Product Development Manager

at  SharkNinja

Our purpose is to positively impact people’s lives every day in every home around the world! We work very hard to provide our consumers with high-quality, exciting 5-star products that make life easier. We thrive on passion and innovation and are looking for great people, with great ideas, who want to build the next big thing and develop while they do.
The Product Development organization within SharkNinja drives our global product roadmap from concept to shelf through the constant lens of the consumer. We are the “product CEOs” and partner cross-functionally with almost every other team within the company to drive high satisfaction for our end user and to drive business results. We are comprised of individuals from a variety of professional and educational backgrounds, from product marketing managers to consumer-focused engineers – but we all have one thing in common: we’re consistently striving to deliver a 5-star experience for every customer on every product we bring to market.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

The Product Development Manager defines, develops, and implements new products globally from proof of concept to retail launch and often have continued impact beyond. You will relentlessly and successfully drive continuous innovation and seek to deliver 5-star customer experiences across the global business for SharkNinja. You have the mindset that anything is possible and possess the willingness to do whatever it takes to win.
You will work in close partnership with our Engineering, Quality, Marketing, Industrial Design, Consumer Insights, Customer Excellence, and local European teams to ensure flawless development and execution. Your strong leadership will continuously deliver on time product launches from first prototypes to tooling release, production, and retail (and online) launch. SharkNinja moves at a very fast pace, so your ability to lead and inspire the cross-functional teams to deliver 5-star consumer experiences is critical. Your passion will show in both the product consumer experience and high rate of sale.
As a Product Development Manager, you work daily with the global team and leadership to synchronize on goals, priorities, and responsibilities across offices. You will provide daily direction and inspiration to the team through not just management, but hands-on design work as the leader.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE EXCITING THINGS YOU’LL GET TO DO:

• Lead a team of product managers that oversee a rolling 6-24 month pipeline of new products within your categories to launch within the UK and mainland Europe. This team’s responsibilities include but are not limited to:
• Partnering with global product development on creating product definitions, consumer-relevant design targets, and performance KPIs, including creation/drive toward critical messaging claims
• Developing and maintaining channel management strategy within a product family
• Creating consumer-centric product collateral, including instruction manuals, informational stickers, and product packaging
• Understand regional and local compliance risks/issues, and be an advocate in early development to ensure on time delivery and compliance to all local requirements
• Track and manage product and category financials (cost, gross margin, P&L) for the category roadmap initiatives
• Take a rarely satisfied approach by working with the PMO org to ensure global launches are given as much focus as a North American product launches
• Identify supply chain and quality risks, and work closely with cross-functional partners to mitigate
• Hands-on validation, both regionally and locally within the support markets, using the proven SN methodologies that gain internal confidence and support product readiness
• Drive and enable swift decision making —provide clear direction to the teams to empower decisions be made among peers within working programs, while also allowing for cake baking with leadership.
• Serve as a thought-leader in product launch alongside critical regional sales and brand marketing leaders – ensure that the “triad” of product, marketing, and sales execution comes together for every new launch.
• Be the technical expert for the marketing team to translate product into the marketing sizzle for the retailer and beyond
• Be engaged in SN cadence of exec reviews and in-person reviews.
• Provide regular clear communication and reporting with direct leadership
• Must represent the voice of the consumer and hold consumer experience above all else.
• Consistently deliver 5-star products and an overall high-quality consumer experience
• Critically analyze global consumer feedback throughout a program’s life to drive 5-star consumer satisfaction by mass production
• An unwavering resolve to deliver 5-star rated products in a challenging, yet highly rewarding, development environment
• Build, retain, and manage an A-player team. Manage performance and talent development with clear talent development plans in place
• Identify talent gaps and share openly with direct leadership
• Provide training and mentorship to less experienced team members
• Be nimble and flexible; adapt quickly to changing circumstances or new insights
• Be in the details and hands on; think strategically but drive to action
• Clearly articulate Product Solutions and Challenges to a multidisciplinary team at the executive level and translate these into highly-impactful projects
• Set priorities and keep momentum going on a mix of projects and project timelines. Respond quickly to shifting priorities without losing sight of longer-range projects and goals
• Challenge assumptions and think innovatively to solve complex problems creatively
• Hold cross-functional engagement sessions and encourage “new” thinking and ways to iteratively improve

YOUR ROLE in leading our SUCCESS DRIVERS & representing our UNIQUE MINDSET

• Lead us to be “RARELY SATISFIED”
• Make things better each day; “PROGRESS OVER PERFECTION”
• Use your knowledge of our consumer, understand that “DETAILS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE”
• Deliver something great; “WINNING IS A TEAM SPORT”
• Be clear and honest, “COMMUNICATING FOR IMPACT