Director, Product Management

Fortune Brands • Deerfield, MI

1d • $140,000 - $220,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Fortune Brands is seeking a Director of Hardware Product Management to lead the hardware product strategy and execution for its Connected Security portfolio, encompassing brands such as Yale, August, Master Lock, and Sentry Safe. This role is pivotal in shaping the next generation of intelligent access across consumer and commercial channels. The Director will serve as the primary 4P owner for hardware, responsible for driving product strategy, pricing, positioning, forecasting, and channel planning for both B2C and B2B verticals. The ideal candidate is a builder who can create clarity from ambiguity, strengthen processes, and achieve results through influence and ingenuity. This position involves leading a hardware PM team supported by dedicated software and design resources, allowing for strategic thinking and operation. Connected Products is a high-visibility growth area within Fortune Brands Innovations, offering direct exposure to senior leadership and significant opportunities for career advancement within the broader organization. The role is eligible for a hybrid schedule, requiring work from the Deerfield, IL HQ office with remote days on Mondays and Fridays.

Requirements

• You're a builder — you define process where it doesn't exist, create clarity from ambiguity, and get more done through influence and ingenuity than org chart
• Deep fluency in consumer electronics or smart home technology product development — you understand hardware constraints, BOM tradeoffs, and what it takes to bring a connected device to market
• Strong 4P instincts: you think naturally about pricing architecture, channel dynamics, positioning strategy, and promotional trade-offs — not just product specs
• Customer obsession: you use research and data to ground decisions, and you can move fluidly between consumer insight and business case
• Cross-functional leadership presence — you can align and motivate engineering, design, sales, operations, and finance toward shared outcomes without direct authority
• Comfortable owning a portfolio with both B2C and B2B dimensions — you understand how the channel dynamics, buyer psychology, and success metrics differ between them, and you build teams that reflect that
• A bias for clarity: you simplify complexity, write crisp product briefs, and make hard prioritization calls
• An instinct for developing others — you invest in your team and raise the standard of practice in the PM function
• 10+ years of Product Management experience, with a meaningful portion in hardware or connected device categories
• Demonstrated experience in consumer electronics, smart home technology, or comparable hardware/software product environments
• Proven track record owning full 4P strategy and taking hardware products from concept through commercial launch
• Experience managing cross-functional teams across engineering, industrial design, supply chain, and go-to-market functions
• Strong background in both primary and secondary customer research; ability to synthesize insight into product strategy
• Experience navigating both retail/e-commerce (B2C) and commercial/B2B go-to-market models
• Demonstrated ability to build and improve product management processes and team capability — not just execute within existing ones
• BA/BS in Engineering, Marketing, or a related field required
• Ability to travel up to 20%, including occasional international travel
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; executive-ready presentation capabilities

Nice To Haves

• Hands-on experience with smart home ecosystem partnerships and an understanding of how the leading smart home platforms operate and integrate with connected hardware
• Familiarity with access control, physical security, or safety product categories
• Experience in multi-brand portfolio management
• Background in channel management across mass retail, specialty, and e-commerce (Amazon 1P/3P, owned DTC)
• MBA preferred

Responsibilities

• Own the full 4P strategy (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) for hardware across the Connected Security portfolio, serving as the primary product authority for Yale, August, Master Lock, and Sentry Safe smart security devices
• Define and maintain a rolling 3-year hardware product roadmap aligned to business strategy, customer needs, and competitive positioning
• Lead by doing as much as by directing — the best hardware PMs on our team are as comfortable writing a product brief or running a line review as they are presenting roadmap to senior leadership
• Lead cross-functional new product development teams through the full product lifecycle — from unmet need identification through commercial launch — across retail, e-commerce, and B2B channels
• Partner closely with engineering, industrial design, operations, and marketing to deliver hardware products that are differentiated, manufacturable, and profitable
• Develop winning go-to-market plans incorporating pricing strategy, channel mix (retail, e-commerce, B2B/MDU), demand forecasting, and messaging frameworks
• Conduct primary and secondary market research, competitive analysis, and consumer insight development to identify category trends and whitespace opportunities
• Translate voice-of-customer and channel partner feedback into clear, actionable product requirements
• Build and develop the hardware product management team — establishing practices, raising the bar on craft, and developing the next generation of PMs
• Align roadmap investments to strategic customer requirements across both consumer (B2C) and business (B2B) segments

Benefits

• Competitive compensation
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits
• Generous PTO policy
• Flexible work model
• Matching 401(k) contributions
• Life insurance
• Tuition/certification reimbursement
• Product discounts
• Robust health plans
• Market-leading 401(k) program with a company contribution
• Flexible time off benefits
• Adoption benefits
• Numerous ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) to foster a sense of belonging for all associates
• Annual bonus plan based on company and individual performance, or a role-based sales incentive plan

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees