Director of Controls, Monitoring and Connected Products

Chemelex•Detroit, IN

11d

About The Position

The Director of Controls, Monitoring and Connected Products leads Chemelex’s global portfolio strategy, product roadmap, and end-to-end delivery of new products and solutions across controls, monitoring, sensing, and connected products. The role converts market, customer, competitive, business, and technology intelligence into portfolio priorities and product investment decisions, with accountability for revenue growth, margin improvement, customer value, and competitive differentiation. The Director leads the product and program management team and partners across engineering, commercial, and operational functions to develop business cases and execute new product introduction (NPI) programs. Responsibilities span the full NPI lifecycle, from opportunity definition and concept refinement through development, industrialization, commercial readiness, launch, and post-launch evaluation. The role also monitors portfolio performance and guides product lifecycle decisions. This position requires leading cross-functional teams in a global, matrixed organization, developing product and program management capabilities, and communicating portfolio strategy, performance, risks, and recommendations to senior leadership. Domestic and international travel may be required.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, Marketing, or a related technical or commercial discipline.
At least 10 years of progressive experience in product management, portfolio leadership, program management, or related commercial and technical leadership roles for complex engineered products.
Experience leading and developing product and program management teams, with accountability for portfolio strategy and NPI delivery.
Experience managing products that integrate hardware, firmware, embedded software, and connected capabilities.
Strong technical aptitude and ability to engage credibly with R&D, Engineering, technical customers, and subject-matter experts.
Success developing product and portfolio strategies, roadmaps, value propositions, business cases, product investment recommendations, pricing strategies, and lifecycle plans.
Experience leading complex, multidisciplinary NPI programs from opportunity definition and concept development through industrialization, commercial readiness, and launch.
Working knowledge of stage-gate, Agile, hybrid, waterfall, and other development methods, and judgment to select an appropriate approach.
Strong financial and commercial acumen, including revenue and margin analysis, forecasting, business-case development, return-on-investment analysis, and portfolio trade-offs.
Ability to synthesize customer, market, financial, competitive, quality, and technical inputs into clear strategic priorities and executable plans.
Strong people leadership skills, including coaching, developing, prioritizing, and holding teams accountable for results.
Excellent communication, executive presentation, facilitation, influencing, and stakeholder-management skills.
Ability to lead across functions and regions in a global, matrixed organization with competing priorities and complex decisions.
Customer focus, sound judgment, high integrity, and bias for action.
Willingness to travel domestically and internationally as required.

Nice To Haves

MBA or relevant advanced degree.

Responsibilities

Lead the global portfolio vision, product strategy, roadmap, and lifecycle direction for controls, monitoring, and connected products.
Set portfolio priorities based on industry, market, customer, competitive, business, and technology intelligence to drive revenue and EBITDA growth.
Make portfolio and roadmap decisions covering new product development, enhancements, platform opportunities, rationalization, and buy, build, or partner alternatives.
Develop and evaluate value propositions, business cases, and solution alternatives based on customer value, strategic fit, financial return, technical feasibility, and organizational capability.
Monitor portfolio revenue, margin, growth, quality, mix, product health, and return on investment, and initiate actions to improve results.
Build a fact base using market and business intelligence, voice of customer, customer workflows, win/loss analysis, competitive activity, regulatory trends, technology developments, quality performance, and warranty data.
Translate insights into technology and platform strategies, portfolio priorities, product concepts, requirements, and roadmaps.
Partner with Sales, the Projects organization, Market Intelligence, regional teams, and other market-facing functions to understand needs across geographies, applications, and market segments.
Use direct and indirect customer feedback to identify and prioritize unmet customer needs and pain points.
Identify emerging portfolio opportunities and threats and incorporate proactive actions into strategic business and product plans.
Support major customer engagements, strategic account discussions, conferences, product councils, and executive presentations as needed.
Account for successful delivery of portfolio NPI programs and their intended customer and business outcomes.
Translate approved opportunities into programs with defined requirements, value propositions, business cases, success measures, resource commitments, and integrated execution plans.
Drive NPI execution from concept refinement through product development, verification and validation, industrialization, supply readiness, pricing, marketing, training, documentation, service readiness, launch, and post-launch evaluation.
Coordinate delivery of complete product offerings, including hardware, firmware, software, accessories, supporting assets, and capabilities.
Drive commercial readiness through value propositions, positioning, messaging, launch plans, sales enablement, training, and channel support.
Review program health, schedule, cost, scope, quality, risk, and tollgate readiness; resolve trade-offs and escalate material decisions or barriers.
Strengthen product development planning and discipline, promote compliance with the NPI process, and improve speed, quality, predictability, and business value.
Evaluate post-launch results against approved business cases and apply lessons learned to future products and programs.
Set lifecycle priorities for enhancements, quality improvements, cost reduction, value analysis and engineering, compliance, obsolescence, and product sunsetting.
Partner with Application Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, and Codes and Standards on sustaining needs, product improvements, compliance, and market readiness.
Drive portfolio simplification and rationalization when it improves customer clarity, operational efficiency, or financial performance.
Maintain a balanced portfolio of new development, product improvement, and lifecycle actions aligned with business priorities.
Lead, coach, and develop the product and program management team for Controls, Monitoring, and Connected Products.
Establish clear accountabilities, priorities, and operating expectations for product and program managers.
Hold product owners accountable for assigned product strategy, performance, priorities, and outcomes, and program managers accountable for integrated planning, cross-functional execution, risk management, and NPI delivery.
Build product and program management capabilities, succession plans, and a culture of disciplined execution.
Align engineering, commercial, financial, and operational functions; facilitate stakeholder alignment and drive timely decisions and accountability across teams.
Communicate portfolio strategy, performance, program status, risks, opportunities, and recommended decisions to senior leadership.