Associate Product Manager

Learning Resources•Vernon Hills, IL

2d•$65,000 - $80,000•Hybrid

About The Position

We are Learning Resources®, and learning is where we play. Voted one of the Chicago Tribune’s Top Workplaces, we’re a growing, family-owned company known for our award-winning educational toys, including top sellers Pretend & Play® Calculator Cash Register, Farmer’s Market Color Sorting Set and multiple Toy of the Year winners! We even help pets learn and grow through our pet brand Brightkins®. If you’re curious, collaborative, and a kid at heart, you’ll feel right at home here. Join us in shaping the future of learning with our award-winning team! We are currently seeking a dynamic Associate Product Manager to join our Product Development team. We’re a collaborative and creative team that makes innovative products for children, teachers, parents and even pets! In this role you will assist in the development of a diverse portfolio of amazing products. If you’re an organized, resourceful, creative person who thrives in a team environment and enjoys developing interesting products, this is a great opportunity to bring your talents to an amazing company. Bonus points if you enjoy playing with toys as part of your job!

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree required
2+ years of relevant work experience
Excellent organization, presentation and communication skills (both written and verbal)
Creative mindset with entrepreneurial spirit who thinks outside the box
Self-motivated, able to work with a minimum of supervision and prioritize multiple tasks in a proactive manner.
Proficient in Microsoft Office

Responsibilities

Support Product Managers in the end‑to‑end development of pet toys and pet enrichment products, from concept ideation through launch.
Maintain and update key product development documentation, including pet‑specific timelines, sample tracking, testing results, and cost details.
Work closely with Sales Support and Marketing on key sample requests for customer meetings and trade shows.
Conduct pet industry and consumer trend research, including insights on pet parents, materials, safety standards, durability expectations, and play patterns.
Work with Product Managers and Creative teams on creation of key presentation decks for internal and external meetings.
Organize and lead product testing for new concepts as they relate to the pet toys.
As assigned, create reports for tracking internal product performance as well as competitive industry performance.
Assist in the research and development of content for products.
Ensure new product master list is accurate and updated on an ongoing basis (costing, dimensions, ship dates, etc)