Product Category Manager - Soft Seating

Demco, Inc.•Madison, WI

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Are you a strategic product leader with a passion for soft seating categories and building winning product portfolios? We’re looking for an experienced Product Category Manager to set the long-term vision for a portfolio of product lines and lead a team of Product Managers to bring that vision to life. This role blends strategy, people leadership, and portfolio ownership, with a strong emphasis on managing and growing a soft seating product category in a dynamic, customer-focused environment.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in related field
8+ years of product management experience, including direct ownership of a soft seating product category.
Proven success setting category strategy and managing multi-year product roadmaps.
Demonstrated experience leading and developing Product Managers.
Strong financial acumen with experience making portfolio-level investment decisions.
Excellent leadership, communication, and influencing skills.

Responsibilities

Own Portfolio & Category Strategy
Set and champion the strategic direction for a portfolio of product lines, with a primary focus on soft seating categories
Define category strategies, value propositions, and competitive positioning that align with company growth goals.
Analyze market trends, customer insights, and competitive dynamics to uncover growth opportunities and manage risk.
Prioritize investments and make portfolio-level trade-offs to maximize impact.
Lead New Product Development
Provide leadership and oversight for multi-year new product development roadmaps.
Ensure roadmaps are strategically aligned, financially sound, and executable.
Review and approve product concepts, business cases, and major investments.
Partner cross-functionally to ensure development capacity, timelines, and successful launches.
Develop & Inspire a High-Performing Team
Lead, coach, and mentor a team of Product Managers.
Establish best practices, tools, and consistent product management processes.
Build a strong product culture centered on customer value, accountability, and results.
Collaborate Across the Business
Serve as the senior product leader and escalation point for product decisions.
Align closely with marketing, sales, operations, engineering, and finance.
Communicate portfolio strategy, progress, and risks to executive leadership.
Represent product in strategic planning and long-range forecasting.
Drive Performance & Lifecycle Excellence
Own portfolio-level performance, including revenue growth, margin, and ROI.
Guide lifecycle decisions from launch through expansion and end-of-life.
Ensure post-launch learnings inform future roadmaps and strategy.