Please Contact: Michele Deegan, Human Resources Recruiter: [email protected]
Location: Port Washington, New York
About us:
WAC Lighting celebrates 37 years of consistent, significant growth as a unique “design + build” lighting and technology company. An award-winning industry leader, we boast a stellar reputation of delivering sustainable, responsible lighting fixtures and fans intended to elevate residential, commercial, and hospitality properties, as well as exterior and landscape environments. Our luxurious, specification-grade brands of products keep up with the speed of emerging technology while still maintaining consumer accessibility. WAC Lighting is proud to offer exciting career and professional growth opportunities within a dynamic, energetic, entrepreneurial, and safe workplace for all.
W Schonbek, a wholly owned subsidiary of WAC, operates a robust factory in Plattsburgh, New York with over 100 passionate employees, many of whom developed their craft over the last 30-40 years under the tutelage of two generations of Schonbeks. W Schonbek will continue its 150+ year heritage of crystal lighting in upstate New York while the W Schonbek plant there will also produce technically advanced luminaires for the WAC, Modern Forms, dweLED, and AiSPiRE brands in the W Group. With rapid expansion plans for the Schonbek brand and rigorous investment at the plant, the largest introduction ever of new Schonbek products will be unveiled within the next six months.
Product Manager/Design Engineer Overview:
The Product Manager works with engineering resources to lead new product development & line extensions from concept through product life cycle. This position drives effective market research and develops product that aligns with customer needs. The role includes analyzing return on investment, recommending worthwhile product investments and overseeing the lifecycle process to ensure ROI of development initiatives are realized. As leader of the development process, this position drives teams to meet product release deadlines.
This position is based in our Port Washington, New York headquarters and requires Domestic and International travel for up to 3 weeks at a time (3-4 international trips per year).
Critical Success Factors:
- Development of winning concepts that meet customer needs and sales projections and contribute to the company’s overall growth strategy.
- Effective management of US and global resources to meet product rollout deadlines.
- Successful management of factory resources to meet deadlines and service level agreements.
- Effective management of material/development costs and product life cycles to ensure ROI on new product initiatives.
Responsibilities:
- Works with Marketing and Sales to develop market research strategy to effectively identify customer needs for new products and existing product improvements.
- Works with internal and external design resources to develop cutting edge new product concepts to meet customer expectations and achieve sales targets. Looks for the latest trends in technology.
- Manages the development of new product proposals including design engineering architectural concepts, design engineering specifications and new technology recommendations.
- Works with sales team to identify sales forecasts based on product specifications.
- Work with product and purchasing teams to identify cost associated with development of each product, analyzes ROI and makes recommendations on products worth moving forward.
- Works with purchasing team to identify cost effective material vendors while maintaining expected quality and service levels.
- Manage schedules for production including pilot run, product and finish review, label production, and initial order quantities (IOQ).
- Drives Product Management and engineering teams to meet product rollout deadlines. Assists in overcoming barriers as they arise.
- Coaches, trains, motivates and mentors in-direct staff.
- Works with Product Managers and Engineers to provide the appropriate technical materials including product design story, specifications, photometrics, etc. to support effective product launches and assist the sales & marketing team in achieving sales targets.
- Develop effective training and tools for Sales and Support teams.
- Identify and form relationships with strong strategic partners.
- Identify, investigate and influence code and standards related to new products.
- Measures ongoing success of each product line developed by the team to ensure ROI is realized.
- Oversees product lifecycle and product SKUs to effectively support business needs and enhance efficiencies.
Requirements:
- S. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering/Electrical/Electronics Engineering or a related field of study.
- 5-15 years of product development experience in a manufacturing environment.
- Experience managing the full life cycle of an electronics consumer product.
- Strong interpersonal, analytical, verbal and written communication skills.
- Strong organization and project management skills.
- Ability to meet tight and changing deadlines.
- Domestic and International travel for up to 3 weeks at a time (3-4 international trips per year).
- Effective presentation skills and the ability to communicate with individuals at all levels of the organization.
- Ability to drive directives through non-direct reports.
- Attention to detail in composing materials, establishing priorities and meeting deadlines.
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with demonstrated ability to juggle multiple competing tasks/demands.
- Strong knowledge of a variety of computer software applications in Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Cad via Solid Works or Professional Engineer.
- Knowledge of a luxury consumer product brand is a plus.
- Mandarin Chinese language capabilities a plus.
Our Compensation and Benefits Package:
We are committed to investing in people as our most valuable asset.
Our competitive salary and benefits package includes and is not limited to:
- Generous PTO.
- Robust Medical, Dental and Vision benefits plans.
- Matching 401(k).
- Tuition reimbursement.
- Professional training and development opportunities.