Product Manager

GENERA•Vonore, TN

14d

About The Position

The Product Manager – Manufacturing & New Product Development serves as the strategic bridge between product development, manufacturing operations, sales, quality, and customers at Genera. This is a physical-product manufacturing role focused on molded fiber packaging, rather than software or technology product management. The role tracks competitor insights and market trends, sets strategic direction for product portfolio evolution, defines customer needs and product specifications, prioritizes product improvements, and supports commercialization of new products. The ideal candidate has commercial and technical understanding of molded fiber products and strong cross-functional collaboration skills. Success in the role means product specifications are complete, current, and accessible; new products move efficiently from customer need to commercialization; sales receives reliable technical support during customer calls and trials; Genera maintains a current view of its competitive position; and customer feedback consistently informs the NPD roadmap.

Requirements

3–5+ years of product management, product development, or technical sales experience in packaging, foodservice, or a related manufacturing industry.
Experience with product specification management and pack-out or supply-chain documentation.
Ability to read and communicate technical performance data.
Strong cross-functional collaboration skills, including working with NPD, sales, operations, and quality.
Customer-facing experience supporting sales calls and translating technical details for non-technical audiences.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with molded fiber, sustainable packaging, or paper-based foodservice products.
Experience defining testing requirements.
Proficiency with packaging optimization tools such as CapePack or TOPS.

Responsibilities

Own and manage product specifications, spec sheets, and associated documentation across the portfolio.
Define pack-out configurations, including bag, box, pallet, and truck loadout standards.
Maintain accurate and up-to-date product records for sales, operations, and quality teams.
Define and manage proactive and reactive product sample shipments.
Establish product use cases and communicate requirements to New Product Development (NPD).
Help scope new product needs across the portfolio, including Genera classic.
Help define performance testing protocols for new and existing products.
Serve as the primary bridge between NPD and Sales during customer trials, ensuring clear communication and timely resolution of technical questions.
Capture and synthesize customer feedback to align product development priorities with market needs.
Support sales calls with technical product expertise and translate customer challenges into product solutions.
Monitor competitor actions, investments, and product offerings.
Collect and apply market intelligence to inform the NPD roadmap and identify growth and differentiation opportunities.
Define marketplace performance changes needed to support Genera's growth and competitive advantage.
Partner with operations to create new items, develop bills of materials, and support smooth new product introductions.
Collaborate with quality on FDA compliance, compostability certifications, and other regulatory requirements.
Manage third-party testing relationships for compliance validation and competitive benchmarking.
Perform other duties as needed.