Assistant Director of Product Development & Innovation

Horizon Group USA, Inc.•New Providence, NJ

1d•$100,000 - $140,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Assistant Director of Product Development & Innovation drives product development and innovation strategy for assigned categories, including trend identification and translation, product assortments and custom programs, portfolio rationalization, and category growth through adjacent opportunities in Kids Craft & Activity. The role calls for a product-focused, entrepreneurial leader who can thrive in a fast-paced environment. The position owns the vision for designated brands and leads products from concept through merchandising handoff, working across merchandising, design, sourcing, compliance, sales, engineering, and overseas teams. It also guides new product execution while maintaining existing products; evaluates market and category opportunities; supports strategic sourcing and costing; and mentors and develops the product development and innovation team. The role is based in New Providence, New Jersey, with a hybrid requirement of at least two onsite days per week.

Requirements

At least 8 years of experience in product development, merchandising, or brand management, ideally in a fast-paced, quick-turnaround industry.
Experience in custom product development is required.
Ability to lead dynamically, manage multiple tasks, and adapt amid shifting priorities.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present effectively to large audiences.
Ability to work in a hybrid capacity from the New Providence, New Jersey office at least twice per week.

Nice To Haves

Toy, Tween, or Craft industry experience is highly preferred.

Responsibilities

Own the vision for designated brands, driving product development and execution aligned with assigned brands and programs; work with the licensing team on strategic partnerships and reposition products or brands as market conditions change.
Oversee the creative product development process and enforce milestones from conceptualization through merchandising handoff, working with senior cross-functional leaders.
Drive new product execution while maintaining the existing product portfolio, and lead white-space due diligence to identify growth opportunities.
Mentor the creative development team in connecting ideation and marketability to sales generation and profitability.
Work with merchandising teams to align projects with divisional goals, including brand extensions, category expansion, direct sourcing initiatives, and parallel category diversification.
Work with sales and merchandising leads to quantify and prioritize category growth opportunities in consideration of corporate initiatives and core competencies.
Collaborate with design and engineering teams to generate and execute product and packaging concepts.
Communicate with overseas offices about existing brands, new product development, and global sourcing initiatives.
Lead strategic sourcing and negotiation efforts for projects involving new product categories, partnering with merchandising, sourcing, and Shanghai teams; identify vendor needs outside the existing vendor matrix to develop incremental subcategories.
Work with product safety and compliance teams to maintain quality across kids’ product categories.
Lead regular competitive landscape reports across major distribution channels to identify market and product gaps and opportunities.
Collaborate with internal teams to prepare for retail presentations and industry trade shows.
Partner with merchandising leads, global sourcing, and overseas merchandising teams on strategic costing negotiations; innovate toward costing goals while maintaining product integrity.
Use POS data to identify plans for capitalizing on trending products and categories and to identify distribution and retail-laddering gaps.
Lead product vision alongside design execution across the organization and provide product development leadership to all business segments.
Train, develop, and mentor members of the product development and innovation team.