Senior Category Manager - Connected Products

Fortune Brands • Riverwoods, IL

245d • $107,000 - $165,000

About The Position

Are you interested in being a part of a fast growing, agile category management team that brings new smart, connected products to market? The Connected Security team has new openings for a Category Manager based at our Global headquarters in Deerfield, Il. The Senior Category Manager will be instrumental in leading and executing category management of one or more product lines within our Connected Products Group, part of the Security Business unit which supports the market leading brands of Master Lock and Yale. The Senior Category Manager creates product roadmaps and defines the strategic vision for their team driven by the overall Security business vision. They have a deep understanding of the target market/industry/user and build close relationships with key stakeholders to ensure that the team's effort is aligned with overall strategy. This role manages dependencies with other team's functions while identifying, building and managing strategic partnership across the different teams. They work closely with the project and development team to ensure business value is maximized by leveraging user feedback. Category Managers will be accountable for specific business OKRs based on Security product line needs.

Requirements

• 6+ years of experience as a Product Manager, Category Manager, or Product Owner, should demonstrate a deep knowledge and passion for how customers work and think.
• Bachelor's Degree in Marketing, Business, Engineering or related field.
• Experience in the Smart Home/Connected Home Industry is preferred.
• Solid knowledge of industry trends pain points to be able to create a high value product vision and user demands.
• Strong communication skills with ability to communicate complex messages and trade-offs and tell a compelling story.
• Entrepreneurial mindset and passion to challenge status quo to find new solutions and drive out of the box ideas - loves and embraces change.
• Able to build a sense of trust and rapport that creates a comfortable & effective workplace.
• Brings a high-energy and passionate outlook to the job and can influence those around them.
• Strong analytical skills, including ability to arrive at insights from analytical data, is essential for market and competitive evaluation, pricing and line management.
• Demonstrated ability to be a team player with skills to lead/participate in cross-functional teams.
• Ability to travel approximately 15%, mainly to trade shows & customer locations.

Responsibilities

• Lead & own the product portfolio strategy for assigned Connected Product Group product lines.
• Develop and execute a 3-year product roadmap plan through conducting ongoing competitive, market, and Voice of Customer (VOC) analysis to deliver best in class solutions.
• Partner with cross-functional product development (hardware & software) teams to help execute new product introductions and provide marketing leadership at business tollgates.
• Articulate product requirements and features to multiple teams (hardware & software) to deliver on value proposition, unique selling proposition, price, margin and supply for new product development.
• Lead pricing decisions for assigned product portfolio driving revenue and margin contribution to achieve P&L objectives.
• Define market segment priorities and partner with Sales & Channel Marketing to establish go-to-market strategies and plans to achieve P&L objectives.
• Own product lifecycle management for assigned product portfolio, including product launches, focus on ongoing sustained product quality, & managing plans for discontinuing product.
• Develop product training content to be delivered internally (to Sales team) and externally (to customers) by Channel Marketing.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health plans
• Market-leading 401(k) program with a company contribution
• Product discounts
• Flexible time off benefits (including half-day summer Fridays per policy)
• Inclusive fertility / adoption benefits
• Numerous Employee Resource Groups to support inclusivity

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Industry: Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree