Associate Product Manager

MACKENZIE-CHILDS LLC•Town of Ledyard, NY

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Support Product Manager (PM) in all aspects of product development process including, but not limited to, new product design, sourcing, managing, negotiating, assorting and editing product categories in order to maximize assigned categories and company sales growth and profitability. Manage a portion of the product categories as assigned by the PM in order to develop the skills necessary to maximize the company sales growth and profitability.

Requirements

Requires a BA, BS Degree (or equivalent experience)
Proven Microsoft Office 365 skills – especially Excel and PowerPoint with the ability to build Excel models given a general or specific objective.
Minimum of 3-5 working experience.
Requires strong organizational skills, attention to details and the ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
Professional presence and articulate presentation.
Familiarity and adeptness with modern office technology.
Analytical thought process and problem-solving skills.

Nice To Haves

Excellent work ethic and ability to work in fast-paced environment.
Appreciation and respect for cultural and language diversity.
Open-minded and inquisitive to learn new things.

Responsibilities

Assist PM to research unique opportunities, and develop, new products in assigned categories that support our brand direction. Make sure all new development supports our brand direction of fun, quirky, artisanal, positive, colorful and authentic products that convey our point of view on "The Home."
Maintain knowledge of the home furnishings market and associated fashion trends through research and competitive shopping to ensure we are developing unique products that will thrive in a competitive landscape.
Attend trade shows as appropriate to develop marketplace knowledge and perspective to help drive category growth.
Identify trends in categories, styles and silhouettes.
Lead development of unique offerings with direction and approval of Creative Director and VP of Product Development.
Manage assignments given by the Creative Director for development of new product concepts.
In collaboration with PM, develop collections with assigned themes within a range of product value for each collection.
Manage the life cycle of all products in assigned categories which includes strategic planning of the product assortment, vendor selection, communication with the vendor, sampling, sales collateral and packaging inclusion if appropriate, negotiations of tooling and finished costs, pricing, timely delivery, and getting products to market in an organized and timely manner.
Manage manufacturers and agents as assigned to include new development, timely manufacture and shipment, quality assurance and testing protocols.
Negotiate and analyze costs and propose retail prices that meet or exceed margin expectations.
Coordinate with the Quality Control team and subsequently work with PM’s and vendors to identify issues with incoming products and rectify the issue based on results of our product and packaging testing protocol
Lead constructive discussions with executive team in respective categories during the semi-annual new product meetings and style-outs.
Handle all sample inventory movement including location creation, receipt, transfer and proper disposition
In conjunction with PM, promote growth in categories through planning and product development strategies to meet or exceed established goals
Protect the quality and integrity of products by frequent communication with manufacturing resources through production phases. This can be accomplished by checking in with suppliers on a routine 90-, 60-, 30-day calendar.
Assist PM in creating all new product packets and BOMs.
Manage new product lists with product planning through weekly updates.
Review invoices for accuracy prior to payment approval.
Communicate all delay and production issues with management. Manage these to a minimum.
Update all manufacturing sources with any/all changes to products.