Director of Product Development and Industrialization
About The Position
The Director of Product Development and Industrialization provides strategic leadership for the development, commercialization, and industrialization of proprietary hobby products from concept through production. The role leads Product Development, Product Engineering, and Industrialization resources and oversees the systems, processes, tooling, molds, manufacturing equipment, and technical capabilities needed to deliver innovative, high-quality products to market. Working closely with Brand, Sales, Marketing, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Finance, Tooling, and external partners, the Director identifies market opportunities, translates customer needs into successful products, and ensures products are designed, developed, and launched efficiently. The role balances technical excellence with business performance, aligning product investments with growth objectives, customer demand, profitability targets, and long-term strategic priorities. This is a full-time, on-site position at the Pro-Line facility in Banning, California. The stated schedule is Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST. Typical pay is $105,000–$125,000, with the final offer based on the selected candidate's experience and qualifications. The position may also be eligible for a bonus not included in the base pay range.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Engineering, Product Development, or a related field.
- At least 8 years of experience in product management, category management, business management, product development, or a related leadership role.
- At least 5 years of experience leading and developing teams.
- Demonstrated success growing a product category, business unit, or consumer product portfolio.
- Experience developing and launching successful products from concept through commercialization.
- Strong financial acumen, including experience managing budgets, forecasting, business cases, and profitability.
- Proven ability to develop business strategies and translate them into measurable results.
- Excellent leadership, communication, and organizational skills.
- Strong analytical and strategic thinking capabilities.
- Ability to travel as required for customer visits, product testing, trade shows, industry events, and supplier meetings.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in the RC, hobby products, powersports, automotive aftermarket, consumer products, or related industries.
- Experience working directly with enthusiast communities, racers, influencers, or brand ambassadors.
- Familiarity with manufacturing processes, new product introduction, and global sourcing environments.
- Experience using product lifecycle management (PLM) and project management systems.
Responsibilities
- Partner with Brand and cross-functional teams to define product roadmaps, priorities, resources, and timelines.
- Drive innovation and development investments that strengthen market position, customer satisfaction, growth, and return on investment.
- Identify and prioritize new product opportunities using customer insight, competitive analysis, market trends, and commercial potential.
- Lead and develop Product Development, Product Engineering, and Industrialization teams supporting proprietary products.
- Own product development from concept and engineering through validation, launch, and lifecycle management.
- Strengthen quality, scalability, execution, and organizational capability through standards, coaching, succession planning, accountability, and continuous improvement.
- Monitor portfolio performance and align cross-functional priorities to achieve revenue, profitability, and strategic objectives.
- Contribute to portfolio planning, market expansion, long-range growth, budgeting, forecasting, and resource allocation.
- Provide senior leadership with business reviews, development updates, performance metrics, and recommendations.
- Lead new-product industrialization from concept through launch, applying DFM and DFA to optimize quality, scalability, cost, and manufacturing readiness.
- Partner across Engineering, Manufacturing, Tool Room, suppliers, and development teams to resolve challenges and improve processes, tooling, and capacity.
- Track launch, readiness, quality, and productivity performance to drive continuous improvement.
- Define requirements and roadmaps for molds, tooling, fixtures, machinery, automation, and manufacturing technology.
- Lead capital planning and business cases that improve capability, productivity, quality, cost, and return on investment.
- Manage external tooling and manufacturing partners, strengthen internal capabilities, and maintain effective engineering data and technical documentation processes.
- Build strategic relationships with domestic and international manufacturing, tooling, engineering, and supplier partners.
- Evaluate supplier capabilities and performance to improve quality, speed, cost competitiveness, and alignment with business objectives.
- Travel as required for customer visits, product testing, trade shows, industry events, and supplier meetings.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage
- HSA and FSA options
- Short-term and long-term disability insurance
- Life insurance and supplemental life insurance
- 401(k) with a company match
- Paid time off
- Paid holidays
- Internal rewards
- Discounts on products
- Additional coverage such as accident, critical illness, hospital, and pet insurance
- The position may be eligible for a bonus not included in the base pay range
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
