Product Manager

Company Description

Job Description

Location; Nr Poole

Salary: to £30k + benefits and free parking

My client is a family run business who are growing and successful and as such there has been a recent restructure at senior level leading to a new career opening for an experienced, talented and ambitious Product Manager in the Consumer Goods market.

If you have a passion for new product development and are excited by the idea of managing and developing a range of party and cake decorating products – we wouldLOVEto hear from you!

Job Description – Summary

This important role will embrace 2 key areas: the hands-on management of all aspects of the Company’s current product portfolio; the research and development of new products which will add incremental profits to the business.

The Product Manager will:

1. Strategically plan and develop the product ranges under the Company’s brands with current and new distributor relationships, as well as with custom new product development, from inception through design to manufacture utilising a worldwide supply base.
2. Be the company’s product expert and ‘go to’ understanding the products and their markets inside and out.
3. Manage the company’s product range, ensuring the range truly reflects the corporate values of products with innovative and attractive designs, great value for money, and excellent quality.
4. Manage all the design, quality, pricing, packaging, including POS of all product ranges and display equipment, ensuring they are right for the company’s target consumers and retail channels, and will achieve or exceed the company’s sales and margin targets.
5. Ensure all their products are compliant for the markets they sell to, with hands-on involvement with product technical compliance.
6. Ensure the Sales team and all their customers receive the highest standard of support.
7. Ensure the Product and Marketing Department plays a key role in achieving great teamwork and productivity throughout the entire business
8. Be a key asset in a Product and Marketing team of 4.

Essential skills and experience required

• A minimum of 3 years recent experience in product management/ product development role in a B2B and consumer products environment, ideally in a related industry. (Note: If you don’t quite meet this level of experience please detail your relevant experience in a cover letter.)
• Passion for the party products industry and be a lover of all things cake and baking!
• Excellent English skills – particularly for product copy writing and proofing purposes.
• An exceptionally keen eye for detail (‘eagle-eye’ we call it!) and be highly organised.
• Excellent skills in Microsoft Office, particularly advanced knowledge of Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Commercial flair, sound judgement and exceptional project management and implementation skills.
• A sound grasp of financial issues including margin, cost. Numeracy is key!
• An approachable, co-operative and flexible, and ‘can do’ attitude with strong team player skills.
• A keen interest in and understanding of the latest trends, social media, popular culture. A real flair for all things creative and an ‘eye for design’.
• Must be prepared to ‘go the extra mile’ to meet deadlines and to make a positive, hands-on difference during very busy periods.
• Driving licence and own transport required for market research and trade shows.

Other ideal skills and experience

• People management.
• Managing worldwide supplier/factory relationships, especially Far East suppliers.
• Working with ecommerce platforms.
• Recent experience of product technical compliance and responsible sourcing.
• Knowledge of:
  • Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign.
  • WordPress
  • Shopify
  • MailChimp
  • Sage 200
• Higher education in a related discipline

Qualifications

Additional Information