Product and Application Manager

Toray Advanced Composites USA,Inc•Morgan Hill, CA

2d•$150,000 - $195,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Toray Advanced Composites (TAC) is a leading supplier of advanced composite materials for the aerospace, sporting goods, motorsport, and industrial markets. Our thermoset composite products are used in a wide range of applications, including satellites, space launch vehicles, military and commercial aircraft, mountain bikes, medical prosthetics, and sports equipment. Our thermoplastic prepregs, known as Cetex®, are utilized in commercial and military aircraft for large wing structures and interior applications such as seats and galleys. Cetex products are available in unidirectional tape or fabric form with various engineered thermoplastic resins like PEEK, PPS, PEI, as well as performance thermoplastics including Nylon, PET, PC/ABS, HDPE, and PP. The Product Manager will lead the integrated strategic oversight, planning, and management of Toray Advanced Composites’ (TAC) product portfolio, working closely across functions. This includes commercial aspects with Sales & Marketing, manufacturing and capacity with Operations, and technology/qualification roadmap efforts with R&PT/Expert Services. The person in this role will actively lead and participate in cross-functional initiatives associated with the portfolio. The position will act in a customer-facing role and will work closely with the internal teams to drive growth of Toray’s Thermoplastic product portfolio. The Product Manager will effectively link product growth strategies across the Sales, Marketing, Technology, and Operations organizations as the Toray Composites businesses rapidly grow and expand. This includes outlining priorities for new product development, facilitating new product introduction processes, and product lifecycle management. The Product Manager is responsible for creating clear, accountable processes to maximize profit, revenue and production efficiency from a portfolio management standpoint. This role includes leading the Field Application Development Team and a dotted line oversight of the Thermoplastic Product Manager role.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, chemical, material science or related field or equivalent education/professional experience required
Minimum of 5 years’ experience leading product development, application development and/or sales teams in a highly technical manufacturing environment
Experience in the composite materials industry preferred
Proven ability to develop and execute tactical sales and marketing plans in a technical environment desired
Experience in strategic planning and execution
Knowledge of new product development (NPD) and new product introduction (NPI) processes
Experience in establishing costing and pricing models for products and services in the composites industry
Experience working in a customer-facing technical role
Ability to make decisions with limited set of data and high level of ambiguity
Effective in taking charge and pushing beyond boundaries and ability to solve problems creatively and/or provide on the spot solutions
Ability to understand the business impact of the decisions taken
Excellent industry and technical knowledge
Flexible schedule and ability to travel ~50% or more visiting customers, technology centers and TAC facilities if not residing locally.
Advanced abilities with MS Office software tools (Word™, PowerPoint™, Excel™)
Excellent communication skills required

Responsibilities

Lead the Application Development efforts including direct management of the existing Field Expert Services team covering both Thermosets and Thermoplastics
Specifically manage the Thermoplastic product portfolio and drive further development and success in the marketplace
Establish TAC’s value proposition, strategy and product development needs within the key market segments
Collect market information, including competitive benchmarks, trends, opportunities, customer expectations and market needs
Act as the liaison between Sales, Manufacturing Operations, Research & Technical teams, being an integral member leveraging the new Sales, Inventory & Operation Planning information
Coordinate new opportunity screening and lead New Product Introduction (NPI) activities for the Thermoplastic product portfolio and recommend and champion new product line extensions to further differentiate Toray in the composite marketplace
Lead portfolio and product management process integration between key TAC locations
Translate market needs into product requirements; work in collaboration with the technology/R&D functions to prioritize product development activity – work with commercial team to develop robust business cases to justify new development programs
Have extensive knowledge of TAC product cost structures, product standards creation and validation and future economy of scale cost modeling
Establish pricing strategies for the product portfolios & consult the sales organization on price setting, pricing strategies and negotiations
Support business development efforts revolving around woven, unidirectional thermoplastic composite materials as well as supplemental products
Assess market segment attractiveness, planning, annual sales budget and forecast development
Provide sales support (internally and externally), customer education and customer support
Support trade shows and other market related activities, working closely with the marketing team with product launches, marketing campaigns and creation of supporting marketing collateral including SDS, PDS and whitepapers
Capture, interpret and communicate market/customer requirements and needs
Closely track key competitor activities and adapt TAC strategy to changing market conditions
Work with external third parties to assess partnerships and licensing opportunities
Assist in measuring /monitoring portfolio profitability
Ensure sales and service product training occurs, develop product demos and decide on demo content
Create long-term competitive strategy for the product portfolios
Track capacity and raw material supply issues in collaboration with operations
Member of the Global Product Management team developing and implementing business process alignment across TAC globally
Support product stewardship activities, ensuring that regulatory, sustainability, and compliance considerations are incorporated into portfolio decisions throughout the product lifecycle. This includes engaging with internal and external stakeholders to develop TAC’s proactive product stewardship strategy and development of sustainable and EH&S optimized materials