Focal Point has an immediate opening for a Senior Product Manager! This is a wonderful opportunity to join a dynamic and entrepreneurial Product Management team and manage a market-leading portfolio of architectural lighting products. The Senior Product Manager is responsible for overseeing the full life cycle of products within one of Focal Point’s core product lines, from new product identification through product discontinuation. This position reports to Focal Point’s Chief Marketing Officer.
Roles & Responsibilities:
Product Portfolio Strategy Development
• Develop strong relationships with Focal Point customers and key market stakeholders, especially in top revenue-generating regions, via customer visits, conferences, trade shows, etc.
• Build an advanced understanding of customer/sales value chain and product applications
• Develop and maintain a 1 to 3-year portfolio roadmap and identify key areas for growth
• Assess product concepts and determine investment-worthiness via detailed business analysis
• Prioritize new projects based on objective/subjective metrics that enhance Focal Point’s longterm position in the market
Product Development Activities
• Develop the product scope and specification for new products
• Perform VOC and competitive analysis to gather and prioritize product/customer requirements
• Partner with Engineering to refine product specifications early in the development process; participate in project team and Gate review meetings; help resolve project issues and trade-offs
• Partner with Innovation team to run Lean, targeted pilot programs for ‘new to market’ products
New Product Launch Activities
• Partner with Marketing team to develop core product messaging and positioning
• Establish competitive market pricing for new products and product options
• Perform product demonstrations and act as a key product evangelist
• Provide early product support and product training for Sales and Customer Service teams
• Support Marketing with the development of technical white papers, CEU presentations and other market-facing materials; approve all sales, marketing and technical collateral
• Actively monitor the financial and field performance of the new product launch; work with internal Focal Point teams to address/resolve any variances to performance plan
Existing Portfolio Management
• Develop an understanding of the current product portfolio
• Continuously monitor the portfolio and identify areas of improvement in product marketing tactics, including product feature sets, pricing, distribution, sales incentives and service offering
• Perform and continuously update competitive and market analyses
• Perform business case analysis of custom product development requests
• Develop annual and rolling sales, margin and volume forecasts for portfolio
• Provide detailed analysis and regular performance updates to key internal stakeholders
• Manage product lifecycles, including performing discontinuation analysis
• Support and attend industry trade shows
Strategic Initiative Development and Execution
• Define product value propositions and link to improved sales and marketing tactics
• Identify cost-reduction opportunities and drive the execution of cost-down efforts
• Identify market development opportunities and areas for product enhancement/development to meet market needs
• Assist Senior Product Portfolio Manager with Product Management process development
• Help build market research capabilities and leverage existing/new platforms to scale efforts
Competencies:
• Must possess strong interpersonal, relationship-building, relationship management, and teamwork skills
• Must have outstanding oral, written, and verbal communication and presentation skills, as well as strong persuasion and negotiation skills. Must have a high level of comfort with communicating at every level of the organization, from executives to field personnel
• Must be comfortable and effective in an environment with frequent changes in scope and direction. Candidate shall have strong multi-tasking skills
• Must possess strong business acumen. Candidate shall have a strong understanding of marketing management frameworks and fundamentals. Candidate shall have financial theory competence and be able to calculate NPV, ROI, Payback, and be able to create annual business plan forecasts that can be adjusted monthly
• Proficiency with MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
Qualifications:
• BS/BA in Business, Marketing, Engineering, Economics, or Statistics; MBA preferred
• Minimum of 3-5 years in a Product Management or Product Management support role for a technology portfolio
• Demonstrated success defining and launching excellent products
• Industry experience in lighting, controls, or electronics is preferred
• Experience with an ERP system, preferably Oracle JD Edwards, for data extraction and decision making
• Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams without formal authority
• Must be able to travel 25% of the time
The Company:
Focal Point is a Chicago-based family owned and operated architectural lighting manufacturer. Our vertically integrated manufacturing facilities are fine-tuned to produce high quality products with short lead times. Using the most advanced equipment and processes, Focal Point delivers a superior luminaire. Focal Point’s specification grade products are suited for a broad range of applications, and we’re always reaching out to new markets with innovative designs that are engineered by our own experts. Our ever-expanding product line is sold and distributed via independent lighting agents worldwide.
For more information, please contact:
Randall Chism, Talent Manager
[email protected]
Focal Point is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All candidates will be evaluated on the basis of their qualifications for the job in question. We do not base our employment decision on an employee’s or applicant’s race, color, religion, age, gender or sex (including pregnancy), national origin, ancestry, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic identity, genetic information, disability, veteran/military status or any other basis prohibited by local, state, or federal law.
Visit us online at www.focalpointlights.com
©2019 Focal Point L.L.C. | 4141 S. Pulaski Road, Chicago, IL 60632