Product Development Manager

Our Place•Los Angeles, CA

5d•Onsite

About The Position

Our Place is seeking an organized, experienced, and passionate Product Development Manager to lead product development efforts from concept to launch for kitchen or appliance projects. This role is crucial in supporting the entire product development team by building processes, tools, and fostering cross-departmental learning. The position requires extensive collaboration with Product Development, Design, Engineering, Sourcing, Production, Quality, Marketing, Creative, Customer Experience, and Operations teams, as well as managing external partners and factories. This is an opportunity to lead projects from inception to completion and significantly impact one of the fastest-growing kitchenware brands.

Requirements

At least 2-3 years of experience developing products in cookware, kitchenwares, appliances, or other relevant hard goods categories.
Strong design point of view with the ability to translate and communicate trends and competitive learnings into actionable ideas or suggestions that fit the Our Place aesthetic and customer.
Experience with margin and assortment analysis.
Familiarity with e-commerce merchandising best practices.
Strong communication skills with the ability to liaison and lead projects across many teams and internal/external stakeholders.
Strong presentation skills with ability to persuade and garner support with well-supported and clearly communicated proposals.
Passionate about product and solving design challenges, big and small.
Passionate about food/cooking and excited to use-test regularly.
Thrive at developing strong vendor relationships domestically and internationally — ability while simultaneously managing day-to-day development communications.
Experience with (or understanding of) product compliance and testing.
Ability to be flexible and wear multiple hats in a fast-growing and rapidly-evolving organization.
Skilled in building processes and tools to support cross-functional communication.
Be based in the LA area or willing to relocate.
Excited to travel internationally in the future.

Nice To Haves

Ability to speak Mandarin or be multi-lingual.

Responsibilities

Conduct thorough competitive analysis, research, and merchandising strategies for owned product developments and general category to set the stage for new product launches.
Communicate daily with domestic and international suppliers, independently leading and managing the full lifecycle of new development projects, from concept to launch.
Collaborate daily with internal design, engineering, supply chain, consumer insights, and marketing partners, to develop, design, and perfect the Our Place product line.
Create and maintain detailed timing & action calendars, WIPs, costing grids, and product briefs.
Lead competitive reviews, pricing strategy, and provide IMU & contribution margin analyses internally.
Offer creative solutions for improvement or strategically weigh concessions or changes that may be required vs their impact.
Troubleshoot development and timeline issues using creative thinking while maintaining a positive and calm attitude as the project’s leader.
Partner with Brand, Creative, Marketing, and Customer Experience teams on samples for photoshoots and end-to-end marketing and customer experience efforts relating to products offered.
Attend trade shows and visit manufacturing partners internationally as required.