

Salary:

Required to Relocate: Yes

Required to Travel: Yes

Employee May Telecommute: No

Job Seeker Must Live Within:

Job Description & Requirements

Posting closes on 7/12/19 at 4:30 p.m. PT

 

General Purpose:

The Director of Product is a leadership role that owns all things "Product", worldwide.  This is a senior-level manager position and is ultimately responsible for understanding and addressing our customers’ needs, creating, proposing and implementing compelling business plans, managing the product lifecycle of new and existing products in all categories and managing the development and launch of product solutions for our global markets.  This position closely collaborates with Marketing, Sales and Project teams to create, manage and implement the short- and long-term plans that are required to support a successful commercialization and launch of each new product and seasonal line plan.

Organizational Chart / Reporting Relationship:

Supervision Exercised:  Assistant Product Manager, Product Coordinator, Outside Resources

Supervision Received:  President/CEO

Essential Functions:

• Product Management:  Responsible and accountable for developing and driving product planning, road mapping and business plans that deliver Klean's optimal product offering, profitable growth, end-of-life and responsible design, solutions that eliminate the need for single use items, continuous product improvement and market launch success

• New Product Development:  Responsible and accountable for the successful identification, development and launch of new products, working closely with Project Manager, and “owns” all product-related responsibilities in New Product Development process 
• Go-To-Market (GTM) Planning:  Responsible for creating and implementing successful GTM Plans for new products as well as planning and driving the ongoing performance, profitability and continuous improvement of existing products lines

Duties / Responsibilities to accomplish Essential Functions:

Specific responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:

Mission and Values:

• Is a champion and advocate of the mission in all actions and interactions with our customers, partners and staff
• Actively supports Klean Kanteen values

Leadership and Collaboration

• Hires, inspires, coaches and sets accountability measures for all direct report
• Responsible for managing team performance through monthly 1:1s with staff, goal development, peer feedback, bi-annual performance reviews and annual merit increase recommendations
• Provides oversight and direction to staff to meet stated company and department goals
• Actively participates in the development plan for the team as in their own professional growth plan
• Develops processes and plans, as needed, for implementation across the organization to increase communication and understanding of stated product line goals
• Effectively collaborates across all internal and external constituencies
• Actively supports code of conduct related to sustainability and environmental stewardship
• Actively supports a culture of accountability while maintaining the camaraderie and friendly nature so valued by the staff and leadership team of Klean Kanteen
• Actively supports a culture of transparency to the team and consumers of Klean Kanteen
• Follows departmental processes and procedures
• Measures and monitors progress against objectives and performance targets

Product Management: 

• Identifies new product opportunities and translates them into 3-year product maps that detail the means for achieving profitable growth and mission objectives by envisioning new concepts, platforms and products that will meet customers’ future needs while anticipating market trends 
• Leads the creation, proposal and implementation of business plans related to new and existing products
• Partners with internal and external stakeholders to understand competitive landscape, customer needs, and market trends, translating them into product use and performance requirements and leads efforts to create product solutions
• Ensures overall product line revenue and profitability; delivers expected ROIs; Manages Product department budget
• Responsible for product line and category performance; measures and monitors progress towards achieving NPD objectives and performance targets
• Directly contributes to sustainability initiatives, including: Green Screen, CHA, HIGG Index, and the like; identifies and leads the improvements to the entire product line based on these objective measures
• Works in close collaboration with all functions of Sales, Marketing, Sustainability and Operations to ensure alignment of all activities and communications
• Responsible for all product definitions, configuration specifications and related system set-ups and implementations
• Leads integration of new products to the Sales, Marketing and Field Marketing Teams
• Understands the regulatory requirements for children's products and international markets; RSL/Material needs 

New Product Development:

• Leads creation of product vision and strategies that align with and support of the overall company vision, mission and strategies
• Is a key product contributor to overall company strategic planning
• Responsible for and contributes to new product development efforts by conceiving and innovating new products, recommending opportunities and is the champion of the customer voice, serving real customer needs, and is the Product representative on new product development teams
• Responsible for the timely initiation and development of concepts and works to minimize total life cycle impact of products; ensures ongoing alignment to and efficient and effective practice of product development process
• Works closely with the Product team and partners with Project teams to clearly define project goals and requirements  
• Responsible for ensuring products are being developed to meet identified customer and market needs 

Go-To-Market (GTM) Planning:

• Responsible for and leads the creation, implementation, and execution of GTM Plans, pricing and cost targets, forecasts and financial modeling, sales training and coordination, promotions, packaging, distribution, etc.
• Helps lead and support Marketing and Sales efforts by developing effective GTM Plans, conveying clear vision and plans to achieve product road map
• Proactively communicates GTM plans and execution, conducting product training, participating in key sales meetings, developing and creating inputs to effective marketing and sales materials, and attending key trade shows and account meetings

Job Qualifications:

Knowledge, Skill, Ability and Core Competencies:

• Demonstrated expertise of product management and product development
• Demonstrated strategic thinking and concept development skills
• Ability to create effective strategies, clear plans and manage budgets; Ability to translate product objectives into highest ROI; strong business acumen and financial analysis skills
• Demonstrated management and leadership skills; Ability to effectively work across entire organization and at all levels
• Demonstrated competency in new product development and Stage/Gate development processes.
• Ability to translate market research to actionable business plans, product requirements and marketing plan; extensive knowledge of forecasting, business plan budgeting and product strategy and road mapping
• Demonstrated ability to think creatively and provide highly desirable and marketable product solutions; effective at dealing with ambiguity; Highly creative
• Ability to inspire, build and maintain trust and motive others; Ability to effectively work across entire organization at all levels
• Ability to coach, mentor and develop direct reports and others; Provide clear direction and goals while holding people accountable; Effectively delegates
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; Active listener; Superb presentation skills.
• Ability to make good, timely decisions – think quickly, act decisively and inform others; 
• Able to work independently; self-starter and self-motivated
• Strong teamwork and interpersonal skills
• Constantly drives for results that meet objectives while meeting or exceeding customer expectations, thus continually strengthening the brand
• Proficient in MS Office 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams) and other related office platforms (web browsers / search engines)

Education or Formal Training:

• Minimum:  Bachelor’s degree in Marketing/Business or directly related work experience required.   MBA or equivalent preferred

Experience:

Direct or relevant combination of training and experience that would provide the required knowledge, skills and abilities in qualifying.

• 7+ years’ experience in product management, new product development, strategic product planning, marketing analysis and commercialization required
• 3+ years’ experience in management and leadership of product management function strongly preferred
• 5+ years’ experience in conceptualizing and communicating new product ideas based on understanding customer needs, market gaps and applications strongly preferred.
• 5+ years’ experience developing and bring new products to market and attaining market share required
• Project Management experience preferred
• Sustainable, environmentally friendly consumer products experience preferred

Material and Equipment Directly Used:

• Desktop PC, MS Office suite, standard computer printers and faxes, copy machines and other office equipment
• Adobe, project management software (Gantt charts, Microsoft PROJECT or equivalent); ERP systems (SAGE)

Working Environment/Physical Activities:

• Willingness to travel up to 25% of the time; Some international travel
• Periodic access / communication after normal business hours
• Standard business / cubicle environment
• Bending, and reaching forward, sideways, and overhead
• Finger dexterity to perform functions on computer and access files
• Sitting for long periods at a time
• Must be located within proximity / short commute to Klean Kanteen corporate offices

 

 EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER / AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT COMPLIANT / VETERANS’ PREFERENCE POLICY / DRUG-FREE WORKPLACE

 

 

About Klean Kanteen